Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-09-19 06:57:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Tom Wright
- ISBN：031643647X
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Summary
Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune， this "thrilling" （Bill Gates） 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" （Axios）。
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 symbolize 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 U。S。 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 symbolize 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 U。S。 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
Coffee
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rating: 3。5
Hannah
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Fascinating and infuriating at the same time。
Amira
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I don't know where to begin。 Honestly disappointed on how such a scheme can slip through the world banking system and went unnoticed for years。 Billion of dollars wasted which could have been used for so many things to further develop the country。 I wish more people would be aware of this story。 Kudos to the authors for sharing the information in a way that is readable by the non technical audience。 I don't know where to begin。 Honestly disappointed on how such a scheme can slip through the world banking system and went unnoticed for years。 Billion of dollars wasted which could have been used for so many things to further develop the country。 I wish more people would be aware of this story。 Kudos to the authors for sharing the information in a way that is readable by the non technical audience。 。。。more
Bella
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A thrilling read on one of the most notorious white collar crime。 Highly recommended especially to fellow Malaysians who are interested in the 1MDB case。
Circe
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What a great book。 I don’t remember ever hearing about Jho Low which surprises me- I even watched Wolf of Wall Street！ Some of the financial machinations were over my head but other than that this book is engrossing。
Frédéric Bonin
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A larger than life story told with an incredible amount of details。 The book is well written and explains very clearly the fraud， its steps， the key characters， etc。 In some ways， this book’s central character is not Jho Lo but an ex-Malaysian Prime Minister。 Overall a solid read that does drag on in the second half due to the nature of the main protagonist’s actions: steals money， funnels it through various schemes， parties with celebrities， rinse and repeat。 I would still recommend the book。
Scott Hardy
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What detail
Vincent Yeoh
，
A must read for all Malaysians！
John Boyd
，
An incredible true story of greed and compliance failures in the financial industry。
spartevan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I really wanted to like this book。 It has all elements that I love: a celebrity studded Icarus story of ambition， greed， and begging the debate of nurture vs。 nature。 What causes someone to defraud their own country？ Given a series of exploitable circumstances， would you ？ Could you？ It turns out I could not， because I wasn’t smart enough to understand the half of this book which explains how it was done。 If you have a finance background and antisocial tendencies， this book might be your krypton I really wanted to like this book。 It has all elements that I love: a celebrity studded Icarus story of ambition， greed， and begging the debate of nurture vs。 nature。 What causes someone to defraud their own country？ Given a series of exploitable circumstances， would you ？ Could you？ It turns out I could not， because I wasn’t smart enough to understand the half of this book which explains how it was done。 If you have a finance background and antisocial tendencies， this book might be your kryptonite。 The half I could understand （well， still not so well - philosophically） was the stars！ Leonardo DiCaprio， Swizz Beatz， Busta Rhymes， Paris Hilton， Miranda Kerr！！！。The dubious “Dr” Tim Leissner， disgraced Goldman Sachs broker and estranged husband of Kimora Lee Simmons cuts a prominent character as well and probably one of the most interesting to me。 Imagine marrying your （fourth？） husband only to realize within a short period of time he’s a polygamist and a white collar criminal。 On one hand， this book makes me think - stars， they’re just like us。 Hypnotized by the spoils of riches and paralyzed by their own fame。 Right。 Exactly like me。 But as we have seen time and time again， scams do not discriminate among us - and that remains the fascinating fiber on which this book was woven - to me。 In sum， I wasn’t smart enough for half of this book。 I really prefer my words without math。 Hence， I personally can’t strongly recommend this book unless you like reading both Financial Times and salacious gossip sites like Crazy Days and Nights， and pondering both calculus and the human condition。 。。。more
Kat
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4⭐ for research although a little more development into the personality and motivations of those involved would balance out the who/what/when things went down。
Henry Schulz
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Mostly engaging story about a wild financial scandal。 I don’t recommend audio book， though。 Not a great narrator
Alexandra Chiaramonti
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Unbelievable how easy it is to fool everyone。 Why be honest and fair？？
Sara Shah
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Informative， a lot of information that I did not know beforehand。 Sometimes hard to pick back up after not reading it for a bit
Céline Siddiqi-Cheung
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Picked up the book since I spotted Tim Leissner in Asia once and at that time the scoop was that he married Kimora Lee Simmons， but I didn't expect so much more corruption and deals with Jho Low and various governments （or a book to be written about Leissner）。 If you enjoy reading about heists and government corruption， this is a great read。 It was informative and engaged me throughout。 Picked up the book since I spotted Tim Leissner in Asia once and at that time the scoop was that he married Kimora Lee Simmons， but I didn't expect so much more corruption and deals with Jho Low and various governments （or a book to be written about Leissner）。 If you enjoy reading about heists and government corruption， this is a great read。 It was informative and engaged me throughout。 。。。more
