High Finance

Description

He did what it takes to make it to the top, letting nothing hold him back. While orchestrating multibillion-dollar deals and becoming spectacularly wealthy, Jed binges on pot and alcohol, trades on inside information, cheats on his wife, and becomes one of Wall Street’s key players. At the dawn of the new century, with a monomaniacal obsession Jed borrows to buy as many shares of Lehman Brothers as he can get his hands on, only to be wiped out on that fateful September day when Lehman was fed to the wolves. Forced from his four-bedroom duplex on Park Avenue to a cheap rental in the working-class town of Patchogue, is redemption and resurrection for Jed even possible?

Through a kaleidoscope of voices—his wife, his British secretary, his Marxist brother, the Lehman “informant,” an internal auditor dedicated to Jed’s destruction, and others—we come to intimately understand Jed and how the unpredictable external forces to which we are all susceptible shape and define us.

The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was a pivotal moment in the 2008 crash of the financial markets that led to job losses, a housing market crisis, and a global recession whose effects are still being felt to this day. In telling the story of one man at the center of this moment, Ken Miller offers us a new perspective on Wall Street in the twenty-first century.

From the meteoric rise of an investment banker to the devastating fall of Lehman Brothers, this novel captures a defining moment in financial history.

Told through multiple voices, including family, colleagues, rivals, and informants, author Ken Miller immerses readers in the ambition, risk, and ruthless decision-making that fueled one of Wall Street’s most turbulent eras. Drawing on insider knowledge, Miller delivers a layered portrait of Jed Czincosca, a man whose relentless drive leads to fortune and destruction. With themes of money, power, and market collapse, this novel will resonate with readers who enjoy true crime, stock market sagas, and gripping business books.

It’s both a compelling drama and a sharp commentary on the system that rewards risk, and punishes failure.

An Excerpt From High Finance:

The more Lehman stock Jed owned, the greater his commitment to The Firm grew. As his investment increased, so did the frequency of his Stoli/pot binges, and the more frequently they occurred, the more nudges Amanda gave about the family’s need for a “relaxing vacation.” A week here and there at their second home in Quogue was not what she had in mind. Her nagging after the birth of their second son was becoming unbearable to him, just as his bouts of depression were to her.

Finally, one Saturday evening, the issue over vacation was resolved. He had been reading to Petey, who was six, and Robby, who was almost four. Tiffky Doofky was a story about a dapperly dressed canine garbage collector seeking love in all the wrong places. Amanda entered the room just as Tiffky found his true love in Estrella the snake charmer.

“Stay, mommy,” Petey begged. She sat down on his bed. “Do ducks really know the future?” Petey asked, referring to the prediction by Madame Tarsal, the fortune-telling mallard who had foreseen Tiffky’s happiness. “Only talking ducks,” Jed said. “Daddy, story,” Robby requested, around the thumb in his mouth.

Jed and Amanda looked affectionately into each other’s eyes over the bodies of their sleepy children. “Once upon a time,” he began, “Tiffky and Estrella had a litter of two beautiful puppies. Tiffky was a complicated mutt, and happiness was hard for him. He loved the puppies like crazy, often bringing a special something for them that he’d found in the garbage.” “Woof,” Robby said. “But he was crazy focused on one thing.” “What, daddy?” Petey wanted to know. “Owning the dump, or as much of it as he could get his hands on—” “Do doggies ever go on vacation?” Petey interrupted. He had obviously been pre-programmed by Amanda. In a heartbeat, Jed went from angry to resigned to magnanimous. “I don’t know,” he smiled, “but how would you boys like to go on one?”