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  • The Match King

  • Ivar Kreuger, the Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals
  • Written by: Frank Partnoy
  • Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
  • Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)

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The Match King cover art

The Match King

Written by: Frank Partnoy
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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Publisher's Summary

At the height of the roaring 20s, Swedish émigré Ivar Kreuger made a fortune raising money in America and loaning it to Europe in exchange for matchstick monopolies. His enterprise was a rare success story throughout the Great Depression.

Yet after Kreuger's suicide in 1932, the true nature of his empire emerged. Driven by success to adopt ever-more perilous practices, Kreuger had turned to shell companies in tax havens, fudged accounting figures, off-balance-sheet accounting, even forgery. He created a raft of innovative financial products - many of them precursors to instruments wreaking havoc in today's markets. When his Wall Street empire collapsed, millions went bankrupt.

Frank Partnoy, a frequent commentator on financial disaster for the Financial Times, The New York Times, NPR, and CBS's 60 Minutes, recasts the life story of a remarkable yet forgotten genius in ways that force us to rethink our ideas about the wisdom of crowds, the invisible hand, and the free and unfettered market.
©2009 Frank Partnoy (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
True Crime Professionals & Academics Workplace & Organizational Behaviour Economics United States
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What the critics say

"A fascinating depiction of a man and his era (Greta Garbo makes memorable cameos), this book is a snapshot of a time all too familiar now: a speculative real estate bubble, unbridled consumer spending, investors buying derivatives based on sketchy information and a Wall Street operating by its own rules." ( Publishers Weekly)

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