Author(s): Scott MacDonald

Business & Finance

It was the biggest investment in the history of Morgan Stanley's $100 Billion real estate fund business; it was one of the largest deals in the history of Australian property. In 2007, Morgan Stanley bought Investa Property Trust for more than $6.5 billion. In less than a year, the investment was in trouble. Scott MacDonald, an American CEO with no prior experience in Australia, agreed to meet with the Company and Morgan Stanley executives in Sydney for one week in 2008. He returned home more than five years later after guiding Investa through its perilous journey to survival. The Company moved from crisis to crisis from 2008 through 2012, sometimes avoiding insolvency by hours. The drama of corporate survival is played against the backdrop of the Global Financial Crisis. The story of corporate struggle draws upon Scott MacDonald's personal experiences as chapters alternate between his life growing up and the fight to save Investa. His career includes an amazing range of experiences from fortune telling, street sweeper, and corporate CEO. Using stories and antidotes from every stage of his life, the Investa story is personalized and much more than a business memoir."