Liar’s Poker

I have read my fair share of Stern School of Business books to know the good ones from the great ones and this one… wasn’t a great one.  In Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis, the reader learns of the job search and eventual “getting the job” by the author.  The concept of Liar’s Poker is an important one for any business savvy “wannabe” and Michael Lewis shares his experience interviewing and then landing the big job with Salomon Brothers, a one-time big investment bank in NYC. It was founded in 1910 by 3 brothers and had huge success as a partnership, the CEO in the late 1970s, John Gutfreund, became the managing partner and took the company public, which some would say led to its eventual demise.  Lewis’ journey at Salomon begins with the hiring process, the entry into the new staff training, watching how the other leaders moved their way through the company, exploits of the underbelly of the corp., and the maneuvering for the top spots by people like John Lipsky and Lewis Ranieri, and Michael Miliken, the junk bond king.  The story tells what it is like to be a bond tradesman on the floor of the stock exchange.  How the young males, no women in the late 1980s, were treated horribly until their time came to do so to the next generation.  The reader gets an idea as to the culture, and what really happens in those 100+ hour a week jobs making minimum wage. Lewis paints a pretty interesting picture of his colleagues and the environment.  His nicknames (Big Swinging Dicks – the big bonds men, the Piranha and the Arabs are two others) are graphic and detail the non “pc” world of the turbulent late 80s.  I think what is missing is that the book captures the time right before the Wall Street collapse, so the reader knows the “rest of the story” yet Lewis ends with his departure after getting his big salary and bonus, which does tell the tale of “get your money at any cost” and forget the loyalty!  Greed is the name of the game.  Prefer some of the other “tell-all books.”  Relatively quick read learning more of the Wall Street players.  I’d say skip this one, better ones out there.