Kingpin Revised Edition

Who are the most innovative and creative business leaders of all time?

Names such as Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Nikola Tesla and Bill Gates usually come to mind, but Kingpin proposes an alternative. What if the most innovative and creative entrepreneurs operate on the fringe of business culture, outside the generally accepted confines of corporate organisation and governance?

Despite the immoral, destructive and violent culture of the illicit drug trade, drug Kingpins are – first and foremost – entrepreneurs and risk managers. As pioneers of the underworld, they face unique challenges arising from the illegal nature of their trade. Their unpredictable and inherently risky world provides a wealth of diverse business challenges rarely encountered by mainstream business leaders. Thus they provide us with lessons that we can learn from no one else. The most successful Kingpins are visionary leaders who survive by implementing effective business strategies and policies. By suspending our judgement of the drug dealer and focusing on the Kingpin, we open our minds to their pioneering spirit.

Their skills, flaws, triumphs and downfalls are magnified by the volatile environment that shapes their enterprises. By bravely exploring where others fear to tread, Sarah Bartholomeusz reveals unique insights that have eluded the minds of the world’s most respected business experts and provides us with innovative approaches to managing risk during times of rapid change.

The eight people examined in this book have been chosen because they are all high achievers in their field. The shock of their real-world impact, though often reprehensible, has reverberated across the globe. While the Kingpins as leaders operate within a similar rule set to executives, they come from widely differing backgrounds and they build their businesses in an environment of extreme volatility. This makes them ideal subjects of study for business experts at the cutting edge of industry. Their responses to compliance situations are not curtailed by the law, best practice or, at times, even logic. This makes them some of the most innovative and creative business leaders in the world, and they therefore provide us with lessons that are simply unavailable through the study of mainstream leaders.