The Real Deal cover art

The Real Deal

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Real Deal

By: Richard Desmond
Narrated by: Richard Desmond
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

From the age of five, when he helped his deaf father negotiate advertising contracts, Richard Desmond has always had an eye for business.

In The Real Deal he offers a no-holds-barred account of an extraordinary career that has taken him from cloakroom attendant at a north London club to billionaire media owner.

En route he tells of his early life as a rock and roll drummer, his first steps in the world of magazine publishing as a purveyor of leisure and top-shelf titles, and finally, after decades of paying his dues building smaller brands, his arrival in the big league with the launch of OK! magazine and the acquisition of Express Newspapers, his purchase and sale of Channel 5, and his £80 million investment in the Health Lottery, combining business innovation with help for good causes.

Along the way he imparts many of the secrets of his astounding success as well as giving his forthright opinion (and he always has one) on such diverse subjects as politicians, religion, and the similarities between being a rock and roll drummer and running a business - as well as his views on a cast of characters ranging from Alan Sugar to Victoria Beckham and from Simon Cowell to Jennifer Aniston.

Often controversial, frequently revelatory, always entertaining, The Real Deal is the brilliantly frank account of a life spent at the sharp end.

©2015 Richard Desmond (P)2015 Random House Audiobooks
Business Business & Careers Journalists, Editors & Publishers
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Love, Pain and Money cover art
A Prince Among Stones cover art
John Ilhan cover art
Moguls, Monsters and Madmen cover art
Up Close and All In cover art
The Battle for Sky cover art
Michael O'Leary cover art
My First Time cover art
And Party Every Day cover art
Beer School cover art
The King of Content cover art
The Last Sultan cover art
Making Your Mark cover art
Tested: The Dream Is Free but the HU$TLE Comes at a Cost cover art
The Price of Fortune cover art
An Honest Day's Work cover art

What listeners say about The Real Deal

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable and funny

It’s was enjoyable and informative also like learning about how Ok magazine came to exist and other tidbits

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty Good

What did you like most about The Real Deal?

Flowed very well and was very interesting to hear how someone goes from nothing to a few Billion!

What did you like best about this story?

It was a pacey read so very little slow parts

What about Richard Desmond’s performance did you like?

Mr D read it very well!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Buying the Express paper then being offered double the amount to sell it with in a few days, and turning it down - pretty ballsy

Any additional comments?

Didn't have a clue who this guy was so took a punt. Turns out he started OK! mag and ended up buying channel 5 and the Express newspaper - so a kind of Rupert Murdoch but less famous.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!