The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Maths Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History

2017 | Biography

Listed as an FT book of the month. "Anyone with an interest in financial services and in what has gone wrong will find The Spider Network compelling." (Daniel Finkelstein, The Times). "Will snare you in its web of deceit, lies, corruption, manipulation and colourful characters. [a] brilliant investigative expose". (Harlan Coben, bestselling thriller author). "A gripping narrative ...impressive reporting and writing chops are on full display ...reads like a fast-paced John le Carre thriller, and never lets up". (New York Times book review). "A feat of reporting, and much of it reads like a novel". (Leigh Gallagher, Washington Post). "A model of investigative financial writing...a more satisfying read than THE BIG SHORT by Michael Lewis". (Literary Review). "Remarkable". (Sunday Times). "Jaw-dropping". (Financial Times).

In 2006, an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor - the London interbank offered rate, which determines the interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide - was set daily by a small group of easily manipulated administrators, and that they could reap huge profits by nudging it fractions of a percent to suit their trading portfolios. Tom Hayes, a brilliant but troubled mathematician, became the lynchpin of a wild alliance that included a prickly French trader nicknamed "Gollum"; the broker "Abbo," who liked to publicly strip naked when drinking; a nervous Kazakh chicken farmer known as "Derka Derka"; a broker known as "Village" (short for "Village Idiot") who racked up huge expense account bills; an executive called "Clumpy" because of his patchwork hair loss; and a broker uncreatively nicknamed "Big Nose" who had once been a semi-professional boxer. This group generated incredible riches - until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.

With exclusive access to key characters and evidence, The Spider Network is not only a rollicking account of the scam, but also a provocative examination of a financial system that was crooked throughout.

David Enrich (Author)