Michael Lewis

4.31101 learners

Michael Lewis’s *Liar’s Poker* pulls back the curtain on the raucous, cutthroat world of 1980s Wall Street through his wild journey as an unlikely Solomon Brothers trader. Starting as an art history grad laughed out of investment bank interviews, Lewis lands a spot at Solomon’s legendary training program, where he witnesses the firm’s brutal, profit-obsessed culture firsthand. He dives into the rise of the mortgage-backed securities division, led by the larger-than-life Lewis Ranieri, who turned a neglected corner of finance into a cash cow—only to see it collapse amid internal backstabbing, talent poaching, and market shifts. Along the way, Lewis exposes the absurdities: million-dollar poker bets between executives, ruthless office politics, and a system where greed trumps ethics. By the end, he walks away from seven-figure paychecks, disillusioned by a world where success hinges on deception and self-preservation over real value.

Michael Lewis

4.4928 learners

Michael Lewis’ *The Big Short* pulls back the curtain on the 2008 financial crisis, following a ragtag group of misfit investors who saw what Wall Street, regulators, and rating agencies refused to acknowledge: the U.S. subprime mortgage market was a ticking time bomb. From the socially awkward doctor-turned-investor Michael Burry, who first used credit default swaps (CDS) to bet against overvalued mortgage bonds, to the fiery Steve Eisman, who spent years exposing the industry’s systemic fraud, and the small-time Cornwall Capital team that turned a $30 million stake into $800 million, these outsiders navigated a rigged system to profit from the crash. Lewis lays bare the greed, corruption, and collective denial that fueled the bubble—from banks packaging toxic loans into AAA-rated CDOs to rating agencies rubber-stamping garbage assets—while capturing the hollow victory of those who won, even as ordinary Americans bore the brunt of the crisis.