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Dan McCrum

Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth Hardcover – 16 Jun. 2022

by Dan McCrum (Author)

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'The financial investigation of the decade... Money Men instantly enters the canon of great financial crime books' Bradley Hope, author of The Billion Dollar Whale

'A rip-roaring ride into the underworld of the global economy' Tom Burgis, author of Kleptopia

This is the stranger-than-fiction story of Wirecard, once a $30 billion tech darling, now a smouldering wreck, by the journalist who brought it crashing down - perfect for those who loved Bad Blood and Empire of Pain.

When journalist Dan McCrum followed a tip to investigate the hot new tech company challenging Silicon Valley, everything about Wirecard looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up around the world, it was reporting runaway growth and the CEO even wore a black turtleneck in tribute to Steve Jobs. In the space of a few short years, the company had come from nowhere to overtake industry giants like Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank on the stock market.

As McCrum dug deeper, he encountered a story stranger and more dangerous than he ever imagined: a world of short sellers and whistleblowers, pornographers and private militias, hackers and spies. Before long he realised that he wasn't the only one in pursuit. Shadowy figures were following him through the streets of London, high-flying lawyers were sending ominous letters to his boss, and he was named as the prime suspect in a criminal inquiry. The race was on to prove his suspicions and clear his name.

Money Men is the astonishing inside story of Wirecard's multi-billion-dollar fraud, Europe's biggest new tech darling revealed as a house of cards. Uncovering fake bank accounts, fake offices and possibly even a fake death, McCrum offers a searing exposé that will finally lay bare the truth.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bantam Press
Publication date

16 Jun. 2022
Dimensions

16.2 x 3.3 x 24 cm
ISBN-10

178763504X
ISBN-13

978-1787635043
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From the Publisher

money men, dan mccrum, fraud, billion dollar whale, bad blood, wirecard

dan mccrum, fraud, money men, bad blood, the billion dollar whale, wirecard

billion dollar whale, financial times, dan mccrum, wirecard, investigative journalism, netflix

Product description

Review

Dan McCrum's deep dive into Wirecard was the financial investigation of the decade. Money Men tells the story from inside Wirecard's headquarters with entertaining drama and verve, but it also unspools the high-stakes reporting process McCrum and his colleagues carried out at the Financial Times against the odds. It instantly enters the canon of great financial crime books. -- Bradley Hope, co-author of New York Times bestseller Billion Dollar Whale Published On: 2022-03-31

A milestone in the history of investigative journalism. -- Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, awarding the Reporters Forum Reporterpreis Published On: 2020-12-07

Money Men is a rip-roaring ride into the underworld of the global economy. Dan McCrum is a proper reporter: there is no threat, con trick or hangover that will stand in his way. In today's pandemic of lies, courageous journalism like this is the medicine. -- Tom Burgis, Sunday Times bestselling author of Kleptopia Published On: 2022-04-07

This behind-the-scenes look into the years of work and the persistence that was required to topple Wirecard is nothing short of incredible. ― AltFi Published On: 2022-06-16

A fantastic book. Think of Dan as a bespectacled James Bond with a keyboard instead of a gun. ― Steve Clapham, author of The Smart Money Method Published On: 2022-06-16

Wirecard might still be one of Europe's most feted tech firms, were it not for a small band of sceptics - including Dan McCrum... Wirecard fought back viciously and dirtily ... Money Men should be required reading for investors and financial regulators. It is a compelling case study of a seemingly eternal truth: when a business is built on lies, there are always clues. ― Economist Published On: 2022-06-16

The culmination of years of careful investigative work... A gripping tale. ― Evening Standard Published On: 2022-06-16

A thrilling, head-spinning book... Money Men hugely rewards the reader when you get the scoop alongside McCrum - you are close to punching the air... A fine testament to the importance of quality journalism. ― Irish Times Published On: 2022-07-25

A tale of dogged persistence and no little courage... Anyone, like me, who thinks that the investigative journalist is our only defence against a world run by giant, unaccountable corporations will savour this book. ― The Tablet Published On: 2022-07-25

