Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World
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- Create Date：2021-08-15 06:55:05
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Tom Wright
- ISBN：1912854546
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Summary
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune， this New York Times-bestseller exposes how a ‘modern Gatsby’ swindled over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs in ‘the heist of the century’。
Now a #1 international bestseller， Billion Dollar Whale is ‘an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale’ （Publishers Weekly， starred review）， revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history。
In 2009， a chubby， mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude — one that would come to symbolise the next great threat to the global financial system。 Over a decade， Low， with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others， siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund — right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs。 Low used the money to finance elections， purchase luxury real estate， throw champagne-drenched parties， and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street。
By early 2019， with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States， Low had become an international fugitive， even as the US Department of Justice continued its investigation。
Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar’s Poker， Den of Thieves， and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world。
Now a #1 international bestseller， Billion Dollar Whale is ‘an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale’ （Publishers Weekly， starred review）， revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history。
In 2009， a chubby， mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude — one that would come to symbolise the next great threat to the global financial system。 Over a decade， Low， with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others， siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund — right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs。 Low used the money to finance elections， purchase luxury real estate， throw champagne-drenched parties， and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street。
By early 2019， with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States， Low had become an international fugitive， even as the US Department of Justice continued its investigation。
Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar’s Poker， Den of Thieves， and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world。
Reviews
Carlotta
，
In short， interesting story， but a bit dry and lengthy。
Adam
，
Makes a good companion piece to BAD BLOOD， as its another story of an enigmatic， sociopathic grifter who pulls off a massive con with the willing help of the corrupt system of global capital。 It wasn't quite as engrossing as that book for me， as the many complex financial details made this liberal arts major's eyes glaze over。 But as a story of 21st century avarice and an empty lust for power， it's fascinating。 I also can't get over the irony of Jho Low's one producing triumph being the financin Makes a good companion piece to BAD BLOOD， as its another story of an enigmatic， sociopathic grifter who pulls off a massive con with the willing help of the corrupt system of global capital。 It wasn't quite as engrossing as that book for me， as the many complex financial details made this liberal arts major's eyes glaze over。 But as a story of 21st century avarice and an empty lust for power， it's fascinating。 I also can't get over the irony of Jho Low's one producing triumph being the financing of THE WOLF OF WALL STREET， another story of a real-life con man whose life eerily mirror Low's。 。。。more
Amanda Harris
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Very interesting and I’m ashamed not to have been aware of this story at the time！ It IS very dense with financial details， which sometimes were tough to slog through。
Adam Snyder
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definitely a fun one， like nothing I’ve read before。 money & power can only get you so far folks
Fern
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Fact is stranger than fiction。 How one man could pull the wool over some of the largest banks and financial institutions， and not only outrageously stole more than $10 billion from Malaysia but to throw it all on parties， yachts， casinos is incredibly hard to swallow！ The tons of people， from politicians， royalty， actors， bankers who turned a blind eye to it all in the name of greed， and happily took their own rewards！ The book could have done with better editing， but it was an all round excelle Fact is stranger than fiction。 How one man could pull the wool over some of the largest banks and financial institutions， and not only outrageously stole more than $10 billion from Malaysia but to throw it all on parties， yachts， casinos is incredibly hard to swallow！ The tons of people， from politicians， royalty， actors， bankers who turned a blind eye to it all in the name of greed， and happily took their own rewards！ The book could have done with better editing， but it was an all round excellent journalistic investigation to expose the story behind the heist。 。。。more
Jana
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Greed at a whole new levelFascinating， eye-opening， and disgusting， all at the same time。 It’s amazing the lengths some will go to just to live a life of excess。
Tenko Nikolov
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Better narrative than “Barbarians at the gate”， even more shocking when you read about all the celebrities who were in for a treat。 The one company that never disappoints and is always present in big financial schemes though as expected is Goldman Sachs。
