Confessions of a Wall Street - Book

Book Description

What Eliot Spitzer never told you--here is the true story of a top Wall Street player's transformation from a straight-arrow believer to a jaded cynic who reveals how Wall Street's insider game is really played.

Dan Reingold was one of the top analysts on Wall Street for fourteen years and Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jack Grubman's chief competitor in the red hot sector of telecom. Reingold was part of the "Street" and believed in it.

But in this action-packed, highly personal memoir written with accomplished Fast Company senior writer Jennifer Reingold, the author describes how his enthusiasm gave way to disgust as he learned how deeply corrupted Wall Street and much of corporate America had become during the roaring stock market bubble of the 1990s. He shows how government prosecutors, even New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, never got to the heart of the ethical and legal transgressions of the era. And how they completely overlooked Wall Streeter's pervasive use of inside information, leaving investors--even sophisticated professionals--cheated.

Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst provides a front-row seat at one of the most dramatic--and ultimately tragic--periods in financial history. Reingold shares details of life on Wall Street that few can risk disclosing. He recounts his introduction to the world of Wall Street leaks and secret deal-making; his experiences with corporate fraud; and Wall Street's penchant for lavish spending and multimillion dollar pay packages.

Reingold spars with arch rival Grubman; fends off intense pressures from Wall Street bankers and corporate CEOs; and is wooed by Morgan Stanley's CEO, John Mack, and CSFB's convicted uber-banker Frank Quattrone.

Reingold describes instances in which confidential deals are whispered days before their official announcement. He recalls the moment he learns that Bernie Ebbers' WorldCom was massively cooking its books. And he is shocked to have been an unwitting catalyst for a series of sexually-explicit emails that would rock Wall Street, bring Jack Grubman to his knees, and contribute to the stepping aside of Grubman's boss, Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill.

Some of Reingold's stories are outrageous, others hilarious, and many are simply absurd. But, together, they provide a sobering expose' of Wall Street: a jungle of greed and ego, a place brimming with conflicts and inside information, and a business absurdly out of touch with the Main Street it claims to serve.

The book ends with a series of important policy recommendations to clean up the investing business. In the tradition of Liar's Poker and Den of Thieves, Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst is a no-holds-barred insiders' account that will open the eyes of anyone who invests in the stock market.

Book Description

What Eliot Spitzer never told you--here is the true story of a top Wall Street player's transformation from a straight-arrow believer to a jaded cynic who reveals how Wall Street's insider game is really played.

Dan Reingold was one of the top analysts on Wall Street for fourteen years and Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jack Grubman's chief competitor in the red hot sector of telecom. Reingold was part of the "Street" and believed in it.

But in this action-packed, highly personal memoir written with accomplished Fast Company senior writer Jennifer Reingold, the author describes how his enthusiasm gave way to disgust as he learned how deeply corrupted Wall Street and much of corporate America had become during the roaring stock market bubble of the 1990s. He shows how government prosecutors, even New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, never got to the heart of the ethical and legal transgressions of the era. And how they completely overlooked Wall Streeter's pervasive use of inside information, leaving investors--even sophisticated professionals--cheated.

Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst provides a front-row seat at one of the most dramatic--and ultimately tragic--periods in financial history. Reingold shares details of life on Wall Street that few can risk disclosing. He recounts his introduction to the world of Wall Street leaks and secret deal-making; his experiences with corporate fraud; and Wall Street's penchant for lavish spending and multimillion dollar pay packages.

Reingold spars with arch rival Grubman; fends off intense pressures from Wall Street bankers and corporate CEOs; and is wooed by Morgan Stanley's CEO, John Mack, and CSFB's convicted uber-banker Frank Quattrone.

Reingold describes instances in which confidential deals are whispered days before their official announcement. He recalls the moment he learns that Bernie Ebbers' WorldCom was massively cooking its books. And he is shocked to have been an unwitting catalyst for a series of sexually-explicit emails that would rock Wall Street, bring Jack Grubman to his knees, and contribute to the stepping aside of Grubman's boss, Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill.

Some of Reingold's stories are outrageous, others hilarious, and many are simply absurd. But, together, they provide a sobering expose' of Wall Street: a jungle of greed and ego, a place brimming with conflicts and inside information, and a business absurdly out of touch with the Main Street it claims to serve.

The book ends with a series of important policy recommendations to clean up the investing business. In the tradition of Liar's Poker and Den of Thieves, Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst is a no-holds-barred insiders' account that will open the eyes of anyone who invests in the stock market.

Table of Contents

CAST OF CHARACTERS

PROLOGUE: March 15, 2005

CHAPTER 1: THE PLUNGE: 1989-1991
This is the street where they fool people.
From consulting to communications: MCI
My first run-in with Jack Grubman
Street Smarts
Ed comes knocking
From the jetway to the attic
"…we do not make negative or controversial comments about our clients"
CHAPTER 2: AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS (OR LESS): 1992-1993.
Climbing Over the Wall
"You're the Only One"
"Hi, I'm John Mack…"
Privatization Pandemonium
The Perils of Papadam
Mississippi Madness
CHAPTER 3: RAINMAKER, DEALBREAKER: 1994-1996
Fraud 101
Tone and Notice
Jack's Knack
Afternoon Tryst
My Major Opinion Change: Upgrading the Bells, Downgrading AT&T
The Power of the Poll
"Just to make things interesting."
CHAPTER 4: INTIMIDATION: 1996-1997
M&A Mania
Nothing personal?
Internet Ignorance
Suffocation
My Failed Quest for Qwest
Fido Loves WorldCom
Irrational Exuberance
CHAPTER 5: MERGER MANIA: 1997-1998
The Case of the Secret Document
MCI/BT: the "Bloodbath"
Jack and Bernie: Inextricably Linked
Jack plays loose: I play banker
How I lost my bank $25 Million
CHAPTER 6: OXYGEN DEPRIVATION: 1998-1999
My Multi-billion Dollar Mistake: AT&T
"You're Missing the Fucking Boat on Level 3"
"You Know He Can't Keep his Mouth Shut"
The SEC's Deadly Mistake
"How can your best friends become your worst enemies?"
To Publish or Not?
CHAPTER 7: THE LEAK, THE AMBUSH AND THE DUPE: 1999-2000
"Shame on them"?
The $14 billion leak
The Ambush
A piece of the action at CSFB
Merrill: I'm outta there
"Any idea what the hell they were talking about?"
The $1.5 million mistake
The Dupe: Jack's AT&T Upgrade
"I've never had a conversation like this."
CHAPTER 8: HUMPTY DUMPTY: 2000
Playing with the Devil
My Mountaintop Message
Who wants to be a millionaire?
Two Minutes to Midnight
The beginning of the end
The Guidedown Game
A week from hell
CHAPTER 9: CRASH AND BURN: 2001
The Crash
The Show Must Go On
Global's Insider Game
Nacchio's Wrath
The Analyst Plays the Villain
Jack, the all-knowing
Qwest and Global: The Swapstakes
Vindicated-but so what?
Outed: Qwest's Accounting Gimmicks
"How Do You Know This?"
CHAPTER 10: JACK FELL DOWN: 2002-2003
The Worm Turns
WorldCon
Hearings from Hell
"What's a Level 3?"
Sex, Lies and Videotape
So Long to the Street
EPILOGUE: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

AFTERWORD: BACK TO THE FUTURE: SOME POLICY PRESCRIPTIONS
The Middleman's Dilemma
Why Spinning Off Research Won't Work
A Critique Of Actual And Proposed Reforms
What Needs To Be Done
NOTES
GLOSSARY
INDEX