Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction
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- Create Date：2021-03-31 13:11:20
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：David Enrich
- ISBN：0062878832
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Summary
#1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
New York Times finance editor David Enrich's explosive exposé of the most scandalous bank in the world， revealing its shadowy ties to Donald Trump， Putin's Russia， and Nazi Germany
“A jaw-dropping financial thriller” —Philadelphia Inquirer
UPDATED WITH NEW REVELATIONS FOLLOWING THE SUPREME COURT’S LANDMARK RULING ON TRUMP V。 DEUTSCHE BANK
On a rainy Sunday in 2014， a senior executive at Deutsche Bank was found hanging in his London apartment。 Bill Broeksmit had helped build the 150-year-old financial institution into a global colossus， and his sudden death was a mystery， made more so by the bank’s efforts to deter investigation。 Broeksmit， it turned out， was a man who knew too much。
In Dark Towers， award-winning journalist David Enrich reveals the truth about Deutsche Bank and its epic path of devastation。 Tracing the bank’s history back to its propping up of a default-prone American developer in the 1880s， helping the Nazis build Auschwitz， and wooing Eastern Bloc authoritarians， he shows how in the 1990s， via a succession of hard-charging executives， Deutsche made a fateful decision to pursue Wall Street riches， often at the expense of ethics and the law。
Soon， the bank was manipulating markets， violating international sanctions to aid terrorist regimes， scamming investors， defrauding regulators， and laundering money for Russian oligarchs。 Ever desperate for an American foothold， Deutsche also started doing business with a self-promoting real estate magnate nearly every other bank in the world deemed too dangerous to touch: Donald Trump。 Over the next twenty years， Deutsche executives loaned billions to Trump， the Kushner family， and an array of scandal-tarred clients， including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein。
Dark Towers is the never-before-told saga of how Deutsche Bank became the global face of financial recklessness and criminality—the corporate equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction。 It is also the story of a man who was consumed by fear of what he’d seen at the bank—and his son’s obsessive search for the secrets he kept。
New York Times finance editor David Enrich's explosive exposé of the most scandalous bank in the world， revealing its shadowy ties to Donald Trump， Putin's Russia， and Nazi Germany
“A jaw-dropping financial thriller” —Philadelphia Inquirer
UPDATED WITH NEW REVELATIONS FOLLOWING THE SUPREME COURT’S LANDMARK RULING ON TRUMP V。 DEUTSCHE BANK
On a rainy Sunday in 2014， a senior executive at Deutsche Bank was found hanging in his London apartment。 Bill Broeksmit had helped build the 150-year-old financial institution into a global colossus， and his sudden death was a mystery， made more so by the bank’s efforts to deter investigation。 Broeksmit， it turned out， was a man who knew too much。
In Dark Towers， award-winning journalist David Enrich reveals the truth about Deutsche Bank and its epic path of devastation。 Tracing the bank’s history back to its propping up of a default-prone American developer in the 1880s， helping the Nazis build Auschwitz， and wooing Eastern Bloc authoritarians， he shows how in the 1990s， via a succession of hard-charging executives， Deutsche made a fateful decision to pursue Wall Street riches， often at the expense of ethics and the law。
Soon， the bank was manipulating markets， violating international sanctions to aid terrorist regimes， scamming investors， defrauding regulators， and laundering money for Russian oligarchs。 Ever desperate for an American foothold， Deutsche also started doing business with a self-promoting real estate magnate nearly every other bank in the world deemed too dangerous to touch: Donald Trump。 Over the next twenty years， Deutsche executives loaned billions to Trump， the Kushner family， and an array of scandal-tarred clients， including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein。
Dark Towers is the never-before-told saga of how Deutsche Bank became the global face of financial recklessness and criminality—the corporate equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction。 It is also the story of a man who was consumed by fear of what he’d seen at the bank—and his son’s obsessive search for the secrets he kept。
Reviews
Maureen Sepulveda
，
A fascinating， well-written page turner。 The author exposes the greed and profits at all costs of Deutche Bank。 Honestly， I felt like I was reading a fast paced thriller movie script at times， that’s how this book flows。 A really in-depth expose of how corrupt and greedy some people become。
Eric
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Really about 3。5 stars。 A very interesting read but the second half devolves a bit and spends far too much time on the background and day to day actions of Val。 Other than that a very telling expose of Deutsche and its myriad of misdeeds。
MM Suarez
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Incredible， you just can't make this stuff up！ Incredible， you just can't make this stuff up！ 。。。more
Lew
，