Daniel
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Non-stop absurd。 The truth is stranger than fiction。
Jackson Barkstrom
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I was surprised by this book because Jho Low didn't even seem that smart。 He just tried really， really hard to hoard as much wealth as he could by whatever means necessary， and he was good at figuring out who he could trust to take his money and not ask questions （which as it turns out is a lot of people！）。This book reveals some significant failures of global governance。 For one， Low's story is a great example of why bankers， lawyers etc。 should have to bear some legal risk for the actions of th I was surprised by this book because Jho Low didn't even seem that smart。 He just tried really， really hard to hoard as much wealth as he could by whatever means necessary， and he was good at figuring out who he could trust to take his money and not ask questions （which as it turns out is a lot of people！）。This book reveals some significant failures of global governance。 For one， Low's story is a great example of why bankers， lawyers etc。 should have to bear some legal risk for the actions of their clients。The story is everything you'd want and then some。 A fraud that implicates so many different people in so many different parts of the world。 。。。more
WhatIsItLike。to
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Just rich people doing rich people things。 Utterly boring， even on 2x speed （audiobook）。 I couldn't care less about this guy。 Not even caught？ Turns out I don't like white collar crime storytelling。 Wanted to be wolf of wall street， we got a whate。 Random malaysian guy。 Offshore shenanigans。 Why is Leonardo DiCaprio always in the picture？ Just rich people doing rich people things。 Utterly boring， even on 2x speed （audiobook）。 I couldn't care less about this guy。 Not even caught？ Turns out I don't like white collar crime storytelling。 Wanted to be wolf of wall street， we got a whate。 Random malaysian guy。 Offshore shenanigans。 Why is Leonardo DiCaprio always in the picture？ 。。。more
Noa
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2。5 stars。 Expected more based on the reviews。 Started off interesting， but just got tedious and convoluted。 Another depressing story on how big banks are used to steal money and yet they still get to stay in business after all is said and done。 Would have liked charts/diagrams showing how the money was stolen。
Regina
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Wow what a heist。 Those bastards。。。。。 I heard about ex PM Najib Razak before but I never heard of Jho Low。 As an Indonesian， a country that has been corrupt since a loong loonggg time， I cant help but to think that our corruptor is also like Jho Low， Najib Razak， Rosmah and etc。 Maybe not into the sense of that many billions， but into the sense of how heartless and greedy they are when it comes to money。 As long as they are happy， they dont care about the others。 When I imagine jho low's face pa Wow what a heist。 Those bastards。。。。。 I heard about ex PM Najib Razak before but I never heard of Jho Low。 As an Indonesian， a country that has been corrupt since a loong loonggg time， I cant help but to think that our corruptor is also like Jho Low， Najib Razak， Rosmah and etc。 Maybe not into the sense of that many billions， but into the sense of how heartless and greedy they are when it comes to money。 As long as they are happy， they dont care about the others。 When I imagine jho low's face partying or rosmah satisfied face with a new bought diamond or hermes bag， I feel soooooo sooo disgusted！ But as the book said， this can happen also because a failed system in our financial world。 Jho Low's scheme would not be successful if he didnt get any help from the bankers， auditors， and other excecutive from around the world， who cant turn their eyes for easy money， eventhough there are a lot of red flags in the transaction。 So really， its not only about Malaysia， but also about the world。 its only about money money and money。 The book provides such a detailed explanation of how Jho Low did the biggest financial heist in history。 What I like about this book is they keep repeating who is who after some time， like when they know the readers would probably already forgot who is who。 So it was sooo perfect for people like me， who cant remember names easily 😆 And they also give some basic explanation of financial terms which is also a good thing for people like me， who interested in finance but still couldnt remember every financial jargon。 I didnt give full stars because this book felt like a dry report。 But nevertheless what an interesting read。 。。。more
Hung
，
Gấp cuốn sách lại và cảm thấy còn một chút khó chịu trong lòng。 Điều này xuất phát từ việc Jho Low， cái tên tạo nên câu chuyện trong cuốn sách， vẫn chưa phải gánh chịu những sự trừng phạt xứng đáng sau những gì anh ta đã làm。 Nhưng nhìn ở một góc độ khác， Jho Low có thể là một hình tượng của sự tự tin， khôn ngoan và bản lĩnh， bởi không phải ai cũng có thể thao túng hệ thống tài chính toàn cầu và kết thân với hàng loạt các ngôi sao đình đám ở Hollywood， và không phải ai cũng có thể tiếp tục tổ ch Gấp cuốn sách lại và cảm thấy còn một chút khó chịu trong lòng。 Điều này xuất phát từ việc Jho Low， cái tên tạo nên câu chuyện trong cuốn sách， vẫn chưa phải gánh chịu những sự trừng phạt xứng đáng sau những gì anh ta đã làm。 Nhưng nhìn ở một góc độ khác， Jho Low có thể là một hình tượng của sự tự tin， khôn ngoan và bản lĩnh， bởi không phải ai cũng có thể thao túng hệ thống tài chính toàn cầu và kết thân với hàng loạt các ngôi sao đình đám ở Hollywood， và không phải ai cũng có thể tiếp tục tổ chức các bữa tiệc xa xỉ trên du thuyền khi mà bản thân đang bị truy nã ở nhiều nơi trên thế giới。 Nói tóm lại thì đây là một cuốn sách hay， hay từ nội dung nó khai thác và giá trị mà nó mang lại。 Việc vụ án 1MDB cho đến nay vẫn còn tốn nhiều giấy mực ở Malaysia cho thấy đây là một sự kiện rất， rất lớn， thiệt hại mà nó mang lại sẽ còn kéo dài trong tương lai。Về vấn đề dịch thuật， bản dịch này có nhiều lỗi đánh máy và chất lượng dán gáy sách khá tệ。 Quyền của mình bị bong gáy khá nhiều， trong khi trước giờ mình không hay gặp tình trạng này。 。。。more
