Jacquie McNish

Sean Silcoff

Winner of the Canadian National Business Book Award 2016 Shortlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2015 In 2009, BlackBerry controlled half of the US smartphone market. Today that number is less than one per cent. What went so wrong? Losing the Signal is the riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed; instead, the rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway. With unprecedented access to key players, senior executives, directors, and competitors, Losing the Signal unveils the remarkable rise of a company that started above a bagel store in a small Canadian city and went on to control half of the US smartphone market. However, at the very moment BlackBerry was ranked the world’s fastest-growing company, internal feuds and chaotic growth crippled the company as it faced its gravest test: the entry of Apple and Google into the mobile phone market. Expertly told by acclaimed journalists Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, this is an entertaining, whirlwind narrative that goes behind the scenes to reveal one of the most compelling business stories of the new century.

The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry

Losing the Signal

From the windswept Labrador coast, where the massive nickel deposit was discovered, to the boardrooms of Singapore, Toronto, and Vancouver where the giant poker game for Diamond Fields was played out, the story behind Voisey's Bay has enormous economic significance for Canada and international financial markets. One of the most intriguing elements was the takeover battle for Diamond Fields that pitted the conservative management team at the world's largest nickel company, Inco Ltd., against free-wheeling stock promoter Robert Friedland. Also playing key roles in the race for Voisey's Bay were managers from the Bronfman-controlled Edper group, prominent Wall Street and Bay Street investment houses, and leading mutual funds.

Robert Friedland, Inco, and the Voisey's Bay Hustle

The Big Score

Sinclair Stewart

The Fall of Conrad Black

Wrong Way

Voisey's Bay is the site of a massive nickel deposit whose vast potential has riveted the attention of the international business world. The discovery of the deposit in Labrador, the struggles for controlling interest in it, and especially the extraordinary players involved drive this amazing business story, which often reads like a suspense novel. At the centre is Robert Friedland, an ex-hippie and disgraced Vancouver stock promoter, who by sheer luck ended up holding all the cards in a high-stakes poker game that pitted some of the world's most powerful and conservative mining companies against each other. When news of the Voisey's Bay motherlode began to circulate, nickel giants such as Inco and Falconbridge were swept up in the excitement, competing in a series of takeover bids for control of Diamond Fields, the company that controlled the find. It all culminated in Inco's winning $4.3-billion offer, the largest takeover price ever paid for mining property. But was the deal one of the riskiest gambles in business history? From Namibia and Singapore to the boardrooms of Toronto and Vancouver," The Big Score uncovers the big money deals, the power struggles, and the hype in an immaculately researched and compelling drama of international intrigue.

Tautly written and fast-paced, Wrong Way chronicles the excesses of a larger-than-life entrepreneur whose autocratic temperament and management style would prove to be his undoing. It is a testament to the rise of shareholder activism and a cautionary tale of corporate cronyism at its worst.

He was the world's most notorious media tycoon. Unapologetic about his right wing agenda, corporate maneuvers and lavish lifestyle, Conrad Black seemed untouchable with a seat in the House of Lords and a newspaper empire that spanned three continents. In the fall of 2003 his carefully constructed world came tumbling down when his company accused him of siphoning millions of dollars of corporate money. He now found himself targeted by U.S. regulators, ridiculed as 'King Conrad' by his own board and a self-described 'pariah' among the rich and famous he once called his friends. career by interviewing leading players and gaining behind-the-scenes accounts of his corporate moves. Their gripping story gives the most in-depth account of how the owner of Hollinger International Inc., whose newspapers included the Daily Telegraph, Jerusalem Post and Chicago Sun Times, was outsmarted by a small, unassuming group of U.S. shareholders. fiefdom for years They examine the press baron's ruthless rise to power, his old-boy networking to gain a British peerage, his high-profile marriage to glamorous right-wing socialite Barbara Amiel and the fortune they spent on society parties, private jets, servants, priceless jewels, rare artifacts and multi-million dollar mansions in London, Palm Beach, Park Avenue and Toronto.

Jacquie McNish

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