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Before 1922, Ivar had raised most of his capital in Europe, particularly from Swedish banks. As Ivar watched the Americans enter a period of buying mania, he saw a new source of funds. Ivar had studied financial history and was aware of infamous periods of mania and later panic, such as the South Sea Bubble of 1720 and the infamous rise and collaps
... See moreFrank Partnoy • The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, The Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals
A few months into his new job, George had seen one hundred of FTX’s three hundred something employees. He enjoyed maybe the single best view of its corporate architecture, with a clarity not available to its investors, its customers, its employees, and, possibly, the person who had created it. “Sam didn’t like people to have job descriptions,” said
... See moreMichael Lewis • Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
Why Diversification Results In Mediocrity
Throughout this time, Ivar appeared entirely without concern. Although he sensed the increasing panic, along with everyone else, he didn’t want anyone in New York to see him falter, particularly given the market’s decline. He knew markets reflected emotions and perception. In finance, there was no such thing as reality. There was only, as Pierpont
... See moreFrank Partnoy • The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, The Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals
"It's like a nephew who becomes dependent on a very rich, doting uncle," said William McDonough, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until 2003. "Suddenly the uncle dies and leaves the money to someone else, or decides he doesn't love the nephew anymore and cuts him off. You can ask, who's responsible—the uncle
... See morePaul Blustein • And the Money Kept Rolling in (And Out): Wall Street, the Imf, And the Bankrupting of Argentina: Wall Street, the IMF and the Bankrupting of Argentina
In the excitement of a looming opportunity, decision makers are infamous for concentrating on what a strategy could do for them if it succeeded and not enough, or at all, on what it could do to them if it failed. To combat this potentially ruinous overoptimism, time needs to be devoted, systematically, to addressing a pair of questions that often d
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