Tom
，
It's a great good book about Jho Low's behaviors while using other people's money， how he connected to Leonardo DiCaprio， international money laundering （and how Goldman was involved）， Rosmah & Najib expensive hobbies， and the great scandal of 1MDB。 Recommended。 It's a great good book about Jho Low's behaviors while using other people's money， how he connected to Leonardo DiCaprio， international money laundering （and how Goldman was involved）， Rosmah & Najib expensive hobbies， and the great scandal of 1MDB。 Recommended。 。。。more
Nick Nigrelli
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Super interesting。 Biggest financial heist in history
Sophie
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Reading this book at times made me feel pretty sick。 It's unbelievable that there's such rampant corruption at work among the rich， and that regardless of any negative press or repercussions， it will just continue。 Reading this book at times made me feel pretty sick。 It's unbelievable that there's such rampant corruption at work among the rich， and that regardless of any negative press or repercussions， it will just continue。 。。。more
Helen Z
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Utterly insane story about corruption， sociopathy， and greed。
keving chaupiz
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Kent Brockman: Remember millionaire C。 Montgomery Burns？ The man who blocked out our sun， ran over a local boy， and stole Christmas from 1981 to 1985？ Well， guess who's flat broke， and picking up trash for a living？Homer: Please be Flanders， Please be Flanders。 Kent Brockman: Remember millionaire C。 Montgomery Burns？ The man who blocked out our sun， ran over a local boy， and stole Christmas from 1981 to 1985？ Well， guess who's flat broke， and picking up trash for a living？Homer: Please be Flanders， Please be Flanders。 。。。more
Farah Mursyieda
，
Billion Dollar Whale takes us through the glitz and glam of Hollywood parties with some of the best A-list celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Paris Hilton， and the party doesn’t stop there。 The book reveals the story of a “self-made” billionaire named Jho Low， a Malaysian financier who climbs his social ladder and swindle his way with the help of his ally of powerful characters from Saudi royalty to rappers， and Goldman Sachs bankers to former Prime Minister of Malaysia。 At one point， Jho Lo Billion Dollar Whale takes us through the glitz and glam of Hollywood parties with some of the best A-list celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Paris Hilton， and the party doesn’t stop there。 The book reveals the story of a “self-made” billionaire named Jho Low， a Malaysian financier who climbs his social ladder and swindle his way with the help of his ally of powerful characters from Saudi royalty to rappers， and Goldman Sachs bankers to former Prime Minister of Malaysia。 At one point， Jho Low was even reported to be dating the supermodel Miranda Kerr。 This， unfortunately， was done at the cost of billions of dollars through his global financial scheme involving the Malaysian sovereign fund called 1MDB。 His carefully-kept sham eventually comes to an end with the investigation by U。S。 Department of Justice。 If you are on a hunt for crime thriller， corruption， or even political scandal， this book might just be the right one for you。 Being a Malaysian myself， I have to say that this book was hard to put down。 It doesn't feel like long ago when we had our Bersih rally demanding our Prime Minister to step down due to his alleged connection to the 1MDB scandal。 But you don’t have to be a Malaysian to feel a deep sense of rage and shock when reading this book。 It’s a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 for me。 。。。more
Zulugoat
，
blain the genre， rather disappointing mostly highlights how great 'Catch and Kill' and 'Bad Blood' wereneeds a thorough editing job in my view as way too many details and repetitions。it's a safe bet that a much better book on this massive fraud will come out in the next few years， but in the meantime， I guess we have to settle for this to understand the craziness of what happened。 blain the genre， rather disappointing mostly highlights how great 'Catch and Kill' and 'Bad Blood' wereneeds a thorough editing job in my view as way too many details and repetitions。it's a safe bet that a much better book on this massive fraud will come out in the next few years， but in the meantime， I guess we have to settle for this to understand the craziness of what happened。 。。。more
Alissa H
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Cool ingredients with boring cooking skills like what is up with he did this he did that story telling
Tony Duan