A well written and entertaining story of the history of Deutsche Bank。 One fact that I thought was no longer prevalent in banking （last seen during the great depression） is suicide amongst bank executives。 I was shocked。The only complaint that I have is the marketing of the book and the contents。 Donald Trump is touted right up there in the subtitle。 I expected him to be more prominent in the story。 His and his families mentions could have been handled as footnotes for all of their contributions A well written and entertaining story of the history of Deutsche Bank。 One fact that I thought was no longer prevalent in banking （last seen during the great depression） is suicide amongst bank executives。 I was shocked。The only complaint that I have is the marketing of the book and the contents。 Donald Trump is touted right up there in the subtitle。 I expected him to be more prominent in the story。 His and his families mentions could have been handled as footnotes for all of their contributions to the story 。。。more
Andy Lee
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Greed Greed Greed
Tim Peterson
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This book talked about a side of the economics of Trunk that I have never heard much about before。 It makes me want to do more research into this topic。
Ray
，
This is an exceptional book looking at the institutional failures at Deutsche Bank。 It’s very accessible， and reads like a thriller。This book is up there with Barbarians at the Gate in terms of all-time business books。 Highly recommended。
Nishan
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https://www。goodreads。com/book/show/4。。。# https://www。goodreads。com/book/show/4。。。# 。。。more
Gregory Smith
，
This book is a good read， especially if you have an interest in how a global bank functions - in this case how a global bank dysfunctions。 After the read， I am surprised Duetsche Bank is still operating。。。A lot of what is presented is familiar to me after working for decades in the capital markets arena for one of Canada's global banks - the personal greed， the profit seeking for a mere quarterly horizon at one time， the squabbling over who generated what revenue， the stealing of ideas and so on This book is a good read， especially if you have an interest in how a global bank functions - in this case how a global bank dysfunctions。 After the read， I am surprised Duetsche Bank is still operating。。。A lot of what is presented is familiar to me after working for decades in the capital markets arena for one of Canada's global banks - the personal greed， the profit seeking for a mere quarterly horizon at one time， the squabbling over who generated what revenue， the stealing of ideas and so on is familiar， but not the extent of what Enrich presents。 The involvement of regulators in the dysfunction is startling - one theory is that they desire to leave their relatively poorly paid positions in favour of higher paying investment banking jobs - hence turn a blind eye to the corruption - is plausible。 That three people were so depressed over connected events at Deutsche that they took their lives is astonishing。。。but credible。 Again， a good read。 。。。more
Cathy
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I saw a lot of talk about this book on TV news and decided to try it。 Yes， in part hoping for some scoops about Trump’s Deutsche Bank relationship， which I got。 Enrich is a superb storyteller。 How did he make a deeply reported story about banking so fascinating？ I was totally engrossed in this even though I didn’t know or care about these people previous to picking it up。 He made it gripping。 A terrific book。
Dwight
，
The fallacy of “the end justifies the means”The author has provided in-depth research about the crimes committed by Deutsch Bank’s teams overtime in search of the almighty dollar。 David Enrich’s skill set creates a book that is difficult to put down。 What I am most interested in is how it plays out for the Trumps。 It is painfully obvious that white-collar crime does pay， but many of those perpetrators’ lives end in a violent， sad fashion。
JDK1962
，
The tale of how a relatively staid German bank wanted to feast at the derivatives table， hired lots of investment bankers and traders to get them up and running， and discovered the joys of focusing on absolutely nothing but current quarter results （IT infrastructure？ What's THAT？）。 The author could likely write entire second book （at least） on the Russian oligarchy looting their own country and moving the wealth to Cyprus and elsewhere， with DB slavishly （pun intended） helping out。 Val， who the The tale of how a relatively staid German bank wanted to feast at the derivatives table， hired lots of investment bankers and traders to get them up and running， and discovered the joys of focusing on absolutely nothing but current quarter results （IT infrastructure？ What's THAT？）。 The author could likely write entire second book （at least） on the Russian oligarchy looting their own country and moving the wealth to Cyprus and elsewhere， with DB slavishly （pun intended） helping out。 Val， who the author casts as a significant player in the second half of the book， is just as awful as the DB folks， in his own small way， traveling the world on credit card fraud and trying to flog his adopted father's DB email to anyone who will pay him。 And no， having a crap childhood doesn't excuse being a garbage adult。Not much Trumpiness in the book （thank god）: he's more the illustrative case to poke at the rot in DB， rather than the centerpiece。 Obviously he doesn't come off well， but honestly， does he ever？Books like this make me despair for humanity。 It sort of slaps you in the face with how， for segments of society， "success" and "evaded consequences for acting like a sociopathic POS" are exactly the same thing， financially and morally。 。。。more
Luke Weller
，
