Reading Highlights: "The Caesars Palace Coup" by Max Frumes & Sujeet Indap

(Free on Substack) Reading Materials (APO US) (Not Covered)

A version of this was published on my Twitter account.

Introduction: “The Caesars Palace Coup” is a book about the 2015 bankruptcy of the casinos giant Caesars Entertainment, with an emphasis on the fight between its private equity owners (Apollo and TPG) and various creditors (including Elliott, Oaktree and Appaloosa). I have selected one highlight per chapter from the book, focusing on the workings of the private equity and distressed debt industries. But these only scratch the surface of what was a great read - buy it here.

1/ Gary Loveman, Caesars' CEO at the LBO, was a Harvard Business School professor who made his name at Harrah's (the predecessor to Caesars) by introducing a data-driven loyalty program that uses micro-targeted offers to drive customer spend. He also introduced concepts like CAC (Customer Acquisition Costs) & LTV (Life Time Value) of a customer.

2/ "Apollo's initial 1990 and 1993 funds returned roughly 50%", helped by investments like buying insolvent insurer Execu…