About the Book
SHORT-LISTED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR
The term
"Libor" is obscure, but it determines a good deal of our financial lives-the
interest rate on our credit card; our student loans; our mortgages; our car
payments. How did a math genius, a handful of outrageous confederates, and a deeply corrupt banking system conspire to pickpocket you? They were in your wallet to already.
In 2006, an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the world's largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor--the London interbank offered rate, which determines interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide--was set daily by a small group of easily manipulated functionaries.
Tom Hayes, a brilliant but troubled mathematician, became the lynchpin of a shadowy team that used hook and crook to take over the process and set rates that made them a fortune, no matter the cost to others. Among the motley crew was a French trader nicknamed "Gollum"; the broker "Abbo," who liked to publicly strip naked when drinking; a Kazakh chicken farmer turned something short of financial whiz kid; an executive called "Clumpy" because of his patchwork hair loss; and a broker uncreatively nicknamed "Big Nose." Eventually known as the "Spider Network," Hayes's circle generated untold riches --until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.
Praised as reading "like a fast-paced John le Carré thriller" (New York Times), "compelling" (Washington Post) and "jaw-dropping" (Financial Times), The Spider Network is not only a rollicking account of the scam, but a provocative examination of a financial system that was warped and shady throughout.
About the Author :
David Enrich is the Business Investigations Editor at the New York Times and the bestselling author of Dark Towers and Servants of the Damned. The winner of numerous journalism awards, he previously was an editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal. His first book, The Spider Network: How a Math Genius and Gang of Scheming Bankers Pulled Off One of the Greatest Scams in History, was short-listed for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. Enrich grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, and graduated from Claremont McKenna College in California. He currently lives in New York with his wife and two sons.
Review :
"Mr. Enrich effectively uses the unique access he secured to the mildly autistic UBS trader, Tom Hayes, who became the fall guy for the unfolding scandal, to produce a surprisingly human narrative. But as entertaining as the colorful character portraits are, what makes "The Spider Network" truly memorable are the portraits of the various institutions that made the scandal not just possible but inevitable... "The Spider Network" is at its most compelling when describing the quotidian activities of the "network" of traders and brokers who tirelessly concocted strategies to influence the benchmark rate -- or at least convince an important client that they had. Using not just exhaustive interviews with Mr. Hayes and others, but reams of text messages and transcripts amassed during various investigations and lawsuits, Mr. Enrich reveals a culture in which success is defined by the outcome of the next trade and the only relationships that matter are among the network participants and their enablers higher up." - Jonathan A. Knee, New York Times Book Source
"Mr. Enrich effectively uses the unique access he secured to the mildly autistic UBS trader, Tom Hayes, who became the fall guy for the unfolding scandal, to produce a surprisingly human narrative...." - Jonathan A. Knee, New York Times DealBook
"Exciting...Written in a lively style reminiscent of Ben Mezrich's financial best-sellers, the book is full of colorful characters, high-flying wheeling and dealing, and intrigue. Hayes comes across as a greedy and irresponsible fellow, someone who was only too happy to use the global financial collapse in the late 2000s for his own private gain and who was ultimately--and this is deliciously ironic--brought down by journalists who were writing about that very same collapse. Highly recommendable for readers who enjoy true crime in the world of high finance." - Booklist
"David Enrich is a masterful financial story teller using real time communications from the central figures. He weaves into his narrative not only what happened, but how it happened and why. Michael Lewis has a new rival." - Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC and bestselling author of Bull by the Horns
"An absorbing read that provides both a meticulous dissection of an immense scandal as well as a fascinating human story." - Bethany McLean, author of The Smartest Guys in the Room and All the Devils Are Here
"A feat of reporting, and much of it reads like a novel. . . . Enrich's unfettered access to Hayes and his keen eye for detail make for a compelling portrait of a gifted but troubled man." - Washington Post
"In the hands of journalist David Enrich, the true tale of former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes becomes a page-turning crime drama that engages--and educates--readers from beginning to end." - Charlotte Observer
"As entertaining as the colorful character portraits are, what makes The Spider Network truly memorable are the portraits of the various institutions that made the scandal not just possible but inevitable." - New York Times
"[Enrich's] impressive reporting and writing chops are on full display in The Spider Network... From the start, the book reads like a fast-paced John le Carré thriller, and never lets up." - William D. Cohan, New York Times Book Review
"Dare I say it, but The Spider Network will snare you in its web of deceit, lies, corruption, manipulation and colorful characters. David Enrich's brilliant investigative expose will reverberate from Wall Street to Main Street." - Harlan Coben, bestselling author of Home and Fool Me Once
"A damning look at the culture of trader chicanery... Enrich has sidestepped the temptation to slip into author-as-prosecutor mode, instead going the wry tour guide route to lucidly (and often hilariously) usher readers through the Looney Tunes world that wrought l'affaire Libor." - John Helyar, coauthor of Barbarians at the Gate
"A damning look at the culture of trader chicanery that spawned the Libor-rigging conspiracy and an expectations-defying portrait of its putative ringleader, Tom Hayes. Enrich has sidestepped the temptation to slip into author-as-prosecutor mode, instead going the wry tour guide route to lucidly (and often hilariously) usher readers through the Looney Tunes world that wrought l'affaire Libor." - John Helyar, coauthor of Barbarians at the Gate
"A thrilling tour de force of reporting, revelation and reasoning. For anyone who wants to understand what really went on inside a scam of epic proportions, The Spider Network is unmissable." - Iain Martin, author of Crash Bang Wallop
"For years, David Enrich has chased down the inside story of one the biggest financial frauds in history and was even threatened with jail by a British court if he printed what he knew. Now, in his blockbuster book The Spider Network, all of the secrets come spilling out. Having gained unparalleled access to the central player in the conspiracy, Enrich unwinds this complex web of criminality, taking readers into the trading rooms, bars and business centers where plans were hatched. With an unerring eye for detail, Enrich shows in this masterful work how a toxic stew of greed, arrogance and a lust for power led to a criminal scheme of unparalleled dimensions. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the dirty underbelly of the financial world." - Kurt Eichenwald, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Informant
"With an unerring eye for detail, Enrich shows in this masterful work how a toxic stew of greed, arrogance and a lust for power led to a criminal scheme of unparalleled dimensions. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the dirty underbelly of the financial world." - Kurt Eichenwald, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Informant
"This dwarfs by orders of magnitude any financial scams in the history of markets." - Andrew Lo, professor of finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"David Enrich has written an incredibly entertaining, globe-straddling inside account of how one trader turbocharged a greedy cabal that scammed savers and borrowers everywhere. A must read if you want to understand how big banks and traders really work." - Marcus Brauchli, former Executive Editor of the Washington Post and Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal
"So how did a socially awkward English math whiz mastermind manipulation of lending rates on a global scale? And was Tom Hayes truly the mastermind, or just a cog in a corrupt banking system? In David Enrich's gripping tale, the characters have nicknames worthy of the Mafia, and their ethical compasses aren't much better." - Paul Ingrassia, Pulitzer Prize winner, bestselling author of Crash Course
"So how did a socially awkward English math whiz mastermind manipulation of lending rates on a global scale? ... In David Enrich's gripping tale, the characters have nicknames worthy of the Mafia, and their ethical compasses aren't much better." - Paul Ingrassia, Pulitzer Prize winner, bestselling author of Crash Course