Dark Towers exposes the most notorious bank on Wall Street while repeating a fitting refrain: profit at any cost。 Enrich is at his best when chronicling the troubled history of Deutsche Bank: from bankrolling the Nazi party to financing terrorist activity and facilitating the Great Recession。 The book becomes cumbersome by failing to reconcile its two main story lines: Deutsche Bank’s financial malpractice and Donald Trump’s business dealings。 Unfortunately， the two narratives never feel more th Dark Towers exposes the most notorious bank on Wall Street while repeating a fitting refrain: profit at any cost。 Enrich is at his best when chronicling the troubled history of Deutsche Bank: from bankrolling the Nazi party to financing terrorist activity and facilitating the Great Recession。 The book becomes cumbersome by failing to reconcile its two main story lines: Deutsche Bank’s financial malpractice and Donald Trump’s business dealings。 Unfortunately， the two narratives never feel more than tangentially connected， creating the impression that the latter was included not to enhance the Deutsche Bank story but to draw readership from those who oppose the 45th President。 In the end， Enrich misses in his attempt to turn Dark Towers into a salacious， bombshell account of Trump’s relationship with Deutsche Bank。 What could have been a Too Big To Fail financial epic is instead a confusing， dual narrative story stained by the author’s animus for an outgoing President。 。。。more
Stacey Saladin
，
This is a well-researched story of the rise and fall of Deutsche Bank - from its founding in the late 1800s to its peak in 2007 to losing 95% of its market value， and ultimately to the whistleblower who helped expose much of what is now known about its corporate malfeasance。 It cycles through a lot of characters who were part of bringing the derivatives market to DB in the 90s and how they grew the investment banking biz into an out of control， mismanaged， risk-taking behemoth。 We see how a comp This is a well-researched story of the rise and fall of Deutsche Bank - from its founding in the late 1800s to its peak in 2007 to losing 95% of its market value， and ultimately to the whistleblower who helped expose much of what is now known about its corporate malfeasance。 It cycles through a lot of characters who were part of bringing the derivatives market to DB in the 90s and how they grew the investment banking biz into an out of control， mismanaged， risk-taking behemoth。 We see how a company plagued with greed， short term profits at any cost， a complete disregard for the character of the people they did business， and compartmentalization within the organization led to a litany of criminal and unethical activities - mirror trades/money laundering schemes to help move money out of Russia， market manipulation， supporting sanctioned countries like Iran and Syria and related terrorist organizations， doing business with people like Jeffrey Epstein and Trump and the Kushners。。。。 They had an uncanny ability to hide massive balance sheet problems from investors and investigators and seems they have been constantly under scrutiny from multiple regulatory agencies。 Trump’s name is in the subtitle， but there’s really not much new in here about his banking relationship with DB and how they were the only bank who would still do business with him after continued defaults （even with DB， yet they continued throwing money at him）。The whistleblower is the son of a former executive （Bill Broeksmit） who died by suicide in 2014。 He was seen as one of the executives with somewhat of a conscience， but he was also one of the two who introduced the Wall Street model to DB。 Super interesting and really helps put much of today’s political discussion into context as there are many character connections revealed that shed light on why certain things happened the way they did。 。。。more
Adam
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Meh。 Bankers putting short term profits ahead of ethics isn't exactly news。 The author tried to create a narrative， but it mostly came across as a list of misdeeds without much connection between them。 As for the Trump connections， there weren't any new revelations。I found this to be a slog。 If you want an entertaining story of traders acting badly， read Michael Lewis' "Liars Poker。" Meh。 Bankers putting short term profits ahead of ethics isn't exactly news。 The author tried to create a narrative， but it mostly came across as a list of misdeeds without much connection between them。 As for the Trump connections， there weren't any new revelations。I found this to be a slog。 If you want an entertaining story of traders acting badly， read Michael Lewis' "Liars Poker。" 。。。more
Richard Copeland
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Crooks and charlatans in high finance 。。。 quel surprise。Not many books leave me feeling angry but this one did 。。。 not due to the quality of the writing which was excellent， but due to the subject matter。 Nothing really new here except the depth of the deceipt and the breadth of the criminality。 Were the average Joe to commit some of these fraudulent acts， they'd end up in an orange jump suit。 Not this lot。 Aside from a few expendable bigwigs who end up meeting ''the big banker in the sky，'' the Crooks and charlatans in high finance 。。。 quel surprise。Not many books leave me feeling angry but this one did 。。。 not due to the quality of the writing which was excellent， but due to the subject matter。 Nothing really new here except the depth of the deceipt and the breadth of the criminality。 Were the average Joe to commit some of these fraudulent acts， they'd end up in an orange jump suit。 Not this lot。 Aside from a few expendable bigwigs who end up meeting ''the big banker in the sky，'' they get away with it and go on to repeat their offenses。 Finishing this book while the U。S。 comes up with spurious reasons not to move beyond a $7。50 minimum wage makes one wonder whatever happened to Lady Justice。 。。。more
