Dan Raviv - Comic Wars: Marvels Battle For Survival

COMIC WARS :

Marvels Battle for Survival

Copyright 2002, 2004, 2012 by Dan Raviv

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

LEVANT Books

Sea Cliff, NY 11579

http://LevantBooks.info

LevantBooks@ymail.com

Previous edition published by Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc. as

COMIC WARS: How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comics EmpireAnd Both Lost.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Raviv, Dan, 1954-

Comic wars : Marvels battle for survival /

Dan Raviv.e-book edition

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Marvel Comics GroupHistory. 2. Comic books, strips, etc.United StatesHistory and criticism.

3. Perelman, Ronald. 4. Icahn, Carl C., 1936- I. Tide.

Cover design by Amanda Conner

E-book layout and technical editor: Paul Skolnick

Comic Book Frames and Marvel Comic Book Characters: & 2001 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Used with permission.

ISBN: 978-0-9854378-5-5

ALSO BY DAN RAVIV

(with Yossi Melman)

Spies Against Armageddon:

Inside Israels Secret Wars

Friends in Deed:

Inside the U.S.-Israel Alliance

Every Spy a Prince:

The Complete History of Israels Intelligence Community

Behind the Uprising:

Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians

The Imperfect Spies

To Dori,

Jonathan,

and Emma

my sweet life

Contents

The Warring Parties

The Townhouse

Ronald O. Perelman: one of Americas wealthiest citizens and chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes (M&F), his personally owned holding company that controlled Revlon and many other enterprises, including Marvel Entertainment Group from 1989 to mid-1997.

Howard Gittis: Perelmans chief deputy in M&Fs New York City headquarters, known as the Townhouse.

Donald Drapkin: vice chairman of M&F, the third member of the Townhouse troika.

William Bevins: chief executive officer of Marvel, also running Perelman s other entertainment holdings, New World Entertainment and the Andrews Group Incorporated.

Scott Sassa: hired by Perelman to replace Bevins in October 1996, about two months before Marvels bankruptcy.

Harvey Miller: one of New Yorks top bankruptcy attorneys; he filed Marvels Chapter 11 documents in December 1996.

Laura Davis Jones: a litigator in Wilmington, Delaware; she represented Marvel in bankruptcy court even after the company was taken over by Carl Icahn.

Icahn & Associates

Carl C. Icahn: one of Americas wealthiest citizens, a self-made billionaire with long-term investments in real estate and railway cars, supplemented by contentious raids on corporations of many kinds; he bought Marvels bonds when the companys crisis in 1996 made them very cheap, and became Marvels chairman in June 1997.

Vincent Intrieri: vice chairman of Icahns bondholders committee, an accountant and investment advisor specializing in profiting on the stocks and bonds of distressed companies.

Edward Weisfelner, David M. Friedman, and Marc Weitzen: New York-based lawyers for Icahn and his bondholders committee.

Joseph Calamari: a former executive at Marvel, appointed CEO by Icahn after advising him during the takeover battle.

Toy Biz

Isaac (Ike) Perlmutter: a tycoon proud of near anonymity, the controlling shareholder of Toy Biz; he made a shares-for-licensing-rights deal with Perelman that turned the toy company into a subsidiary of Marvel.

Avi Arad: master toy designer, Ikes partner at Toy Biz, who changed himself and Marvel into an influential force in movies.

Joseph Ahearn: longtime chief executive for Ikes various enterprises and Toy Bizs CEO during the fight over Marvel.

Larry Mittman: an attorney at the New York law firm known as Battle Fowler; he represented Toy Biz and served on its corporate board.

Terry Savage: an investment banker, specializing in buying and selling parts of troubled companies; he helped Toy Biz bid for Marvel.

Eric Ellenbogen: former chief executive of Broadway Video, hired as the new Marvels CEO in December 1998.

The Banks

Chaim Fortgang: New Yorks most pugnacious attorney for banks seeking to recover their money when loans go sour and borrowers go bankrupt.

Douglas Liebhafsky: one of Fortgangs partners in Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the law firm known as Wachtell, Lipton.

Susan Atkins: a vice president in Chase Manhattan Banks corporate work-out group.

Bill Repko: a senior executive in Chases work-out department.

The Others

Helen Balick: judge in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Roderick McKelvie: federal judge in the United States District Court in Wilmington; he reviewed many of Balick s decisions when one side or another filed an appeal and took over the entire Marvel case in November 1997.

Jeffrey Schultz: a professor in Tennessee and a corporate bond investor, he sent faxes to all parties in the Marvel conflict suggesting various complex solutions.

John J. Gibbons: a retired federal judge, he became the court-appointed trustee administering Marvel in December 1997.

James Spiotto: attorney for LaSalle National Bank, trustees for the Marvel high-yield bonds; he sued Ronald Perelman for pocketing the bonds proceeds.

Stan Lee: Marvels editor in chief for many years; after leading the team that created Spider-Man and other comic book heroes, he settled into watching this war from the comfort of Los Angeles.