Charles Gasparino – författare

Rags-to-riches stories abound in American lore, but even Horatio Alger would have been hard-pressed to write one as powerful as Richard Grasso''s: the son of a working-class family whose childhood dream was to become a cop. He grew up in New York City''s outer boroughs, far removed from the marble halls, expensive suits, and imported cigars of the New York Stock Exchange. Here is the riveting story of how he rose to become the most influential CEO in the Exchange''s history. Minus the tony upbringing, affluent prep schools, or inside connections that were de rigueur for top Wall Street players, Grasso would master the subtle deal-making and politics necessary to succeed in the most competitive business on Earth. But despite his successes, Grasso would soon sow the seeds of his own downfall, an event that would change the Exchange forever.

The King of the Club paperback edition, featuring a full update on the story, chronicles the amazing rise, fall, and possible rise again of Richard Grasso, and also tells the modern history of the all-powerful institution that he came to symbolize: The New York Stock Exchange.

The bestselling author of The Sellout tells the explosive story of the government’s crackdown on insider-trading networks—an investigation that has already racked up more than 60 convictions.

In Circle of Friends, award-winning journalist Charles Gasparino—one of Wall Street''s most knowledgeable observers—follows government investigators and prosecutors as they pursue one of the most aggressive and broad-reaching series of insider-trading cases in the nation''s history. A richly textured page-turner of investigative journalism based on extensive reporting, Circle of Friends chronicles the massive federal crackdown that has already put some of the biggest names on Wall Street behind bars, including Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group, and Rajat Gupta, a former CEO of consulting giant McKinsey Co. Other similarly sized targets are still waiting nervously, including the biggest one of them all—financial impresario Steve Cohen of SAC Capital, the giant hedge fund that has confounded regulators for years by cranking out a steady stream of market-busting returns.

Gasparino goes behind the headlines to reveal how the government makes its case, using every tool at its disposal—and at great expense to taxpayers—to supposedly make the investing world safer for average Americans. Gasparino asks why federal officials are so eager to prosecute these cases: What is the real damage to individuals? Do average investors really care? He explores why insider trading is all the rage these days when the U.S. government has failed to bring a single criminal case against the culprits who caused the 2008 financial crisis.

Circle of Friends is not a defense of insider trading, but it does offer an account of the politics of Wall Street crime fighting, revealing the behind-the-scenes ambitions that motivate headlines and burnish political careers.

A riveting work of narrative nonfiction, as engrossing and explosive as fictional thrillers of the finest magnitude, Circle of Friends is a wakeup call to the investing public.