Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon

In this fast-paced book, named one of the "Top Ten of 2001" by BusinessWeek, Mitchell Pacelle tells the gripping story of the ten-year struggle for control of America’s most famous skyscraper–a tale of greed and duplicity that consumed, and nearly destroyed, some of the real estate world’s most controversial tycoons.

"Makes for delicious reading…it is a grand human comedy, and Mitchell Pacelle has a fine time with it."
–The Washington Post

"Who’d have thought that real estate dealings could read like a gossipy novel of intrigue?"
–Entertainment Weekly

"Features legal wrangling, political posturing, family feuds, financial high jinks, and lost fortunes…a finely wrought narrative that embodies the style–and the hysteria–of New York real estate."
–USA Today

"Bluster, temperamental outbursts, one-line putdowns and endless deviousness, all meticulously recorded by Mr. Pacelle."
–The Economist

"Great business writing and even greater gossip …reads like a cross between film noir and a Harold Robbins novel."
–Publishers Weekly


Amazon.com Review:

Each day over 4,000 people take the elevator up to the observatory of the Empire State Building to catch a minute of glory. What almost none of them have known–until now–is just how many people have fought to own outright the crown jewel beneath them, and the chaos that these trophy hunters have caused. "Over the years," writes Wall Street Journal reporter Mitchell Pacelle, "the Empire State Building had exerted an almost magnetic pull over a certain kind of man, the kind who once had nothing and now had everything." The construction of the Empire State Building was a $50 million roll of the dice by a failed political candidate, who took on the impossible task of filling 80 floors with paying tenants in the midst of the Depression just to win the race for skyline supremacy. Thirty years later, the Prudential Company gutted the building's profit potential by leasing it to real estate magnates Larry Wien and Harry Helmsley for 114 years. Their heirs, Peter Milkin and Leona Helmsley, would end up locked in a bitter embrace. Then, in 1991, Prudential decided to sell the tower, and the building entered its most bizarre period as a group of eccentric billionaires fought to control it.

Pacelle masterfully tells the story of Hideki Yokoi, a Japanese businessman with a shady past who became obsessed with the American icon during an $80 million shopping spree. Rebuffed in his pursuit by Prudential, he finally landed the building with the help of his illegitimate daughter, a front man, shell companies, and a fair number of lies–but not for long. Convinced that his daughter had stolen the building from him, he initiated a bizarre family feud that landed two people in jail. Add Donald Trump to the mix (and a plan to upscale the building with luxury condos, classy restaurants, and a hotel) and an epic legal war began between Trump and his nemesis Leona Helmsley, holder of the precious lease. Full of mind-boggling twists and betrayals, Pacelle's book is a priceless cautionary tale about ego, greed, and vengeance, and the inevitable bust that follows every bubble. –Lesley Reed