James McGlynn
，
Chicanery in banks in 2008 + Trump loans。 Hard to keep track of different issues at the bank but a good stab showing their demise。
Jennie Fiechtl
，
Extremely interesting view into a very hidden world。
Robert Bob
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Documentation of greed & power of Wall Street and international flow of cash。 Soviet era based Oligarchs & dark money。 Secret deals hidden 。A 2nd book will make final conclusions as it is not final end to Trump / Kushner / Deutsche Bank dealings。 Good reference。
NeeOn
，
Man。。 Deutsche bank。。 tsk tsk。。
Jana
，
Fascinating！Riveting investigation into the murky world of high finance。 Could have easily been a fiction novel。 How disheartening that it’s true。
Joe
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Promised to be “riveting” and “revelatory” 。。。 turned out to me mundane and meandering。 Interested details as to poor bank management but 100 examples with no further analysis。 Val story went nowhere。
Lori Kingsley
，
Amazingly detailed， taking you on a dark trail crossing continents and centuries， with the most recent issues involving Deutsche Bank and Donald Trump。 So good， I almost regret how much I now understand the greed and evil。
Siddhartha Jain
，
An insight into Deutsche Bank！ Reads like a thriller and someone makes one wonder with awe， the lifestyle of the bankers。 Their power， scale of the change and how some have such a high moral compass like broeksmit。 Interesting read though Donald trump bit is just an icing， with the bank being central to the story。
Bessie
，
can't beat spider network but still v interesting。 provides a lot of insight into Deutsche's risk-taking （and reckless） culture。 too many characters， felt like the only reason Val Broeksmit had a storyline （however uninteresting） was to credit him for sharing secret Deutsche documents can't beat spider network but still v interesting。 provides a lot of insight into Deutsche's risk-taking （and reckless） culture。 too many characters， felt like the only reason Val Broeksmit had a storyline （however uninteresting） was to credit him for sharing secret Deutsche documents 。。。more
Charles Inglin
，
I don't think the last chapter of this book has been written yet。 Doubtlessly there will be more information coming out in the future about the relationships of Deutsche Bank， Donald Trump， and Russian money。 But there's plenty of history here to contemplate in the story of how a stolid German bank went astray pursuing ever greater profits making risky decisions and hiding losses。 Donald Trump is only a part of the story， but emblematic of the culture that nearly destroyed the bank and drove sev I don't think the last chapter of this book has been written yet。 Doubtlessly there will be more information coming out in the future about the relationships of Deutsche Bank， Donald Trump， and Russian money。 But there's plenty of history here to contemplate in the story of how a stolid German bank went astray pursuing ever greater profits making risky decisions and hiding losses。 Donald Trump is only a part of the story， but emblematic of the culture that nearly destroyed the bank and drove several men to suicide。 。。。more
Sarah Goodman
，
Enjoyable and goes by quickly。 Educational if you’re interested in the history of DB。 Kind of sensationalist but overall a good read。
Dmitry
，
The title of the book is a bit misleading - the author has his opinion of Donald Trump and used the current moment to make the book title more exciting。 In reality， Trump is only a small piece of the puzzle and takes up only a small portion of the story - DB obviously had much bigger issues that took it down。 Nevertheless， the book is great and reads very well。
Jeanne
，
Deutsche Bank financed the construction of Auschwitz and the manufacturer of the poison gas， Zyklon B。 With this in its DNA could any subsequent good be expected？ I spent 45 years working in commercial banking， most of it with the big banks in NYC。 I have encountered unsavory clients and bank employees。 I was aware of DB， but I never really thought about its history or practices。 This book filled me in on much I had missed， even some things at banks where I worked。 DB's drive for profits at any Deutsche Bank financed the construction of Auschwitz and the manufacturer of the poison gas， Zyklon B。 With this in its DNA could any subsequent good be expected？ I spent 45 years working in commercial banking， most of it with the big banks in NYC。 I have encountered unsavory clients and bank employees。 I was aware of DB， but I never really thought about its history or practices。 This book filled me in on much I had missed， even some things at banks where I worked。 DB's drive for profits at any cost resulted in the loss of life from assassination to suicide to other untimely deaths。 Did any of them think it was worth the price？ When DB embraced avarice， no client was off-limits， no matter how reprehensible。 They apparently funded the despicable regimes of Iran， Syria， Burma， Libya and Sudan。 DB was webbed together with the Russian bank that was tied to Russia's intelligence arm and its top tier。 They also supported Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump when no other bank would。Stephen King could not have imagined greater horror than those forced on the world by Deutsche Bank。 。。。more
Stephanie
，