American writer (born 1960)
Michael Monroe Lewis
(born October 15, 1960)
[1]
[2]
is an American author and
financial journalist
.
[3]
He has also been a contributing editor to
Vanity Fair
since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. He is known for his nonfiction work, particularly his coverage of financial crises and
behavioral finance
.
Lewis was born in
New Orleans
and attended
Princeton University
, from which he graduated with a degree in
art history
. After attending the
London School of Economics
, he began a career on
Wall Street
during the 1980s as a bond salesman at
Salomon Brothers
. The experience prompted him to write his first book,
Liar's Poker
(1989). Fourteen years later, Lewis wrote
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
(2003), in which he investigated the success of
Billy Beane
and the
Oakland Athletics
. His 2006 book
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
was his first to be adapted into a film,
The Blind Side
(2009). In 2010, he released
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
. The film adaptation of
Moneyball
was released in 2011, followed by
The Big Short
in 2015.
Lewis's books have won two
Los Angeles Times
Book Prizes
and several have reached number one on the
New York Times Bestsellers Lists
, including his most recent book,
Going Infinite
(2023).
[4]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Lewis was born in
New Orleans
, the son of
corporate attorney
J. Thomas Lewis and
community activist
Diana Monroe Lewis.
[5]
He went to
Isidore Newman School
. He later attended
Princeton University
and graduated
cum laude
with a B.A. in art and archaeology in 1982 after completing a 166-page senior thesis titled "
Donatello
and the Antique."
[6]
At Princeton, Lewis was a member of the
Ivy Club
.
[1]
He briefly worked with New York City art dealer
Daniel Wildenstein
. In an interview with
Charlie Rose
, Lewis said that his initial ambition was to become an art historian, but he was quickly dissuaded once he realized that there would be no jobs available for art historians and that even the handful that existed did not pay well.
[7]
Lewis subsequently enrolled at the
London School of Economics
and received an
MA
in
economics
in 1985.
[8]
[9]
He was hired by
Salomon Brothers
, stayed for a while in New York for its training program, and then relocated to
London
, where he worked at its London office as a bond salesman for a few years.
[10]
He has said that the journalism from this era found in
The Economist
and
The Wall Street Journal
inspired him to explore becoming a writer.
[11]
Career
[
edit
]
Writing
[
edit
]
Lewis described his experiences at Salomon and the evolution of the
mortgage-backed bond
in
Liar's Poker
(1989). In
The New New Thing
(1999), he investigated the then-booming
Silicon Valley
and the obsession with innovation. Four years later, Lewis wrote
Moneyball
(2003), in which he investigated the success of
Billy Beane
and the
Oakland Athletics
. In August 2007, he wrote an article about
catastrophe bonds
, "In Nature's Casino", that ran in
The New York Times Magazine
.
[12]
Lewis has worked for
The Spectator
,
[2]
The New York Times Magazine
, as a columnist for
Bloomberg
, as a senior editor and campaign correspondent to
The New Republic
,
[13]
and a visiting fellow at the
University of California, Berkeley
. He wrote the
Dad Again
column for
Slate
. Lewis worked for
Conde Nast Portfolio
, but in February 2009 left to join
Vanity Fair
, where he became a contributing editor.
[14]
[15]
In September 2011, after the successful release of the
film adaptation
of
Moneyball
, it was reported that Lewis planned to take on "a much more active role in the what could be the next film based on one of his books" and would start writing a script for a
Liar's Poker
film.
[16]
[17]
During 2013 in
Vanity Fair
, Lewis wrote on the injustice of the prosecution of ex-
Goldman Sachs
programmer
Sergey Aleynikov
,
[18]
who is given an entire chapter in
Flash Boys
.
[19]
Flash Boys
, which looked at
high-frequency trading
of Wall Street and other markets, was released in March 2014.
[20]
In 2016, Lewis published
The Undoing Project
, chronicling the close academic collaboration and personal relationship between Israeli psychologists
Amos Tversky
and
Daniel Kahneman
. The duo found systemic errors in human judgment under uncertainty, with implications for models of decision-making in fields such as economics, medicine, and sports.
In 2017, Lewis wrote a series of articles for
Vanity Fair
in which he described the
Trump administration's
approach to various federal agencies, including the
Department of Energy
and the
Department of Agriculture
.
[21]
His articles described a sense of incredulity and disillusionment from career civil servants, particularly because of the Trump administration's lack of attention to some of their work, and the lack of care, knowledge, experience, and respect from Trump political appointees.
