Everybody Wins! : A Life in Free Enterprise

Everybody Wins! is a case study in American business enterprise told through the life of an extraordinary man. The book chronicles how Gordon Cain—a chemical engineer well past retirement age—effected a turnaround in the commodity chemicals industry through the strategies of innovative management, employee stock ownership, and leveraged buyouts. The story begins with Cain's childhood in rural Louisiana, where he witnessed the havoc the boll weevil caused in the cotton industry. After service in World War II he returned to civilian life and a series of important roles in chemical industry. Ultimately, Gordon Cain's vision profoundly affected management practices in that chemical industry, as he acquired and restructured such companies as Vista Chemical, Arcadian, Sterling Chemicals, Cain Chemical and Fiber Industries. Everybody Wins! illustrates how blind alleys can become new beginnings, how business restructuring can benefit everyone, how the free market economy provides unparalleled opportunity, and how, even in the tumultuous 1980s, a gentleman still managed to finish on top—and generate several billion dollars in the process.