Book: America for Sale

Esmark made headlines in Indian pink papers early last year when Essar Steel put in a bid to buy the American steel company but was later upstaged by its Russian peer Severstal. Few knew that Esmark was a consumer products company in the 1980s and was later revived by the Bouchard brothers as a steel firm through a string of acquisitions. When the two brothers revived the company in 2003, Esmark had revenues of $4 million. By 2008, it had ballooned to $3 billion and had grown to be the fourth largest steel company in the US.

In America For Sale, Craig Bouchard, one half of the two brothers, reveals subplots of the corporate battles they fought on the way. But as the title reflects, the book, co-authored by economist James Koch, is not just about Esmark. It is also an obituary of the American steel industry, once the pride of corporate America, now almost completely under “foreign ownership”. Lakshmi Mittal, Alexei Mordashov, Ben Steinbruch and the Ruia brothers, among others, collectively control the North American steel market, but “none of these great men are Americans.”

For the followers of the global steel industry, America For Sale is more proof that no other industry has undergone such upheaval and change in ownership. But if one was expecting another Cold Steel — the chronicle of Mittal’s battle for Arcelor — this book might disappoint. It suffers from too many alarm bells, too much lamentation about how chunks of corporate America have fallen to the Russians and sovereign wealth funds in the last few years. Read this only if you want to know more about the American steel industry and the story behind Esmark.

But if one was expecting another Cold Steel — the chronicle of Mittal’s battle for Arcelor — this book might disappoint

America for Sale; by Craig T. Bouchard

& James V. Koch; 210 pages; $35.96