A fraud so audacious it took the company's auditor, Ernst & Young, years to believe it... McCrum's account may read like a crime drama, but really it is a testament to old-school reporting... At a time when social media is increasingly causing facts to be regarded as beside the point, it is a reminder that the truth is always worth chasing. ― New Statesman Published On: 2022-07-25

McCrum was more responsible than anyone else for the exposure and eventual collapse of the hugely fraudulent payment company... A cross between the Enron scandal and Rosemary's Baby. -- John Lanchester ― London Review of Books Published On: 2022-07-28

What a wild ride! Going head to head with powerful executives, their teams of lawyers and intelligence operatives, Dan McCrum has uncovered one of the biggest economic scandals in Europe. Money Men reads like a thriller, but it's all true. -- Frederik Obermaier, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and co-author of The Panama Papers Published On: 2022-04-12

Money Men is a rollercoaster read that reveals everything that's wrong with our financial system. Dan McCrum and his colleagues at the FT deserve medals for their tenacious battle to expose the dark heart of Wirecard - the enormous fraud and money laundering machine with shadowy ties. -- Catherine Belton, author of Putin's People Published On: 2022-06-23

About the Author

Dan McCrum is a member of the Financial Times investigations team. His reporting on Wirecard has been recognised with prizes from the London Press Club, the Society of Editors, the New York Financial Writers' Association, the Overseas Press Club, and the Gerald Loeb awards. He was also awarded the Ludwig Erhard Prize for economic journalism, a Reporters Forum Reporterpreis and a special award by the Helmut Schmidt prize jury for investigative journalism. In 2020, he was named Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam Press (16 Jun. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 178763504X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1787635043
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.2 x 3.3 x 24 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 1,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 3 in Corporate Finance
- 4 in Company Histories
- 5 in Finance & Stock Market History

Customer reviews:
199 ratings

About the author

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Dan McCrum

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Dan McCrum is a multi-award wining journalist and author. His reporting for the Financial Times has been recognised with prizes from the London Press Club, the Society of Editors, the New York Financial Writers' Association, the Overseas Press Club and the Gerald Loeb awards. He was also awarded the Ludwig Erhard Prize for economic journalism, a Reporters Forum Reporterpreis and a special award by the Helmut Schmidt prize jury for investigative journalism. In 2020, he was named Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.

Dan got a taste for newsprint as a paper boy in North Devon. Before he became a writer he tried his hand at painting and decorating, selling kids books door to door, and investment banking. He lives in St Albans with his family.

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2 star		2%
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Sulli

Brilliant enthralling book, hard to believe its a true story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2022

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This is the recollection of a whistleblower who succeeded in uncovering the most almighty fraud, and is still alive to tell the tale. It is a great tribute to all those who know malfeasance when they see it, and are made to feel mad, or are simply abused and bullied for pointing it out. This fine gentleman deserves our praise for bringing to light YET ANOTHER fraud, of which there are now so many. Internal regulations of so many financial institutions make it as difficult as possible to reveal illegality (though they pompously preach the exact opposite, in the same old hackneyed manner in which they describe staff as their "greatest asset". This is an excellent read, never dull and often staggering in term of corporate behaviour.

4 people found this helpful

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Finance professional

Good, not great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 July 2022

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I followed the FT’s coverage of Wirecard and love business/finance biographies, so I was really looking forward to this book (it’s the first book I’ve ever pre-ordered!). Overall I’m glad I read it, but wasn’t bowled over. A few thoughts:

1. The book is aimed at the broadest possible readership which means it avoids any real explanation of the alleged accounting misdeeds, and instead focuses on the personalities involved. This is probably a smart move from a marketing perspective, but does leave the question hanging as to precisely how the alleged fraud was perpetrated and how so many people were hoodwinked. Perhaps a few photos of the documents would have been nice to illustrate some of the examples.

