A Passion to Win

Alarger-than-life figure in the grand tradition of the Hearsts, Paleys, and Pulitzers, media titan Summer Redstone rules over an empire that embraces Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon, Blockbuster, Simon & Schuster, and CBS. His tough, outspoken, and impassioned style of conducting business has consistently captured the headlines. In A Passion to Win Redstone chronicles his journey from a Boston tenement to Harvard, service in an elite cryptography unit during World War II, and a successful career as a lawyer, shedding light on the personal qualities behind his extraordinary success. Pulling no punches, he describes in unprecedented detail the highly charged battles and negotiations that rocked the media industry -- including his head-to-head confrontations with such formidable adversaries as Barry Diller, Paramount chief Martin Davis, and Blockbuster's Wayne Huizenga -- and reveals the reasons behind his abrupt firings of Viacom CEO Frank Biondi and Simon & Schuster's Richard Snyder. His account of the roller coaster ride triggered by Blockbuster's near bankruptcy and of how he set the company back on course provides unforgettable insights into a businessman whose passion to win revolutionized modern media.