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  • Trillions

  • How a Band of Wall Street Renegades Invented the Index Fund and Changed Finance Forever
  • Written by: Robin Wigglesworth
  • Narrated by: Christopher Grove
  • Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (8 ratings)

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Trillions

Written by: Robin Wigglesworth
Narrated by: Christopher Grove
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Publisher's Summary

From the Financial Times' global finance correspondent, the incredible true story of the iconoclastic geeks who defied conventional wisdom and endured Wall Street's scorn to launch the index fund revolution, democratizing investing and saving hundreds of billions of dollars in fees that would have otherwise lined fat cats' pockets.

Fifty years ago, the Manhattan Project of money management was quietly assembled in the financial industry's backwaters, unified by the heretical idea that even many of the world's finest investors couldn't beat the market in the long run.

The motley crew of nerds - including economist wunderkind Gene Fama, humiliated industry executive Jack Bogle, bull-headed and computer-obsessive John McQuown, and avuncular former WWII submariner Nate Most - succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Passive investing now accounts for more than $20 trillion, equal to the entire gross domestic product of the US, and is today a force reshaping markets, finance, and even capitalism itself in myriad subtle but pivotal ways.

Yet even some fans of index funds and ETFs are growing perturbed that their swelling heft is destabilizing markets, wrecking the investment industry and leading to an unwelcome concentration of power in fewer and fewer hands.

In Trillions, Financial Times journalist Robin Wigglesworth unveils the vivid secret history of an invention Wall Street wishes was never created, bringing to life the characters behind its birth, growth, and evolution into a world-conquering phenomenon. This engrossing narrative is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand modern finance - and one of the most pressing financial uncertainties of our time.

©2021 Robin Wigglesworth (P)2021 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“A magisterial, delightfully written history offering up portraits of the academic scribblers and entrepreneurial practitioners who created the index-fund revolution. It also contains common-sense wisdom that will benefit all investors... With consummate skill, he brings to life the eggheads and the “iconoclastic” investors who guided indexing through its difficult birth pangs and oversaw its exponential development...A rip-roaring yarn.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“​​With well-researched accumulation of one story after another, Wigglesworth brings to life how all aspects of investing have been transformed by indexation....But Wigglesworth manages to bring life to even well raked-over events, such as the boardroom bust-up that led to the birth of Vanguard or BlackRock’s “deal of the decade” acquisition...[a] first-rate book.” (The Financial Times)

“A thoroughly reported and engaging account, featuring characters including the indomitable John \"Jack\" Bogle, founder of the Vanguard fund powerhouse, Larry Fink, architect of the even-larger BlackRock, and Louis Bachelier, a French mathematician whose 1900 PhD thesis made an early contribution to the academic underpinnings of passive investing...an enjoyable read.” (Reuters)

What listeners say about Trillions

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A very deep dive into indexing

Overall, a good book that goes very deep into the history of indexing. If you are interested in finance and the people behind it you will find the book enjoyable. The book starts at the very beginning (pre-Vanguard S&P 500) and goes right up to the modern day. Very well researched and well written, however, keep in mind that indexing is a rather "dry" subject so it doesn't exactly keep you on the edge of your seat.

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Insightful

Enjoyed every minute of this informative treatise on the creation, strengths, and vagaries of index funds.

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So boring

Super boring up until the last few chapters where they talk about my relevant events and effects on the investment industry.

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