[22]
That material was incorporated into Lewis's book
The Fifth Risk
, which was on the
New York Times
nonfiction best-seller list for 14 weeks,
[23]
and described the disconnect between the Obama administration's well-prepared transition plans and the incoming Trump administration's apparent lack of concern. Along with Energy and Agriculture, this book added
Commerce
among the main departments described.
In September 2018,
The Guardian
published an excerpt from the book, using a quote by Trump advisor
Steve Bannon
in its title: "This Guy Doesn't Know Anything". The excerpt was republished again among a review of the most popular articles of the year.
[24]
In 2018, Lewis wrote and narrated
The Coming Storm
for
Audible Studios
, which released the short nonfiction story as part of its new Audible Originals series of
audiobooks
.
[25]
In 2023, he wrote
Going Infinite
, about the
collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX
and its CEO,
Sam Bankman-Fried
.
[26]
[27]
Broadcasting and podcasts
[
edit
]
Lewis's podcast,
Against the Rules
, first aired on April 2, 2019.
[28]
The first season comprised seven episodes, each taking on a different aspect of society addressing the concept of fairness "in realms ranging from art authentication to consumer finance".
[29]
[30]
The show often refers to the growing social distrust for authority,
[31]
and refers to different types of public officials as "referees."
[32]
Against the Rules
is produced by
Pushkin Industries
, the media company founded by journalist
Malcolm Gladwell
and former
Slate
executive
Jacob Weisberg
.
On January 12, 2020, Lewis appeared as one of the castaways on
BBC Radio 4
's
Desert Island Discs
.
[33]
Reception
[
edit
]
In a review of
Moneyball
, Dan Ackman of
Forbes
said that Lewis had a special talent: "He can walk into an area already mined by hundreds of writers and find gems there all along but somehow missed by his predecessors".
[34]
A
New York Times
piece said that "no one writes with more narrative panache about money and finance than Mr. Lewis", praising his ability to use his subject's stories to show the problems with the systems around them.
[35]
Critics from outside the
financial industry
have criticized Lewis for what they consider inaccuracies in his writing. In a 2011 column in
The Atlantic
, American journalist and sports author
Allen Barra
took issue with Lewis's characterization of
Major League Baseball
in
Moneyball
, writing, "From a historical standpoint, Lewis is, well, way off base. By the end of the 20th century baseball had achieved a greater level of competitive balance than at any time in the game's history...
Moneyball
doesn't just get the state of present-day baseball wrong; it also misrepresents the history of the sport."
[36]
Lewis's
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt
ignited a new round of controversy surrounding
high-frequency trading
. At a
House Financial Services Committee
hearing in April 2014,
Mary Jo White
, a former Wall Street insider (as a Debevoise & Plimpton lawyer primarily for Wall Street financial firms)
[37]
who later served as the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) Chair, denied the book's premise, saying, "The markets are not rigged".
[38]
In June 2014, White announced that the
SEC
would undergo a new round of regulatory review in response to concerns about
dark pools
and market structure.
[39]
Book critics widely praised Lewis's
The Undoing Project
,
[40]
with
Glenn C. Altschuler
writing in the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
that it "may well be his best book".
[41]
His 2023 book
Going Infinite
, an intimate account of
Sam Bankman-Fried
and his firm
FTX
, was written while FTX was collapsing and published the day
Bankman-Fried's trial
on charges of fraud and money laundering began. Lewis was criticized for giving Bankman-Fried's explanations for FTX's losses excessive deference, with journalist
Michael Hiltzik
calling the Bankman-Fried hype a "torrent of nonsense".
The New York Times
wrote of Lewis's extensive access to Bankman-Fried that he had "a front-row seat?from which he could apparently see nothing."
[42]
[43]
[44]
Others praised Lewis's storytelling, with
The New Yorker
calling the book "stupefyingly pleasurable" to read and filling "many gaps" in the story, ultimately predicting that the book "may one day be regarded as either the pinnacle or the nadir of his career".
[45]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Lewis has been married three times. He married his first wife, Diane de Cordova Lewis, in 1985.
[1]
His second marriage was to former
CNBC
correspondent
Kate Bohner
; they got engaged three weeks after their first date.
[46]
[47]
[48]
In October 1997, he married former
MTV
reporter
Tabitha Soren
. She gave birth to their three children, daughters Quinn and Dixie, followed by son Walker.
[49]
[50]
In 2021, their middle child, daughter Dixie, was a passenger in a head-on collision with a semi truck near
Truckee, California
; the driver, her boyfriend, had inexplicably crossed the median. Both Dixie and her boyfriend were pronounced dead at the scene.
