McColl: The Man with America's Money (ISBN 1563525399)

An entertaining look at America's premiere banker:
As a former Bank of America employee, I read with interest Ross Yockey's authorized biography of Hugh McColl. McColl proves to be a shark when it comes to buying banks, devouring one bank after another in an effort to build a coast to coast banking franchise. Yockey provides much detail of McColl's early years, growing up in an affluent household (McColl's father owned banks and land) as well as McColl's efforts to impress his hard-to-please father. It was McColl's father who gave his son a push into banking, making a phone call to an old friend to help Hugh land a bank job with NCNB. The book details McColl's rise in NCNB, and, once he became more powerful in that organization, his many business conquests, first taking over, with military precision, small banks in North and South Carolina and then moving on to larger banks in Texas, Georgia, Florida, Missouri and finally San Francisco's Bank of America. On the negative side, the details of the BofA/NationsBank "merger of equals" are sparse, but I understand that the book was printed too soon to provide any information that isn't already available in newspapers. Also somewhat tiring is Yockey's, or McColl's, negative image of anything north of Baltimore and west of Charlotte. Throughout the book, there are constant negative references to anything outside of the South. Yockey also paints McColl as a man who believes deeply in diversity. But his contempt for anything outside of the South (or anyone who is not a former NationBank employee) makes one wonder how sincere McColl really is about diversity and inclusion. One interesting note, not mentioned in the book, is that most of the senior female employees in the old Bank of America left the bank soon after the merger. If McColl truly believes in diversity, I'm sure more would have stayed. It is also interesting to note that, in all of McColl's major takeovers, most of the senior staff (both male and female) in the takeover targets were either forced out or left the organization. McColl clearly shows loyalty to his old NB teammates and seems to have difficulty accepting his new associates. Overall, the book was enjoyable and entertaining.

How can an author make money on such a boring book.:
This book is not only poorly written, but is also the most BORING book I have ever read in my life, or tried to read for that matter. How can an author sit and write 600+ pages on one person and not even make it interesting... I mean 600+ PAGES IS BIG! I wouldnt mind a couple hundred pages on a very much more RICH MAN THAN I AM,, but thats another story... ANyway I rate this book as a very poorly written, and boring book that is a complete waste of money and time!

McColl:
Ross Yockey does an exceptional job of explaining the ins and outs of bankings most aggressive company while capturing the thoughts and emotions of the very real human beings involved. Inspiration can be drawn from this book for all walks of life.

Can you say BORING?:
Although some of the subject material is interesting, this book is poorly written and just plain BORING. The author must have been paid by the word; he fills over 600 pages with petty details of relatives and co-workers. I had intended to read this book cover-to-cover, but I just couldn't stomach some of the meaningless drivel. This book could have been a good read at 200 pages, but not 600+.

Interesting but too much fluff:
Althought I enjoyed this book about Hugh McColl, I got the impression it was another part to McColl's PR effort. The book was so flattering in its portrayal of Mr. McColl you wondered if Bank of America might not have subsidized it. Even with that criticism, I still recommend the book to anyone interested in the background of the buyer of Bank of America.