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Detailed chronicle of Jho Low's scheme to defraud billions of dollars of public funds from the Malaysian "sovereign wealth fund" 1MDB。 Kind of like The Wolf of Wall Street， except somehow even more degenerate， and it actually happened IRL。 Low's two main heists were pulled off by:1。 Investing $1B of 1MDB assets into a "joint venture" with PetroSaudi， which turned out to be a Cayman Islands account that was impossible to audit。 2。 Issuing $5B of 1MDB bonds guaranteed by Abu Dhabi'a ICPC using the Detailed chronicle of Jho Low's scheme to defraud billions of dollars of public funds from the Malaysian "sovereign wealth fund" 1MDB。 Kind of like The Wolf of Wall Street， except somehow even more degenerate， and it actually happened IRL。 Low's two main heists were pulled off by:1。 Investing $1B of 1MDB assets into a "joint venture" with PetroSaudi， which turned out to be a Cayman Islands account that was impossible to audit。 2。 Issuing $5B of 1MDB bonds guaranteed by Abu Dhabi'a ICPC using the non-existent $1B as collateral。 Hilariously， the trick Low pulls with the most success throughout the book is simply setting up shell companies with misleading names （ex。 "Apple Inc" vs "Apple Co"） to fool auditors and investors。 Kind of wild how many ostensibly professional people fell for that。 And of course， having the backing of powerful politicians （Najib Razak in Malaysia， Al Otaiba in the UAE） and celebrities （Leonardo DiCaprio， Miranda Kerr） turned out to be crucial to Low's image as well。 Razak （and his god-awful wife） come across as particularly terrible kleptocrats; thankfully it seems they're nowadays being held accountable for corruption and abuse of power in Malaysia。 Turns out nobody -- somehow Low managed to fool Deloitte accountants， Goldman bankers， English auctioneers， Saudi princes， and even Hollywood celebrities -- really asks questions as long as you can keep the money rolling in。 There are obvious incentives issues throughout the financial services industry。 I suppose the lesson is that for enough money， anyone can be bought。 。。。more
Vonetta
，
Someone on here commented that this book is an example of why journalists aren’t always great authors （or something to that effect）， and I have to agree。 Trust me: this is an incredibly fascinating story， but you can tell they were trying to go for the “cliffhanger” at the end of each chapter and sometimes they “told” rather than “showed。” Last year， I read Ben Hubbard’s “MBS，” and it was outstandingly well-written， and I was hoping for a similar vibe here and definitely didn’t get it。 So， inter Someone on here commented that this book is an example of why journalists aren’t always great authors （or something to that effect）， and I have to agree。 Trust me: this is an incredibly fascinating story， but you can tell they were trying to go for the “cliffhanger” at the end of each chapter and sometimes they “told” rather than “showed。” Last year， I read Ben Hubbard’s “MBS，” and it was outstandingly well-written， and I was hoping for a similar vibe here and definitely didn’t get it。 So， interesting story that kept me reading， but the writing left a lot to be desired。 。。。more
John Shore
，
This is without a doubt the best account of a Heist story I have read。 （And I've read some boring ones in my time）。 There are those which pack in too many facts and too many names， places and characters。 （Yes， such things are possible） and there are those who pack in too little。 this had the right blend， and I was there， glued to the pages the entire time。 This was an exciting read for me and something I would gladly return to。 I was amazed about the lengths this guy would go and how he would pu This is without a doubt the best account of a Heist story I have read。 （And I've read some boring ones in my time）。 There are those which pack in too many facts and too many names， places and characters。 （Yes， such things are possible） and there are those who pack in too little。 this had the right blend， and I was there， glued to the pages the entire time。 This was an exciting read for me and something I would gladly return to。 I was amazed about the lengths this guy would go and how he would pull off his scams。 Such a bizarre account of the massive fraud orchestratrated by Jho Low and how he （almost） got away with his exploits。 With nerves of steel， the ambition of a Howard Hughes and the slickness of an Eel， Low remains the one of the most fascinating people I have read about and I would never have learned of his fantastic（ally awful schemes and masterplans） if not for this book。 Great， great read！ 。。。more
Doug Kohl
，
Fascinating or Anger ProvokingInteresting unwinding of a despicable display of greed。 Would have been difficult to follow if not for the skillful and unobtrusive little reminders of who is who throughout the book。
Vicente S。
，
Interesting story but if you saw the Netflix documentary dirty money most of the book is covered in 50 minutes in the second episode。 Easy to read。
Alisa
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Fascinating story of how Malaysia’s Great Gatsby stole US$5 billion with the help of Goldman Sucks。
Chris
，
Outrageously good story
Hans Peter
，
This is an amazing story about distorted values， a failing system and an excellent illustration of how far some people are willing to go if they get paid well。I can't help feeling sorry for all those that crave recognition and acceptance from others through money。 Of course such relationships are transactional and disappear as soon as the money dry out。I also have a hard time understanding the value of paying celebrities to attend your parties。 What empty hole are they trying to fill？The book is This is an amazing story about distorted values， a failing system and an excellent illustration of how far some people are willing to go if they get paid well。I can't help feeling sorry for all those that crave recognition and acceptance from others through money。 Of course such relationships are transactional and disappear as soon as the money dry out。I also have a hard time understanding the value of paying celebrities to attend your parties。 What empty hole are they trying to fill？The book is well researched and well written and proves that we have a lot of work ahead of us fixing a capitalistic market economy that are lead by people without a moral compass。 。。。more
Liling Tan
，