Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis

by Girl Banker®
​
Apr-2012 rating: 4.5 out of 5

I read this book in the one month of garden leave that I had between moving from Goldman Sachs to HSBC back in 2007. I have seen an abridged version of it on Audible.com so I might re-read it to see whether my view of it remains the same today.

Aug-2007 review:
Very good read. Very informative regarding the world of investment banking and what a dominant force Salomon Brothers was in the 1980s / 1990s. I liked the character of John Meriwether in this book. When he’s approached by John Gutfreund for “one hand, one million dollars, no tears” and he replies, “no John, if we’re going to play for those kind of numbers, I’d rather play for real money. Ten million dollars. No tears.” I thought he was the DON. 

But by the time I read When Genius Failed, I don’t think he is portrayed as such a God. I was much more spell bound by Meriwether in Liar’s Poker than in When Genius Failed. Fantastic in explaining how mortgage backed securities developed. Very well worth a read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I recommend Liar's Poker in To Become an Investment Banker.

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