More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of the New Elite - Softcover

Mallaby, Sebastian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408809753 ISBN 13: 9781408809754

Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks, 2011

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

'The best account ever published of the economics, politics and adrenalin of these amazing firms. It shows why hedge funds dominate the world of finance and why the politicians who rail against them end up making them more powerful' (Anatole Kaletsky)

'A warts-and-all history of hedge funds...a splendid account of the ups and downs of an industry in which few of the twenty-something hedge-fund wannabes know their history. They, and meddling politicians, should read this book before they are condemned to repeat it' (Financial Times)

An enormously satisfying book: a gripping chronicle of the cutting edge of the financial markets and a fascinating perspective on what was going on in these shadowy institutions as the crash hit (Observer)

'A superbly researched history of hedge-fund heroes stretching back to the 1950s, it is a fascinating tale of the contrarian and cerebral misfits who created successful, flexible businesses in an otherwise conventional financial world' (Economist)

Book Description:

The first book of its kind: a fascinating and entertaining examination of hedge funds today

Shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award

The New York Times bestseller

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1408809753
• ISBN 13: 9781408809754
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 504