I'm a firm believer in Australia's resources boom. Real assets, i.e. commodities, will be 'the last man standing' after this latest splurge of printing even more worthless paper-money, euphemistically described as 'quantitative easing', has sparked another huge inflation. BHP is the world's largest mining company and I've stayed with it through many ups and downs. I have now ordered the book to read all about this quintessential Australian company.
"The Big Fella: The Rise and Rise of BHP Billiton" is the compelling story of how BHP and its partner Billiton rose from the humblest beginnings in the Australian Outback and on the Indonesian island of Belitung to starry heights on the great bourses of the world.
Based on more than 60 exclusive interviews, it rips away the superficial gloss to expose the political and industrial forces that really drive Big Business in the 21st century. In an investigative tour de force, authors Peter Thompson and Robert Macklin reveal the visions, the schemes, the scandals and the corporate life-and-death struggles that have characterised BHP's evolution from the first lucky strike by the mysterious Charles Rasp at Broken Hill in 1883 to its merger with Billiton in 2001 to its daring $150 billion bid for Rio Tinto six years later.
The result is a gripping story of foresight and blunder, of nation-building and rampant ego, of greed and of grace, written by two master storytellers with, for the first time, access to the key players themselves.
