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Den of Thieves
Book

Den of Thieves

James B. Stewart
Simon & Schuster, 1992

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Editorial Rating

10

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

This classic account of insider trading during the greed decade remains as riveting today as the day it was published. Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart manages to turn an account of the arcane market manipulation that led to the 1987 crash into a page-turner with all the suspense of a detective novel. And while the main villains here - Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky - have faded off the public radar, their philosophical descendants at Enron, Tyco and Adelphia remind investors that greed and market manipulation will never go out of style. Stewart’s richly detailed book is must reading for those who trust their careers or their savings to the markets. getAbstract.com recommends this withering account of over-the-top greed to anyone who works or invests on Wall Street.

Take-Aways

  • A frenzy of greed gripped Wall Street during the 1980s, a time when sleazy self-dealing and trading on insider information became commonplace.
  • Junk-bond king Michael Milken was the most powerful figure in the stock market in the ’80s, paying himself a $550 million bonus in 1985 alone.
  • Milken preached the gospel of high-risk, high-yield bonds, which companies could use to mount hostile takeovers.

About the Author

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart was front-page editor of The Wall Street Journal when this book was published. He’s now a columnist for SmartMoney magazine. His other books include DisneyWar, Heart of a Soldier, The Prosecutors and The Partners.

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