The Best Business Stories of the 1980s and 1990s (non-fiction flight), contributed by a reader of The Traveling Chair

1. “Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco”, by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, 1990

One of the bestselling books of all time, “Barbarians at the Gate” tells the fascinating story of the fight to control RJR Nabisco. It was, at the time, the largest takeover in Wall Street history and exemplified an age of greed and hubris, characteristics of which are all still apparent today.


2. “When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Managment”, by Roger Lowenstein, 2000

The fascinating story of the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, founded by successful Wall Street trader John Meriwether and staffed by two nobel-prize winners, Myron Scholes and Robert C. Merton. Their beliefs that mathematics could be used to acheive high returns with no risk led to one of the biggest bailouts in history. Despite this epic failure, the rise of quantitative finance continued unabated.

3. “Den of Thieves,” by James B. Stewart, 1992

Den of Thieves tells the story of the 1980s insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally brought them to justice. Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street -- Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine -- created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions, until a team of downtrodden detectives triumphed over some of America's most expensive lawyers to bring this powerful quartet to justice. “Den of Thieves” is a portrait of human nature, big business, and crime of unparalleled proportions.

Commentary:
These three non-fiction books tell the greatest stories of the financial successes and failings of both 1980s and 1990s Wall Street. Read together, both the genius and the fatal flaws of the men who led the American financial world can be seen. These three books provide a terrific portrait of Wall Street culture in both its bravado and failings (see “Wall Street”, the movie). In particular, “Barbarians at the Gates” and “Den of Thieves” depict the massive greed present in the American financial market in the 1980s. “When Genius Fails”, a book about the 1990s, traces the emergence of "smart" money and the idea that math and computers could reduce risk and increase returns, which would ultimately prove a disaster (proven even more with recent financial events).