''Den of Thieves'' is a

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

book by American writer James B. Stewart.

Overview

''Den of Thieves'' recounts the

insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

scandals involving Ivan Boesky,

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for High-yield debt, high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony ...

, and other

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

financiers in the United States during the 1980s, such as Robert Freeman, Terren Peizer, Dennis Levine, Lowell Milken,

John A. Mulheren John A. Mulheren Jr. (June 20, 1949 in The Bronx, New York — December 15, 2003 in Rumson, New Jersey) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Biography Born in the Bronx, Mulheren was a Wall Street icon who earned millions ...

, Martin Siegel, and others. There have been eight editions as of 2008. Intertwining the stories of financiers, bankers, lawyers, and the law enforcement officials who pursued them, ''Den of Thieves'' tells a true tale of arrogance and complacency amongst the

elite. As

leveraged buyouts A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money ( leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of the acquired company ...

and

takeovers In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisi ...

proliferated in the heady 1980s, information on which companies were being targeted became ever more valuable. The stock price of companies could rise enormously on rumors of a potential takeover. Those who were privy to that information before it became public could make huge sums of money. Stewart shows how some of the biggest names in American financial history were involved in one of the greatest insider-trading schemes ever and how their exposure and punishment sent shock waves through corporate America.

Official information

* Exclusive photographs by Robert A. Cumins included.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url = http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/22933-1/James+Stewart.aspx , website = Booknotes , type = interview , last = Stewart , title = On ''Den of Thieves'' , date = November 24, 1991 , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111115161712/http://booknotes.org/Watch/22933-1/James+Stewart.aspx , archivedate = November 15, 2011 1992 non-fiction books Business books Insider trading Books about stock traders Simon & Schuster books Books by James B. Stewart Michael Milken