2. Instead the book focuses on more “tabloid” threads that are never really fleshed out. There is a section exploring claims from an Austrian politician and an aid worker about one of the protagonists involvement in migration aid work. Personally I spent the whole time thinking what does this have to do with the alleged fraud? It felt like material that should have been left on the cutting room floor. I felt the same way about a lot of the stuff about the short sellers personalities.

3. I had to read a few of the sentences two or three times to understood what was being said. Not from a technical perspective, but simply from the compound nature of the sentence and the way it was constructed. Similarly, there are quite a few throwaway comments / ‘light remarks’ (sorry, can’t describe them better than that) in the book, the meaning of which are not always clear.

Some of these are perhaps my biases (I was looking for a book on the Wirecard fraud, not in hindsight on Mr McCrums perspective on the fraud). Let me be clear - I’m glad I read it, and credit to Dan and the FT for exposing it (at significant personal cost in the short term). Perhaps once the various trails are over Dan might draft a sequel - and I will buy that one too!

3 people found this helpful

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James-philip Harries

Money-Go-Round

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 July 2022

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FT Alphaville (the Financial Times blog) followed Wirecard for years without being able to nail them for fraud.
Unlike "Bad Blood", the exposé of the Theranos fraud, the story is both more complicated and more boring. Theranos did promise a technical revolution in blood testing while Wirecard was essentially a payments processor. Moving money is a low margin business and the FT was right to be sceptical of the profits declared. But Wirecard hired some expensive lawyers...
It appears that unlike Theranos (one or two main conspirators) Wirecard had multiple fraudulent associates operating their own scams within the system. Further muddying the account, it seems that the FT or the book publisher (Penguin) had some of m'learned friends involved, so that fear of libel suits means that even now, after Wirecard's bankruptcy, it's hard to apportion responsibility.
The bottom line is that this book is a good read but occasionally confusing. Intertwining two narrative threads - the developing fraud, and the hunt for proof - does nothing to resolve this confusion.
One question remains: were the German financial watchdogs asleep, or complicit?

One person found this helpful

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Washington Irving

Fascinating and lively insight into mechanics of fraud

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 June 2022

Verified Purchase

A really great account of both the characters and fraud inside wirecard & the culture in the FT that (legal systems not withstanding) brought it down.
Its not a dry account of accountants, but of large than life characters high in charm and cunning but low on morals.
Really shows the dirty tricks these companies use on critics and the weakness of English and German law to corporate abuse. Easier to legally go after genuine journalism than fraud

4 people found this helpful

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Milosh

A blockbuster financial thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2022

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A brilliant account of how an investigative reporter took down one of the most audacious corporate frauds of all time. This book is compulsory reading for anyone interested in investigative journalism and financial crime, but is also a fascinating stand-alone thriller that shines a light on what really goes on in the darkest corners of the global economy.

4 people found this helpful

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A. Watson

Like a thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2022

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I love books about business failures and scandals. I had high expectations for this book and it easily met them. Well done to Dan and everyone at the FT for pursuing this story to the very end.

3 people found this helpful

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Juan Jose Salcedo

The book has lots-of entertainment value, but the author avoided the hard questions.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2022

Verified Purchase

The collapse of Wirecard is spectacular not so much for money laundering and having a COO with obscure connections to irregular organizations; but because, for ten years it was supported and protected by auditors, regulators, most newspapers, and financial institutions.

Infamously, Angela Merkel herself lobbied for the company in 2019, and Softbank invested $1 billion in 2020, even though the irregularities were decently documented, e.g. The Zatarra Report, since 2016.

These are the things the author decided not to dwell on: What role did the German regulator and supervisor had in the whole affair?

Instead the author focuses on the personal toll the investigation had in the lives of the short-sellers and journalists that decided to swim against the current.

There is a lot of entertainment value in the approach of the author, Dan McCrum, but in terms of company-collapse books it gets a 3.5/5 stars.

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Northern Lad

Horrendous print quality - Penguin are a shambles

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2022

Verified Purchase

I have never felt the urge to write a review on print quality, but this is so poor. Penguin really need to make an effort in making these hardbacks look clearer and legible. This quality is worse than a third world news paper.

One person found this helpful

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