[51]
Lewis and Soren reside in the Oakland Hills above
Berkeley, California
.
[52]
[53]
Lewis is an
atheist
.
[54]
Awards and recognition
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Diane deCordova Wed at Princeton"
.
The New York Times
. December 29, 1985
. Retrieved
March 4,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Michael Lewis".
The Writers Directory
(fee, via
Fairfax County Public Library
)
.
Detroit
:
St. James Press
. 2011. GALE|K1649564197
. Retrieved
March 4,
2012
.
Gale Biography In Context.
(subscription required)
- ^
"Michael Lewis author page"
.
Simon & Schuster
. Retrieved
February 22,
2015
.
- ^
"Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction - Best Sellers - Books - Oct. 22, 2023"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
October 27,
2023
.
- ^
"The Amazing Life Of Wall Street's Favorite Writer, Michael Lewis"
.
Business Insider
. June 2012
. Retrieved
November 23,
2018
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael M. (1982).
Donatello and the Antique
(Senior thesis). Princeton, NJ: Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.
- ^
Rose, Charlie.
"Interview with Michael Lewis"
.
www.charlierose.com
. Charlie Rose
. Retrieved
December 18,
2017
.
- ^
"Michael Lewis"
.
Greater Talent Network
Speakers Bureau
. Archived from
the original
on October 19, 2012
. Retrieved
March 4,
2012
.
- ^
"Michael Lewis"
.
Contemporary Authors Online
. Detroit:
Gale
. 2011. GALE|H1000059769
. Retrieved
March 4,
2012
– via Fairfax County Public Library.
Gale Biography In Context.
(subscription required)
- ^
"One on one with Christine Lagarde, featuring Michael Lewis"
.
www.imf.org
. IMF (International Monetary Fund)
. Retrieved
January 30,
2018
.
- ^
High, Peter.
"Bestselling Author Michael Lewis Has It All Figured Out"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
March 24,
2020
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael (August 26, 2007).
"In Nature's Casino"
.
The New York Times Magazine
. Retrieved
May 12,
2010
.
- ^
"the future just happened"
.
BBC
. Retrieved
November 14,
2012
.
- ^
John Koblin (October 7, 2008).
"Graydon's Big Get: Raids Portfolio for Michael Lewis"
.
Observer
. Archived from
the original
on April 15, 2009.
- ^
"Michael Lewis"
.
Vanity Fair
. Archived from
the original
on July 11, 2009
. Retrieved
July 20,
2009
.
- ^
Lewis, Andy; Matt Belloni (September 26, 2011).
"
'Moneyball' Author Michael Lewis to Script 'Liar's Poker' for Warner Bros. (Exclusive)"
.
Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
November 14,
2012
.
- ^
Ross, Scott (May 30, 2012).
"Michael Lewis' "Liar's Poker" Being Turned Into a Film by Requa & Ficarra"
.
NBC Bay Area
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael (September 2013).
"Did Goldman Sachs Overstep in Criminally Charging Its Ex-Programmer?"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
August 31,
2017
.
- ^
Azam Ahmed (March 18, 2011).
"Former Goldman Programmer Gets 8-year Jail Term for Code Theft"
.
NYTimes.com
. Retrieved
November 5,
2017
.
A former Goldman Sachs computer programmer convicted of stealing source code from the firm was sentenced on Friday to more than eight years in prison, capping a case that had shone a rare spotlight on the world of lightning-fast computer-driven trading.
- ^
"Flash Boys | W. W. Norton & Company"
.
books.wwnorton.com
. Retrieved
October 12,
2018
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael (July 26, 2017).
"Why the Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming from Inside the White House"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
May 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Michael Lewis: Many Trump Appointees Are Uninterested In The Agencies They Head Up"
. NPR. November 6, 2017
. Retrieved
February 13,
2019
.
- ^
[Blasdel, Alex,
Lewis: The Big Short author on how Trump is gambling with nuclear disaster
,
The Guardian
, September 22, 2018]
- ^
This guy doesn't know anything: the inside story of Trump's shambolic transition team
, The Guardian, September 27, 2018
- ^
Lewis, Michael (2018).
The Coming Storm
. Audible Studios.
- ^
Yaffe-Bellany, David (October 3, 2023).
"Takeaways From a New Book on Sam Bankman-Fried"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
October 3,
2023
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael (October 3, 2023).
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
. W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN
978-1-324-07433-5
.
- ^
"Against the Rules with Michael Lewis"
. Retrieved
May 12,
2019
.
- ^
Larson, Sarah (July 9, 2019).
