How They Blew It is about people who did something remarkable: they all built huge business empires worth millions, if not billions. Then they all did something unbelievable: they managed to lose it.

How They Blew It tells the story of 16 business leaders who went from paramount success to abject failure, resulting in the collapse of some of the world's most famous and supposedly successful businesses. Full of surprising details and mind-blowing sums of money, it looks at the characteristics of these leaders and the fine line between hero and zero.

This book isn't a turgid or forensic examination of the rights and wrongs of each case; rather, it seeks to get into the minds of the people behind the business disasters and ask, "Why on earth did they do that?" It pin-points pitfalls and highlights destructive personality traits, helping readers avoid making similar mistakes. From mega US corporate catastrophes, such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, WorldCom and Enron, to UK, European, Russian and Chinese business disasters, this book looks at the people, the passion and ego at the heart of entrepreneurship.