First published 2017
Steven Cohen transforms from a middle class Long Island kid into Wall Street royalty. He masters poker in high school, studies at Wharton, then launches SAC Capital in 1992. His trading genius builds the hedge fund into a $15 billion empire. Cohen flies to work by helicopter and lives in a 35,000 square foot Greenwich mansion filled with priceless art. His employees worship him as the greatest trader alive. Then federal investigators close in. FBI agents, prosecutors, and SEC attorneys spend seven years building their case. They call SAC Capital a magnet for market cheaters that thrives on black edge insider information. The government indicts the firm for securities and wire fraud connected to a massive insider trading scheme. SAC Capital pleads guilty while Cohen himself escapes criminal charges. Kolhatkar reveals how the investigation unfolded and exposes the gray areas where Wall Street operates.
Genres: business, crime, non-fiction, 21st-century, finance, true-crime
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, corruption, downfall
Setting: Greenwich, Long Island, Wall Street
Period: 1992, 21st-century
295 pages · Hardcover · Random House