What goes up must come down. It's a natural law that the New Economy just learned all over again. Recent times have been fantastically dramatic in the cloistered world of American business: Narratives full of larger-than-life characters, outsized egos, astonishing hubris, and lots and lots of money. It's action-packed. It makes good comics. That's the idea behind Titans of Finance, a new and groundbreaking merger of reality - straight from the business pages - and comix. You've never seen anything like it: True tales from the world of big money, wittily translated through America's most populist medium. Meet Ron Perelman, the man who made millions while presiding over the Mighty Marvel Comics train wreck. Thrill to the antics of "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap, Mike "The V-Man" Vranos, and "Jaybird" Goldinger - and many more of Wall Street's most well-known Icaruses. These aren't just instructive episodes about the current climate. They're timeless tales, like the Bible or Cats. Never mind Spawn and Spider-man. These are our superheroes now. These tales "hit the mark," says Harvey Pekar, and are "a brilliant use of the medium," according to TheStreet.com's James J. Cramer. Best of all, it's all true! Titans of Finance is entirely based on press accounts. The results are mind-blowing. Over the past five years, in fact, Titans has crushed the benchmark S&P 500. You've never seen anything like it - this is one acquisition you won't regret.
The intimate, fly-on-the wall tale of the decline and fall of an America icon With one notable exception, the firms that make up what we know as Wall Street have always been part of an inbred, insular culture that most people only vaguely understand. The exception was Merrill Lynch, a firm that revolutionized the stock market by bringing Wall Street to Main Street, setting up offices in far-flung cities and towns long ignored by the giants of finance. With its “thundering herd” of financial advisers, perhaps no other business, whether in financial services or elsewhere, so epitomized the American spirit. Merrill Lynch was not only “bullish on America,” it was a big reason why so many average Americans were able to grow wealthy by investing in the stock market. Merrill Lynch was an icon. Its sudden decline, collapse, and sale to Bank of America was a shock. How did it happen? Why did it happen? And what does this story of greed, hubris, and incompetence tell us about the culture of Wall Street that continues to this day even though it came close to destroying the American economy? A culture in which the CEO of a firm losing $28 billion pushes hard to be paid a $25 million bonus. A culture in which two Merrill Lynch executives are guaranteed bonuses of $30 million and $40 million for four months’ work, even while the firm is struggling to reduce its losses by firing thousands of employees. Based on unparalleled sources at both Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, Greg Farrell’s Crash of the Titans is a Shakespearean saga of three flawed masters of the universe. E. Stanley O’Neal, whose inspiring rise from the segregated South to the corner office of Merrill Lynch—where he engineered a successful turnaround—was undone by his belief that a smooth-talking salesman could handle one of the most difficult jobs on Wall Street. Because he enjoyed O’Neal’s support, this executive was allowed to build up an astonishing $30 billion position in CDOs on the firm’s balance sheet, at a time when all other Wall Street firms were desperately trying to exit the business. After O’Neal comes John Thain, the cerebral, MIT-educated technocrat whose rescue of the New York Stock Exchange earned him the nickname “Super Thain.” He was hired to save Merrill Lynch in late 2007, but his belief that the markets would rebound led him to underestimate the depth of Merrill’s problems. Finally, we meet Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, a street fighter raised barely above the poverty line in rural Georgia, whose “my way or the highway” management style suffers fools more easily than potential rivals, and who made a $50 billion commitment over a September weekend to buy a business he really didn’t understand, thus jeopardizing his own institution. The merger itself turns out to be a bizarre combination of cultures that blend like oil and water, where slick Wall Street bankers suddenly find themselves reporting to a cast of characters straight out of the Beverly Hillbillies. BofA’s inbred culture, which perceived New York banks its enemies, was based on loyalty and a good-ol’-boy network in which competence played second fiddle to blind obedience. Crash of the Titans is a financial thriller that puts you in the theater as the historic events of the financial crisis unfold and people responsible for billion of dollars of other people’s money gamble recklessly to enhance their power and their paychecks or to save their own skins. Its wealth of never-before-revealed information and focus on two icons of corporate America make it the book that puts together all the pieces of the Wall Street disaster.
Argues that the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression occurred as a result of poor decisions on the part of four central bankers who jointly attempted to reconstruct international finance by reinstating the gold standard.
Let the legends of finance be your money managers! Imagine having the opportunity to ask Babe Ruth how to hit, or Charles Lindbergh how to fly. Investment Titans assembles an unprecedented panel of Nobel laureates and great financial thinkers--including Harry Markowitz, Paul Samuelson, John Bogle, and others--to ask: "How can investors make smart decisions that minimize risk and uncertainty and maximize return?" Their answers are thought-provoking, innovative, and certain to provide profitable insights for readers to use in their own investing. Each contributor's field of knowledge--hedging risk, defeating psychological negatives, picking stocks, choosing strategies--is featured in its own concise, hands-on chapter. The result is a rare, fascinating look inside the minds and techniques of some of today's greatest financial thinkers.
