“For the readers of The Big Short, The Den of Thieves, and Dark Money” reads the first line of description of Black Edge. And Sheelah Kolhatkar will not disappoint you. This non-fiction starts like a thriller novel as the author takes you to the dingy room at the Manhattan FBI field office where Kang is listening in on the tapped conversation between Raj Rajaratnam and his associate. Black Edge in the equity trading circles is the financial information that has an impact on the stock prices and the one that you get before it is made public.
Sheelah Kolhatkar, a former hedge fund analyst, is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes about Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and politics, among other things. She has appeared as a speaker and commentator on business and economics issues at conferences and on broadcast outlets including CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Charlie Rose, PBS NewsHour, WNYC and NPR.
Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street
Author: Sheelah Kolhatkar
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Random House (February 7, 2017)
ISBN-10: 0812995805, 978-0812995800
Black Edge Book Review
What starts as an investigation into Raj Rajaratnam, gives the FBI agents a peek into the murky world of trading by Hedge Funds. As they see the blatant exchange of information that was obviously illegal, it opens up a Pandora’s box and takes them on different paths where almost everyone seems guilty of doing it. But as the book says, one name kept propping up in all these different lines of investigation – SAC Capital and its illustrious head, Steven Cohen.
What now looks most like Billions, the author takes you inside the world of FBI agents who begin to dig deep and bring this big fish to book. And their first target a traders from these companies who have now started their own. The systematic perusal gives you a comprehensive picture of how a FBI investigation progresses. It also shows you the competitive nature of the Hedge Funds landscape and traders who are willing to go to extremes and bend the rules just enough.
But in spite of all the efforts, the government could not catch Steven Cohen. He was find just about ten percent of his worth and barred from running fund. But he could still invest his money doing what he did. And he did and amassed billions in 2014.
Although the book does not have an ending that most of us would want to see, it is a thrilling narrative that will show you the efforts of the FBI and gray areas of the trading world.
Interview with Sheelah Kolhatkar
“Black Edge doesn’t shed much new light on the SAC saga, but it’s still well worth the read. I couldn’t put it down.” ~ Brenda Jubin, Investing