Adelyne
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4 stars: 5 for the research/content， 3 for the writing - far too dry！ Full review to follow。
Jessica Duboff
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Incredible that this could actually happen。 Understanding the rise and fall was intriguing， but the middle 150 or so pages， I just had to skim because the financial explanations just made my eyes glaze over。 Writing for a newspaper is different than writing a book。
Anna Hyclak
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An insane story of a truly audacious fraud who made more than $3 billion disappear into champagne spray and diamond necklaces for Victoria's Secret Angels， then left the people of Malaysia to foot the bill。 My jaw dropped more than a few times while reading this， especially when I realized that Jho Low has still never been arrested and is presumably still living the good life on his yacht somewhere in China。 This book is a Netflix docuseries waiting to happen。 An insane story of a truly audacious fraud who made more than $3 billion disappear into champagne spray and diamond necklaces for Victoria's Secret Angels， then left the people of Malaysia to foot the bill。 My jaw dropped more than a few times while reading this， especially when I realized that Jho Low has still never been arrested and is presumably still living the good life on his yacht somewhere in China。 This book is a Netflix docuseries waiting to happen。 。。。more
Mark Parry
，
What a story！ Wow。Firstly the reporting and details in this book are crazy good and in-depth。 You really feel like you know what’s happening。For me it was a bit hard in places as I do not fully understand some terminology and phrases but it doesn’t stop you understanding the bigger picture。It’s a crazy crazy story。I do feel some sadness after reading the book。 I feel angry towards politicians， governments and corporations in there greed for money。 It’s crazy to think that this can happen and wil What a story！ Wow。Firstly the reporting and details in this book are crazy good and in-depth。 You really feel like you know what’s happening。For me it was a bit hard in places as I do not fully understand some terminology and phrases but it doesn’t stop you understanding the bigger picture。It’s a crazy crazy story。I do feel some sadness after reading the book。 I feel angry towards politicians， governments and corporations in there greed for money。 It’s crazy to think that this can happen and will probably happen again， just a bit different。Overall though it’s a great read and one that will probably stick with me for a bit。 。。。more
Claire Tan
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Great book。 Loved learning about how one man with absolutely no financial capabilities fooled the banking world and even politicians and powerful people just by being charismatic（？） if you can even call it that
Christian Faller
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During the first half of the book， I almost dropped it。 It seemed like an endless （and I mean ENDLESS） barrage of names who Jho Low met and did business deals with。 Names， upon names， upon names。 At times， I felt like I was reading an address book and the general story was only progressing marginally at best。 So until the halfway point， I would actually give this book a 1-star review。 It became quite spicy after that point though and I really enjoyed the end， glad that I stuck with it。 So overal During the first half of the book， I almost dropped it。 It seemed like an endless （and I mean ENDLESS） barrage of names who Jho Low met and did business deals with。 Names， upon names， upon names。 At times， I felt like I was reading an address book and the general story was only progressing marginally at best。 So until the halfway point， I would actually give this book a 1-star review。 It became quite spicy after that point though and I really enjoyed the end， glad that I stuck with it。 So overall， I would recommend the book， but I wished the author had found a way to consolidate the build-up a little。 。。。more
Kevin
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Jho Low pulls off the biggest heist in history by forming 1MDB - a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and siphoning off huge amounts for himself and his associates to fund their lavish lifestyles。 He’s brilliant。 And dupes foreign leaders， powerful individuals and some of the biggest banking and accounting companies in the world ex: Goldman Sachs， Deloitte etc。 there were plenty of red flags along the way but folks turned a blind eye because of greed， influence and fear。 Amazing story but also depr Jho Low pulls off the biggest heist in history by forming 1MDB - a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and siphoning off huge amounts for himself and his associates to fund their lavish lifestyles。 He’s brilliant。 And dupes foreign leaders， powerful individuals and some of the biggest banking and accounting companies in the world ex: Goldman Sachs， Deloitte etc。 there were plenty of red flags along the way but folks turned a blind eye because of greed， influence and fear。 Amazing story but also depressing that regular people and tax payers suffer because of these assholes and their greed and they often get little more than a slap on the wrist。 。。。more
Aletha Dunston
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Very interesting story， but the writing felt a little one-note and I felt like I was forcing myself to get to the end…
Kaylin Hu
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Fascinating read about so many corrupt individuals。 I had no idea about the magnitude of fraud and the depth of the deception with the 1MDB scandal。 Took me a while to finish， but that was mostly due to me and not the book。 I would recommend this if you’re looking for an interesting look into how corrupt governments and institutions can be， and how Jho Low infiltrated Hollywood， international politics， the luxury art world， and more and got away with it for so long。
