The Trading Game: A Confession

Former Citibank trader Stevenson’s incisive and often humorous debut recounts his journey into and out of the financial industry. Growing up poor in Ilford, East London, Stevenson used a rubber tube connected to a faucet to take showers. Though he was kicked out of grammar school for selling drugs, his math acumen landed him a spot at the London School of Economics, where his shabby clothing and working-class accent garnered disdain. He got an opportunity to shine when Citibank held a student competition called “the Trading Game,” a card-based simulation of financial trading whose winner would land an internship at the company. Stevenson took first place, and parlayed the internship into a full-time job in 2008. He quickly became Citibank’s most profitable trader, netting $12 million in his first year. Gradually, however, he grew tired of the cutthroat environment and cognitive dissonance he felt when, for example, Citibank made $11 million after the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan caused interest rates to go down. In 2014, he left the company to pursue a degree in economics and educate the public about wealth inequality, launching a YouTube channel and publicly advocating for a U.K. wealth tax. Stevenson’s sharp wit—he describes a coworker as having “the constant air of a 16-year-old trying to buy vodka”—enhances a fast-paced narrative that provides colorful context for his current wealth tax advocacy. It’s an enlightening and frequently infuriating peek into the world of high finance. Agent: Chris Wellbelove, Aitken Alexander Assoc. (Mar.)