Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

Wow! A Phenomenal Read. For the average reader with little understanding of how financial markets and shell companies work, this book can be a difficult read, but fortunately the authors have supplied basic explanations of mechanisms such as securities and global events such as the housing bubble to non-American readers. The story that the authors have managed to piece together is complex and spellbinding, a true work of relentless research and courage which can only benefit future generations. I am also moved by the sympathy that the authors have for the Malaysian people -- failed financial system, failed judicial and legal systems, these will create an uncontrollable number of victims of ordinary Malaysian people. The failure of reputable financial institutions to report fraud as it was being carried out; the failure of national anti-graft commissions to root out corruption and deliver justice back to the people; the failure of justice to protect those who are championing for noble causes such as transparency and kindness -- these prompted so many questions on the purpose and effectiveness of political systems that exist around the world. And when we think about how the seized assets are going to line up the pockets of some other greedy person anyway instead of going into sustainable R&D projects or addressing critical social and infrastructural concerns, one wonders: what would we like if there was no greed? If the $4.5B corrupted from the funds went into real projects with real social impact, what would the world look like now? Should we pity the Malaysians for the better future that could have been theirs? The fund is gone, the debt is there, and the story is real -- a story that should be remembered for generations who seek answers on why they had to sacrifice their better future so someone can enjoy champagne, jewels, luxury homes and parties. And then what shall we say of the shameless entertainment industry who could care less where their money came from? Of firms who have forgotten the moral aspect of the economic system as they chase and lust after profit? What about the tyrants who feel so immeasurably untouched and remain free to this day, yet will destroy livelihoods and families of ordinary folk for the smallest of mistakes? This book is thoroughly thought-provoking and I have nothing but praise and admiration for the authors. Thank you so much for bringing this story to the general public, now I'm off to re-read this book to better understand everything.

Tom Wright and Bradley Hope’s Billion Dollar Whale is an imperfect but still essential read for those interested in the 1MDB scandal and chronicles of financial malfeasance and fraud in general. But there are some limitations to be aware of in this otherwise briskly reported book: Unlike other recent chronicles of lies, power, and politics gone wrong like Bad Blood, Black Edge, or Dark Money, you will not find a meticulous appendix or a voluminous list of citations and references. Instead, Wright and Hope focus the bulk of their narrative on the life and lies of Jho Low, the man who orchestrated the massive theft of money from 1MDB, the so-called sovereign wealth fund. Deciding to focus on Low is perhaps the greatest strength and weakness of the book. The authors tell at times exceedingly long and vivid anecdotes of Low indulging in his vices (parties, celebrities, gambling, mansions, art, jewelry, etc.), so much so that there are times where one wishes Wright and Hope brought the same narrative detail and word count to the arcana of their financial crimes. For example, in one early section of the book Wright and Hope cite the first of many “rumors in banking circles” as early as 2009 that “Low had siphoned” millions in bond money in one of his earliest schemes. It would have been helpful to learn more about who and how such “rumors” were propagated and why no one did anything. Well before the end of the book, the long accounts of Low’s debauched parties in Aspen, Las Vegas, the yacht Equanimity he had built with stolen money, and elsewhere begin to blur together. As Low’s crimes grow and more institutions and individuals are brought into his circle of graft his parties risk overshadowing the more important part of the book: how these crimes were possible, what kind of culture and systems made such lies go unchecked for so long, and how many of the 1MDB scandal’s perpetrators still walk free and unpunished even today. Low proved astonishingly adept at taking advantage of lax oversight, making the right social favors, and the willful ignorance of corruption in the face of political power and money. But none of his crimes would have been possible had he not been aided and abetted by those in power and used to the systemically corrupt politics and ethnic tensions in Malaysia who deployed money meant for its citizens to a global coterie of bankers, lawyers, businessmen, and hangers-on all too eager to take some of the cash Low was bringing to bear and ignore glaring compliance issues. Finally, the most disturbing and saddening conclusion the Wright and Hope’s reporting seems to reach is how such stories of crime and corruption are not solely the problems of developing countries. The problem is global, the rot is widespread, and the sickness runs deep. My running tally of the banks in the book whose internal compliance and due diligence teams raised issues only to have them overridden includes not just Goldman Sachs, but JP Morgan Chase, Coutts, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, BSI (a small Swiss bank), and more. Both accounting firms KPMG and Deloitte issued audits that allowed the fraud to continue further. White shoe law firms like Shearman & Sterling helped facilitate the flow of hundreds of millions of stolen dollars into the United States to launder ill-gotten gains. This is an incomplete list of institutions where leaders chose to ignore warning signs. The perpetrators have used their power and money to fight back against the law, both internationally and domestically. Justice has yet to be rendered on Low and his conspirators. Wright and Hope suggest the dismal possibility that few individuals will be held accountable and that these large companies have adapted to weather even billions in financial penalties, risking a repetition of the same mistakes.

Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, reporters for the Wall Street Journal have written a fast-paced account of one of the epic frauds of recent years. Jho Low, a Malaysian who started out with very little money, a degree from Wharton, and a ton of chutzpah managed to con his way into the use of hundreds of millions of dollars of the Malaysian government's money. Wright and Hope did a monumental job of tracking this story through its many twists and turns. Their writing is clear and they manage to write in a way that allows the reader to keep straight the very large cast of characters. A very enjoyable book, although I have two minor beefs: First, apparently reporters can't write this type of book without injecting into the story all sorts of things--like what people were thinking, the exact temperature and conditions on a particular day, how people reacted to somebody's statement or action--that there is no way they could actually know. I guess the style is to write these books as novels even when they aren't. Second, the book had more than its share of typos. Particularly since this paperback edition has some new material, there was presumably an opportunity to correct errors, but the opportunity wasn't taken. There also are a lot of usage errors. These errors indicate that the book was poorly copyedited and that some sections may even have been drafted by somebody who is not a native English speaker.

The Wall Street Journal seems to be doing something right, Rupert Murdoch ownership notwithstanding, because for the second time in 2018 I find myself reading a truly amazing book that’s based on investigative work done by its correspondents. Not only that, but it can be said with some certainty that in both instances (Elizabeth Holmes’ pseudo-science in “Bad Blood” and Jho Low’s / Najib Razhak’s stolen billions in “Billion Dollar Whale”) the Journal has played a pivotal role in shining light on these crimes and bringing the criminals to justice. Indeed, I finished this book pretty much on the same day as Goldman was forced to let go of Andrea Vella, the head of its Asian business, for the crimes described here. If, like me, you are a “glass half-empty” kind of guy, of course, you will also remark that it’s a terrible state of affairs when journalists are ahead of our justice system (to say nothing of the supposed pillars of our capitalist system), but that cannot possibly detract from what was a tremendous, fast paced, comprehensive and rather convincing book. The crime of money laundering and the technique of “layering” are rather tedious, of course. And the number of characters in the book makes the “cast of characters” in the introduction a total must. But the main character in the book, Jho Low, was such a party animal that (provided you have a tolerance for what felt like at least one dodgy financial transaction per page) this was actually a fun book to read. And it tickled the voyeur in me, who got to see “how the other half live.” Frankly, I’ve now had my fill of Swizz Beats, Alicia Keys, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Miranda Kerr, to say nothing of the sundry Sheikhs, their boats and their jets; any tips on how to get the cigar smoke off my clothes are welcome!