"Three Podcasts to Listen to in July"
.
The New Yorker
. Retrieved
February 4,
2020
.
- ^
"On Against the Rules, Michael Lewis Delivers Yet Again"
.
Podcast Review
. May 14, 2019.
Archived
from the original on January 25, 2021
. Retrieved
October 30,
2021
.
- ^
Eliana, Dockterman (June 24, 2019).
"The 10 Best Podcasts of 2019 So Far"
.
Time Magazine
. Retrieved
February 4,
2020
.
- ^
Turner, Richard (May 17, 2019).
"Michael Lewis Makes Boring Stuff Interesting: The writer's new podcast 'Against the Rules' asks what has happened to fairness in the U.S."
The Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
February 4,
2020
.
- ^
"BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Michael Lewis, writer"
. January 12, 2020
. Retrieved
January 12,
2020
.
- ^
Ackman, Dan.
"
Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game
"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
November 14,
2012
.
- ^
Kakutani, Michiko (March 14, 2010).
"Investors Who Foresaw the Meltdown"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
November 14,
2012
.
- ^
Barra, Allen (July 13, 2014).
"The Many Problems with 'Moneyball'
"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
July 13,
2014
.
- ^
"She Runs S.E.C. He's a Lawyer. Recusals and Headaches Ensue"
.
The New York Times
. February 23, 2015
. Retrieved
April 29,
2018
.
- ^
Lynch, Sarah H. (April 29, 2014).
"SEC chair to Congress: 'The markets are not rigged'
"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
June 10,
2014
.
- ^
Alden, William (June 5, 2014).
"S.E.C. Chief Offers Rules to Govern Fast Trading"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
June 10,
2014
.
- ^
"Bookmarks reviews of The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis"
.
LitHub
. Archived from
the original
on February 11, 2017
. Retrieved
February 8,
2017
.
- ^
Altschuler, Glenn C. (January 15, 2017).
"
'The Undoing Project': How two Israeli psychologists changed the world"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. Retrieved
February 8,
2017
.
- ^
Klein, Julia M. (October 3, 2023).
"What you won't learn from Michael Lewis' book on FTX could fill another book"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
October 4,
2023
.
- ^
Hiltzik, Michael
(October 3, 2023).
"Column: In Michael Lewis, Sam Bankman-Fried found his last and most willing victim"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
October 4,
2023
.
- ^
Szalai, Jennifer (October 2, 2023).
"Even Michael Lewis Can't Make a Hero Out of Sam Bankman-Fried"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
October 4,
2023
.
- ^
Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (October 4, 2023).
"Michael Lewis's Big Contrarian Bet"
.
The New Yorker
.
ISSN
0028-792X
. Retrieved
October 27,
2023
.
- ^
Romano, Lois (February 15, 1994).
"THE RELIABLE SOURCE"
.
Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
October 27,
2023
.
- ^
"That Time Michael Lewis Complained About Dating A Hot Woman"
.
HuffPost
. April 13, 2017
. Retrieved
October 27,
2023
.
- ^
Cohan, William D.
"14: It's a White Man's World".
The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Freres & Co.
p. 401.
- ^
"Michael Lewis opens up after teen daughter killed in crash"
. August 10, 2021
. Retrieved
October 27,
2023
.
- ^
Brubach, Holly (September 11, 2009).
"Make Room for Daddy"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
October 27,
2023
.
- ^
Whiting, Sam (May 28, 2021).
"Daughter of author Michael Lewis one of 2 killed in Tahoe car crash"
.
San Francisco Chronicle
. Retrieved
June 11,
2024
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael (October 1, 2010).
"Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
December 14,
2011
.
- ^
Hubler, Shawn (August 8, 2001).
"What's Next for Michael Lewis?"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
March 5,
2012
.
- ^
Lewis, Michael (2011).
Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World
(Hardback ed.). W.W. Norton and Company. p.
58
.
ISBN
978-0-393-08181-7
.
- ^
"New Members Elected in 2023"
.
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
. April 19, 2023
. Retrieved
December 7,
2023
.
- ^
"2008 Gerald Loeb Award Winners Announced by UCLA Anderson School of Management"
.
Fast Company
. October 28, 2011
. Retrieved
February 1,
2019
.
- ^
"Loeb Winners"
.
UCLA Anderson School of Management
. June 29, 2009. Archived from
the original
on February 2, 2019
. Retrieved
February 1,
2019
.
- ^
"More Loeb winners: Fortune and Detroit News"
.
Talking Biz News
. June 29, 2010
. Retrieved
February 5,
2019
.
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