Fortune's Formula

The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

By: William Poundstone

Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur

In 1956 two Bell Labs scientists discovered the scientific formula for getting rich. One was mathematician Claude Shannon, neurotic father of our digital age, whose genius is ranked with Einstein's. The other was John L. Kelly Jr., a Texas-born gun-toting physicist. Together they applied the science of information theory - the basis of computers and the Internet - to the problem of making as much money as possible as fast as possible.

Shannon and MIT mathematician Edward O. Thorp took the "Kelly formula" to Las Vegas. It worked. They realized that there was even more money to be made in the stock market. Thorp used the Kelly system with his phenomenally successful hedge fund, Princeton-Newport Partners. Shannon became a successful investor, too, topping even Warren Buffett's rate of return. Fortune's Formula traces how the Kelly formula sparked controversy even as it made fortunes at racetracks, casinos, and trading desks. It reveals the dark side of this alluring scheme, which is founded on exploiting an insider's edge.

Shannon believed it was possible for a smart investor to beat the market - and Fortune's Formula will convince you that he was right.

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

©2005 William Poundstone (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

One of my favorite books now

So many big names connected. If you are interested in gambling, markets, information theory, the mob, and the history of many famous smart people, you will love this book. It connects the histories of so many people, it is hard to really summarize. I think overall it is about the kelly formula, but it covers so many other formulas as well, and mostly covers people as they try to beat the systems and make money

Great story. Small pronunciation quirks

I am used to "arithmetic" as a noun being pronounced differently from arithmetic as an adjective

loved the book and recommended it.

awesome book. learned about statics and investment relationships. highly recommend thus book. it is not just about investment it could be used for life lesson.

Very entertaining. Also leads to much further research

I really enjoyed this book. It references most of the important figures that occupy the Venmo diagram of quantitative finance, gambling, and statistics/probability theory. Really cool listen.

Incredible

A surprisingly varied and engaging story that connects wildly different ideas. A great story for any day