Explore history's titans of finance, and their lasting global impact Heroes and Villains of Finance is a fascinating dive into the history of money as an institution, highlighting the fifty most significant figures that, rightly or wrongly, are responsible for the financial landscape we live in today. From philosophers and bankers to fraudsters and academics, this book provides a striking introduction to the most remarkable characters in the history of finance. Their impact reaches far beyond the financial system itself, and has helped shape the course of human history. The economic systems of today would look very differently if it weren't for these innovators, thought leaders, storytellers, and rebels, and this captivating examination takes you inside their stories to understand their thinking, their background, their perspective, and their inspiration. People both inside and outside the world of finance are perpetually curious about the larger-than-life characters who built, shaped, and continue to populate the industry. Their actions, both positive and negative, are responsible for what we understand as finance today. This book provides a glimpse into the events and motivations that contributed to the industry's evolution. Learn how the Knights Templar became the first banking institution Examine the Rothschild family's pioneering use of financial instruments in order to safeguard their wealth from distrusting European monarchs Study the origins and evolution of the Ponzi scheme Realise how Reaganomics still affects the U.S. economy today The finance industry is always in the public eye, and it's one of the few places where the actions of a few — or even a single person — can ripple throughout large populations. Heroes and Villains of Finance gives you a closer look at the biggest names that had the biggest impact, for better or worse. "This book is a marvellous introduction to a gallery of fascinating figures from the world of Big Money. The author has chosen a brilliant collection of crooks, entrepreneurs, philosophers, economists and bankers. These highly readable short lives provide an excellent education to any reader who wants to understand the personalities who shaped today's world of investment" —Luke Johnson, Chairman of Risk Capital Partners, former chairman of Pizza Express and Channel 4 Television, Financial Times columnist and author of Start It Up "Heroes and Villains of Finance provides a fascinating and insightful guide to the personalities and developments that have transformed finance and continue to do so. Anyone trying to understand where finance is now, how it got there and where it might go should read this book" —Dr Stephen Davies, Institute of Economic Affairs "An exciting, informative ride through the big ideas and even bigger personalities that have shaped the world of finance." —Sam Bowman, The Adam Smith Institute "This delightful book provides a punchy reminder that, whilst we should rightly celebrate the longevity of the vision of the heroes of finance like Adam Smith, the potential downsides of financial innovation have always been with us which we are inclined to forget" —Professor Mike Wright, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Imperial College London and ranked #1 worldwide for publications in academic entrepreneurship
Ardeshir Darabshaw Shroff (1899-1965), Eminent Industrialist, Banker And Economist, Is Considered One Of The Architects Of Free India S Industrial Development And Modernization. Among The Earliest Exponents Of Free Enterprise In India, Shroff, Once Called A Congress Economist , Represented The Country As A Non-Official Delegate At The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference And Was An Author Of The Bombay Plan, Prepared By Eight Leading Industrialists In 1944 As A Blueprint For India S Post-War Economy. Later, In The Fifties, As Founder-Director Of The Investment Corporation Of India, Chairman Of Bank Of India And The New India Assurance Company, And Director Of Tatas And Many Other Leading Companies, He Became A Powerful Spokesman For Private Industry In An Increasingly Government Regulated Economy. His Steadfast Adherence To A Vision Of Free Enterprise In India Has Been Vindicated Thirty-Five Years Later By The Liberalization Policies Pursued In The Nineties. This Authorized Biography By Sucheta Dalal Draws Upon The Personal Papers Of A.D. Shroff, The Tata Central Archives, The Papers And Libraries Of The Bank Of India, Hdfc, And Several Other Institutions With Which He Was Associated. Based On These Sources And Interviews With Industrialists, Shroff S Colleagues, Family Members And Close Friends, Dalal Has Presented A Compelling Portrait Of Shroff Whom J.R.D. Tata Once Described As A Man With An Extremely Powerful Mind And Moral Courage . As A True Patriot, Shroff Was A Trenchant Critic Of Official Policies, Like The Nationalization Of Insurance, Which He Felt Were Contrary To The Nation S Interests. His Lone Battle For Free Enterprise From The Platform Of The Newly Founded Forum Of Free Enterprise In 1956, Despite Resistance From Some Quarters Of Private Industry And Great Opposition From The Governmental Quarters, Is Seen As A Measure Of His Fearless And Independent Nature. While Tracking Shroff S Phenomenal Professional Career, The Author Also Brings Out Many Facets Of His Forceful Personality: His Determination, His Zest For Life, And His Caustic Wit. Informed And Objective, This Account Is A Warm And Fitting Tribute To A Visionary And An Exceptional Indian In His Birth Centenary Year.
Some of the world's most respected financial minds explore how the industry can regain the public's trust and use its power—responsibly —for positive change
"Fitness, money, and wisdom--here are the tools. Over the last two years ... Tim Ferriss has collected the routines and tools of world-class performers around the globe. Now, the distilled notebook of tips and tricks that helped him double his income, flexibility, happiness, and more is available as Tools of Titans"--Page 4 of cover.
Wealthy, powerful, and potentially dangerous, hedge-find managers have emerged as the stars of twenty-first century capitalism. Based on unprecedented access to the industry, More Money Than God provides the first authoritative history of hedge funds. This is the inside story of their origins in the 1960s and 1970s, their explosive battles with central banks in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally their role in the financial crisis of 2007-9. Hedge funds reward risk takers, so they tend to attract larger-than-life personalities. Jim Simons began life as a code-breaker and mathematician, co-authoring a paper on theoretical geometry that led to breakthroughs in string theory. Ken Griffin started out trading convertible bonds from his Harvard dorm room. Paul Tudor Jones happily declared that a 1929-style crash would be 'total rock-and-roll' for him. Michael Steinhardt was capable of reducing underlings to sobs. 'All I want to do is kill myself,' one said. 'Can I watch?' Steinhardt responded. A saga of riches and rich egos, this is also a history of discovery. Drawing on insights from mathematics, economics and psychology to crack the mysteries of the market, hedge funds have transformed the world, spawning new markets in exotic financial instruments and rewriting the rules of capitalism. And while major banks, brokers, home lenders, insurers and money market funds failed or were bailed out during the crisis of 2007-9, the hedge-fund industry survived the test, proving that money can be successfully managed without taxpayer safety nets. Anybody pondering fixes to the financial system could usefully start here: the future of finance lies in the history of hedge funds.