Wright, T., & Hope, B. (2019). Billion dollar whale: The man who fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the world. Hachette Books. Tom Wright and Bradley Hope founded Project Brazen, an initiative to identify and tell extraordinary stories. As Wall Street Journal investigative reporters, they were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Whale is a term used by nightclubs and casinos to describe big spenders. According to the Project Brazen website, whale can more broadly represent "people, usually armed with extraordinary amounts of money, that play a larger role in global affairs than their public profile might suggest." The whale referred to in this book is Jho Low, the guy who stole ~$5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB fund. The 1MDB sovereign wealth fund was created by Prime Minister Najib as a vehicle for "green energy and tourism to create high-quality jobs for all Malaysians." At least this was the marketing line. This book describes how for over a decade, Jho Low managed to siphon off billions of dollars from the 1MDB fund by cultivating relationships and exploiting loopholes and weaknesses within the financial system. The scope of the corruption was staggering including: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the United States, Malaysia, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Coutts, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, BSI (a small Swiss bank), etc. Both accounting firms KPMG and Deloitte issued audits that allowed the fraud to continue further. Law firms such as Shearman & Sterling helped facilitate the flow of hundreds of millions of stolen dollars into the United States to launder ill-gotten gains. These are some of the institutions that ultimately helped perpetuate the theft, movement, and ongoing scheme. When auditors, bankers, and lenders asked questions about funding and viability, Low leveraged his cultivated network such that others vouched for him, his credibility, and financial viability. Central to his capacity to pull off such a prolonged heist was others' greediness and lust for power. Low used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. As investigative reporters raised questions on aspects of the story, Low increasingly became paranoid and reckless. So too Prime Minister Najib moved from the language of democratic governance to authoritarianism as the scope of the corruption, money laundering, and theft were coming to light. I'm fascinated by stories of largescale corruption. Wright and Hope suggested that "Low's bashful manners belied a hard core of ambition the like of which the world rarely sees. . . . Low was not so much timid as quietly calculating, as if computing every human interaction, sizing up what he could provide for someone and what they, in turn, could do for him." He fictionalized a narrative to create the impression of coming from a wealthy family and being a financial and business wizard. He systematically cultivated relationships with key people in positions of power and decision making and with access to wealth to help perpetuate his scheme. When questions were asked, he had an extensive network of people who would vouch for him, look the other way, or even craft an approach to work around obstacles. These stories are rarely about a sole actor working alone but instead, a web of relationships who collaboratively work to keep the ruse and the monies coming. This is such a rich case study from which to explore systems, social networks, impression management, celebrity, the financial sector and ethical decision making.

You expect a story that's like a multi-car pileup on a highway watched in slow motion, what you get is snowball hurtling down a mountain, gathering size, speed and sucking in debris along the way! The story is incredible, the audacity defies belief and yet it happened. What convinced governments, banks etc to believe and trust a twentysomething, aside from sheer greed? Kudos to the authors for their meticulous research and in writing a fast-paced but clear narrative that puts this tale into perspective. The only complaint that I have is the occasional repetition of a fact here and there which breaks the flow of the narrative. Otherwise an absolutely fascinating page-turner.

An eye opener. An example of truth being stranger than fiction. The authors did lots of research and interviews and traveling to put this story together. So many characters and their interactions. Difficult at times to keep track of who was who. I repeated checked back to the list of persons involved. And I had to constantly digest what scheme Low was into from time to time. He interacted with, and manipulated, bankers, fund managers, movie stars, politicians including the prime minister of Malaysia and the minister's family members. He, Low, spent lavishly, probably in the billions, of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. He used a mutual fund in Caraçao to his advantage, had a bearer-stock account in the Seychelles. He jetted all over the world throwing parties each costing in the millions. Eventually it all started to unravel after several years. The prime minister of Malaysia was thrown out of office, to be eventually indicted. He got a prison sentence. Low, as of the writing and updating in 2019 of the book, was still on the loose, location unknown, perhaps somewhere in China. Great read, a financial, power, influence, greed, thriller.

One of the greatest financial scandals in history investigated by journalists from one of the world's leading financial newspapers. Alas, they have chosen to go the tabloid route, which presumably raises a higher probability of a lucrative movie rights sale, rather than serious investigation. First the praise. This is very readable account of an almost incredible financial fraud. The sums of money involved are mind-blowing and for the principal culprit to have achieved this from a starting point of an everyday regular person is inspiring or terrifying according to your viewpoint. Large numbers of celebrities are identified as having essentially demeaned themselves for financial reward. This is the tabloid approach, including micro detail about what champagne they drank, where they drank it, where their jewellery came from etc. etc. Alas, though, the analysis of the financial fraud leaves vast numbers of questions unanswered. Just one example: The Malaysian (as he is frequently referred to throughout the book) regularly deceived the banking community by opening accounts in the names redolent of huge and solid financial institutions. The tabloid reader might be inclined to think "What a cunning rogue!" but the reader seeking quality journalism wants to know how such an obvious trick managed to fool the banks. To put this into more everyday terms, if I opened bank accounts with names redolent of Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, the bank which believed me might well expect huge cashflows to appear, but they would surely realise that this could well be the fraudulent action of a money launderer and would undertake due diligence to ascertain the veracity of the account. Issues such as this are not pursued inside the book. Good luck to the authors in selling the movie rights, but I was hoping for serious investigation.