Advocates of LBOs argued that they maximize shareholder value while resulting in leaner, more efficient companies. In the end, the RJR Nabisco LBO mostly benefitted a few Wall Street insiders who earned a windfall in advisory fees for themselves while saddling a reasonably healthy company with an unsustainable level of debt. The RJR Nabisco deal might have been a roaring success for the investment bankers who advised the various parties involved in the feeding frenzy.