Billion Dollar Whale

By: Bradley Hope, Tom Wright

Narrated by: Will Collyer

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

The definitive inside account of the 1MDB scandal, "a true life thriller" (Ben Mezrich) about a "modern Gatsby" who managed to swindle over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others - a "must read" (Booklist) "epic tale" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) that exposes the secret nexus of elite wealth, banking, Hollywood, and politics from two award-winning Wall Street Journal reporters.

In 2009, with the dust yet to settle on the financial crisis, a baby-faced, seemingly mild-mannered Wharton grad began setting in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude - one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system. His name is Jho Low, a man whose behavior was so preposterous he might seem made up. 

An epic true tale of hubris and greed, Billion Dollar Whale reveals how this young social climber pulled off one of the biggest heists in history - right under the nose of the global financial industry. Federal agents who helped unravel Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme say the 1MDB affair will become the textbook case of financial fraud in the modern age - and its fallout is already being credited for taking down the prime minister of Malaysia. 

For listeners of Liar's Poker, Den of Thieves, and Bad Blood, Billion Dollar Whale will become a classic, harrowing parable about finance run amok.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2018 Bradley Hope and Tom Wright (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"The story of a massive international financial scandal.... As the authors amply prove, the scandal reaches far beyond Low. To succeed, he relied on the naivete, greed, and generally immoral conduct of huge banks as well as corrupt governments." (Kirkus)

"Even the most skilled fiction writer would have trouble conjuring the corrupt and colorful protagonist of Billion Dollar Whale. Bradley Hope and Tom Wright's gripping portrait of Jho Low and his enablers throughout the global financial system will both fascinate and enrage you." (Sheelah Kolhatkar, staff writer at The New Yorker and New York Times best-selling author of Black Edge)

"Wright and Hope transform their investigation of a mind-boggling financial fraud into a nonfiction thriller.... This is an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Long and detailed but still worth it

Details are greater than needed to get the story so it was a long listen, but still worth it to hear this unbelievable fraud.

24 people found this helpful

For anyone who loves stories of white collar crime

I am a huge fan of the podcast Swindled, which primarily covers stories of white collar crime and corporate scandals. The podcast went on hiatus between seasons and I needed something to hold me over! That's when I took to Audible and found this book. I can definitely say it filled that void and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story is about a Malaysian man who schemed his way to billions of dollars through political conspiracy, bribery, and loopholes, mostly to impress Hollywood celebrities and make rich people think he was cool.

If you're like me and enjoy infuriating stories of greed and corruption you will love this one!
(You will also love Swindled podcast, go check it out.)

39 people found this helpful

Good but it drags

The story was good, especially with it being true. However, I felt my mind wondering to other things while listening to it and wishing the last 2-3 hours of it would just hurry up and be over.

29 people found this helpful

Great story, poor narration and drags on

It is a fascinating story but it seemed to go on and on and I was relieved when it was over. Also, the narrator wasn't very good and mispronounced several words.

47 people found this helpful

Couldn’t stop listening!

I just finished listening to Bad blood and didn’t think this book would come close. It did and may be better. It is just an incredible story. Possibly the greatest heist of all time.

63 people found this helpful

This explained so much to me

I look forward to the inevitable movie. I'd like to see a documentary like The Smartest Guys in the Room made from this.

The writing here didn't grab me so much that I'd recommend this to everyone, but I did learn a lot about an under-reported topic.

37 people found this helpful

Interesting story, unnecessarily long

Overall, yeah it’s a crazy story - could have been written in half the time - very repetitive - basically after reading a couple of short articles online you will understand this whole story. Seriously - tread Wikipedia onJo Lho and a few other players in the scheme and you’ll get all of the story without spending 12 hours of your life in it.

5 people found this helpful

Soooooo Good!

First of all this topic is always one of my favorites I love learning about things that really happened especially when it comes to the realm of Finance. Often with books of this subject it can be a little overwhelming and a little too much information and not enough story, but not in the case of billion dollar whale. This story is exceptionally well written and keeps you enthralled from beginning to end, lots of facts tied up in a well-written storyline the only thing that makes it complicated is jho low himself with all his financial antics. Probably one of the best books I've read of its kind.

16 people found this helpful

Dry recount of too many transactions

While I appreciate the research that went into this book, I found the reporting of dozens of fraudulent transactions and extravagant spending too clinical and not terribly entertaining. It was difficult to keep all the characters straight without referring to the written guide so this is not one to “read” in your car.

4 people found this helpful

Billion Dollar Whale review

Very interesting story, but very long and sometimes tedious. Good book for readers interested in finance or Malasia, but not so much for broader audiences.

4 people found this helpful