Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street
Sheelah Kolhatkar

High brow business tell all gossip about the rise and (kinda) fall of one of the most successful hedge managers of all time, Steve Cohen of SAC Capital.

Cohen, if you don’t know, ran the legendary SAC Capital where traders were relentlessly encouraged to find “edge” i.e. information that the market didn’t have, or didn’t understand, allowing Cohen to have an advantage. Many of these traders, and the analysts who supported their work began to engage in insider trading, which was, many believed, blessed and encouraged by Cohen. When it all started to come down, a number of SAC traders and analysts went to jail, but not Cohen. He closed SAC, but kept the billion-dollar art collection and multiple mansions. The reasons why are complex, but largely have to do with money. Specifically, the piles and piles of it Cohen had. All the details are here.

Written by a New Yorker staff writer, this has everything you need – incredible sourcing, both inside the government and the hedge fund world; clear explanations of the financial shenanigans going on here; completely fascinating characters you love to hate; and writing that, while at times a bit rushed, is largely top notch. Even though I don’t work in the world of finance, my world, and that one, overlap enough for me to be fascinated. I devoured this one. If you’ve an interest in how some financiers get very very rich and why its so hard for the government to prosecute them, this is well worth the read.

 

Recommended for the enthusiast.