Eli and the Octopus: The CEO Who Tried to Reform One of the World’s Most Notorious Corporations
Matt Garcia“Eli & the Octopus is a deeply informed study of one of the most enigmatic figures to arise in the Mad Men era of merger mania & conglomerate-building. Beyond its inherent tragedy, this story adds richly to our understanding of how corporate America became what it is today.”
—Diana B. Henriques, author of The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff & the Death of Trust
“Piecing together the Shakespearean saga of rabbi-turned-business tycoon Eli Black, Matt Garcia offers a compelling, cautionary tale on the limits of corporate social responsibility. The unvarnished—but not unsympathetic—portrait is a history with great current relevance.”
-Miriam Pawel, author of The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography
“A marvelous book that embodies the inherent tension between our religious & ethical senses & the compromised & corrupt business of our daily lives. Eli Black’s rise & fall is but an exaggerated illumination of the human condition.”
—Nelson Lichtenstein, author of State of the Union: A Century of American Labor
“A revelatory exploration of Eli Black & his struggle to remake modern business into a vehicle for positive social change. In a moment of growing inequality and corporate power, Eli & the Octopus could not be more timely or more important.”
—Karl Jacoby, author of The Strange Career of William Ellis: The Texas Slave Who Became a Mexican Millionaire
Matt García is the author of From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph & Tragedy of Cesar Chavez & the Farm Worker Movement, which received the Philip Taft Award for the Best Book in Labor History.