Publications

The Bond King

Type
Link
Cost
Paid
Published
2022
Full Name
The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All

The Bond King is the story of how Bill Gross made American finance his casino. Over the course of decades, Bill Gross turned the sleepy bond market into a destabilized game of high risk, high reward; founded Pimco, one of today’s most powerful, secretive, and cutthroat investment firms; helped to reshape our financial system in the aftermath of the Great Recession—to his own advantage; and gained legions of admirers, and enemies, along the way. In this book, journalist Mary Childs argues that to understand the bond market, is to understand the Bond King.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

"Well written. . . a deeply researched book about one of those money men who made a fortune and lost it all and changed finance but not for the better."

―Roxane Gay


"This is an essential and enraging book, and it’s also a page-turner, even if you have a literary website editor’s knowledge of the financial world. It’s also very funny." 

―Jessie Gaynor, LitHub


"[Childs's] book The Bond King isn’t just the story of Bill Gross. It’s about the expansion of finance to its current form, where experts rule and the little guy can’t win." 

―Emily Flitter, New York Times


"Who the heck reads a book thrice in two months? I did. Mary Childs's The Bond King is a page-turner―about treacherous ... credit wonks" 

―Roben Farzad, host of public radio's Full Disclosure


"It's amazingly good. It cuts through all the mind-numbing jargon of the finance world to provide an accessible and illuminating look at the rise of the multitrillion-dollar bond market. It's beautifully written. It's meticulously researched and reported."

―Greg Rosalsky, Planet Money newsletter


"It has been a long time since I devoured a book as just assiduously as this… I was completely gripped and I loved it. 

―Felix Salmon, Slate Money podcast


"Entertaining. . . . [Childs] is a keen observer. . . . She ably describes the mechanics of the mortgage futures market. . . . A galloping narrative." 

Wall Street Journal


"[T]he award-winning financial journalist Mary Childs paints a vivid picture of how it all began and unraveled for the man credited with turning a once sleepy and low-risk corner of finance into an exciting casino." 

―Vicky Huang, Insider


"Admirably thorough." 

―James B. Stewart, New York Times


"[A] vivid tale of the bond manager and his empire." 

―Niel Irwin, Axios


"A vivid and authoritative portrait of one of the most influential figures in American finance." 

Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer at The New Yorker and bestselling author of Black Edge