Graham
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Pretty captivating account of excess in global finance。 It can get tiring but jho low knows how to party。
Josh Morgan
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A quick read from the first page。 An intricate scandal made very digestible whilst highlighting flaws/opportunities within the global financial system as well as entertainment industries。 Corruption within developing countries is clearly indicated as a weakness that has been capitalised by financial institutions and individuals。
Jugal
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3。5Fascinating story of Jho Low's incredible path towards becoming a fraudulent billionaire。While the journalism was good， the writing was definitely lacking。 I think the book is easily 50 pages too long purely from the frivolous and fluffy writing。 How many people reading this book don't know that Bangkok is in Thailand？ Some sentences/passages are almost verbatim repeated later in the book， not to mention the unnecessary detail on several of Low's parties/gifts/expenses。 After the first few we 3。5Fascinating story of Jho Low's incredible path towards becoming a fraudulent billionaire。While the journalism was good， the writing was definitely lacking。 I think the book is easily 50 pages too long purely from the frivolous and fluffy writing。 How many people reading this book don't know that Bangkok is in Thailand？ Some sentences/passages are almost verbatim repeated later in the book， not to mention the unnecessary detail on several of Low's parties/gifts/expenses。 After the first few were described I definitely understood the scope of Low's spending so I was pretty annoyed by the incessant detail。 Like， I get it dude， Swizz Beats went to a lot of partiesI also feel like Low's schemes were pretty dry？ He basically just convinced middle eastern oil princes that he was legit and then lied about his financials over and over。 So rather than this being a book about Low's series of heists I feel like it's a book about corporate/governmental ineptitude。 Low's story is incredible due to its scope and scale but as the book delves into the details of his rise and fall there's not a lot of depth to actually explore。 。。。more
Sudhagar
，
An important book but poorly written and missing key events and insights。As many people know， the 1MDB scandal is one of the biggest scams ever and has received extensive coverage and even led to regime change。 The story itself is a complex one involving the very opaque international financial system that Jho Low and his fellow conspirators used it to their advantage。 The media reports before were often came in bits and pieces， some accurate while others merely speculation or guess。 As such， thi An important book but poorly written and missing key events and insights。As many people know， the 1MDB scandal is one of the biggest scams ever and has received extensive coverage and even led to regime change。 The story itself is a complex one involving the very opaque international financial system that Jho Low and his fellow conspirators used it to their advantage。 The media reports before were often came in bits and pieces， some accurate while others merely speculation or guess。 As such， this book is a very important contribution to understand what really transpired， how and the cast of villains who planned and executed the heists。However， despite the extensive research by the writers， I was rather disappointed by the poor quality of writing and editing of the book。 I had expected a much better quality of research， analysis and writing from professional journalists working for a respectable business organization such as the WSJ。First of all， the approach itself。 There is so much focus and detailed description on the party lifestyle of Jho Low and his friends。 It almost sounds like taken from some gossip columns， tabloids or entertainment magazines。 Far less attention was shown on the actual criminal activities。Secondly， the authors show a remarkable lack of analysis， intellectual curiosity or questioning on many of the events described and chose to report as per described by their sources unquestioningly。 For example， many of the illegal transactions couldn't have happened without the knowledge and approval of the 1MDB management or the board。 A competent journalist would have questioned how such illegal activity was carried out and who were the insiders facilitated this with Jho Low。 It was revealed in the trial that the CEO himself was chosen by Jho Low and received some financial rewards / bribe。 Also， what happened with the board？ Were they involved or kept in the dark？Thirdly， the style of writing and editing were poor not befitting journalists working for an international business paper。 Fourthly， some of reportage seemed to be based on heresy and shouldn't have been included。 For example， the case of a prosecutor being killed。 This was exposed as a false accusation。 The same with the charge sheet that was supposedly prepared by the AG。 There several other matters that were mentioned that either false or likely to be false which the authors quoted without checking。Fifth， there are gaps in the narrative which was not adequately explained。 One is when and how the MACC started to investigate the scandal and who instigated it。 What transpired within 1MDB while these illegal activities going on also missing from the story。 Also there was an investigation and audit by the AG and PAC。 These too an important part of the narrative not covered well enough。Finally， I found the description of Malaysia to be inaccurate and highly condescending。 Casual remarks and comments are often thrown without checking or research throughout the book。 On the overall， the role of Jho Low was extensively covered and the book manage to put together a full story of the scandal。 But on the flip side， it is poorly written and much of it intending to provide sensation and shock rather than a sober and careful analysis of what went wrong。 。。。more
Spencer Chahin
，
Could be half the length。 Interesting story but poorly executed。
Gabi
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