Jonathan A. Knee is Michael T. Fries Professor of Professional Practice of Media and Technology and codirector of the media and technology program at Columbia Business School. He is the author of The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade That Transformed Wall Street (2006) and coauthor of The Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong with the World’s Leading Media Companies (2009).

Class Clowns is more than a business book, or a book on the education industry. Filled with colorful characters and gripping narratives, it poses deep questions that should engage a broad audience. By bringing the keen insights of a veteran investment banker, Knee demonstrates that no matter the goals, any business is subject to the basic laws of economies of scale, geographic advantage, and barriers to entry. This is an important lesson that many in the education sector seem to have ignored.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Wizard of Ed2. Rupert and the Chancellor: A Tragic Love Story3. Curious George Schools: John Paulson4. Michael Milken: Master of the Knowledge Universe5. What Makes a Good Education Business?6. Lessons from Clown SchoolNotesIndex

Jonathan A. Knee is Michael T. Fries Professor of Professional Practice of Media and Technology and codirector of the media and technology program at Columbia Business School. He is the author of The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade That Transformed Wall Street (2006) and coauthor of The Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong with the World’s Leading Media Companies (2009).

Class Clowns is more than a business book, or a book on the education industry. Filled with colorful characters and gripping narratives, it poses deep questions that should engage a broad audience. By bringing the keen insights of a veteran investment banker, Knee demonstrates that no matter the goals, any business is subject to the basic laws of economies of scale, geographic advantage, and barriers to entry. This is an important lesson that many in the education sector seem to have ignored.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Wizard of Ed2. Rupert and the Chancellor: A Tragic Love Story3. Curious George Schools: John Paulson4. Michael Milken: Master of the Knowledge Universe5. What Makes a Good Education Business?6. Lessons from Clown SchoolNotesIndex

Jonathan A. Knee is Michael T. Fries Professor of Professional Practice of Media and Technology and codirector of the media and technology program at Columbia Business School. He is the author of The Accidental Investment Banker: Inside the Decade That Transformed Wall Street (2006) and coauthor of The Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong with the World’s Leading Media Companies (2009).

Class Clowns is more than a business book, or a book on the education industry. Filled with colorful characters and gripping narratives, it poses deep questions that should engage a broad audience. By bringing the keen insights of a veteran investment banker, Knee demonstrates that no matter the goals, any business is subject to the basic laws of economies of scale, geographic advantage, and barriers to entry. This is an important lesson that many in the education sector seem to have ignored.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Wizard of Ed2. Rupert and the Chancellor: A Tragic Love Story3. Curious George Schools: John Paulson4. Michael Milken: Master of the Knowledge Universe5. What Makes a Good Education Business?6. Lessons from Clown SchoolNotesIndex