The Wrong Answer Faster: The Inside Story of Making the Machine that Trades Trillions

Chapter 1 High School Hustler 9

Older Doesn’t Mean Smarter, and Bigger Doesn’t Mean Better 10

My First Bank Account 15

Working in the Off-Season 16

The Bill Collector 20

Sundays on Maxwell Street 24

Birth of a Banker 26

Graduation Day 31

Chapter 2 The Late Bloomer 35

Harvard on the Rocks 39

Home for the Holidays 41

The Rat Practical 43

Developing a New Perspective 45

Politics Is Politics 50

Moving to the Downstate Campus 54

Leaving on a Jet Plane 58

Chapter 3 Leading a Double Life 75

In the Mayor’s Office 79

The Best of the Worst 82

Preparing for the Worst 86

Becoming a New Yorker 89

Chapter 4 A Big Idea 91

Still Daydreaming after All These Years 95

The Wrong Answer Faster 97

Mispriced Merchandise 100

Chapter 5 Chasing Venture Capital 109

Shelly Likes the Horse 112

The Problem Is with the Jockey 120

Shelly Takes a Flyer 121

The Guy without the Money 123

Negotiating My Terms 125

Chapter 6 Banking the Venture Capital 127

A Phone with a View 128

Recruiting Shelton 132

Meeting an Investor 141

Quitting Time 143

Hiring Lawyers and Accountants 145

Money by a Nose 147

Miles to Go 153

Chapter 7 Stepping Out in the World 157

Recruiting the Brain Trust 163

I Can’t Even Give It Away 172

Worth More Dead than Alive 174

Chapter 8 Making the Impossible 177

One Door Closes and Another Door Opens 178

Turning Luck into a Craft 182

Changing Jockeys in Midstream 185

Conducting a Symphony Orchestra 186

Person-to-Person Call for Dr. Shelton 187

Turning on the Lights 189

Targeting the Wrong Market 191

Chapter 9 If I Were a Rich Man 195

Rich People Play Backgammon 201

Entering a Parallel Universe 203

The New York Circuit 204

Stretching Rubber Bands 206

The King and I 208

Looking in All the Wrong Places 211

Fishing in Seattle 217

The Best Execution in the Business 220

Chapter 10 Too Good to Be True 223

Snagging an Invitation to London 225

An American Capitalist in Sir Sigmund’s Court 229

The Swiss Connection 233

Closing the Deal 237

Creating a Competitive Bid 244

Graduation Ceremony 248

The Year of Transition 249

Chapter 11 Breaking Away 251

Backgammon and Business 253

Not the Man I Used to Be 259

Chapter 12 Does God Play with Loaded Dice? 269

Back to the Futures 271

Accessing the World of Master Physicists 272

Examining the Dice 277

Chapter 13 Making Physics into a Business 283

Home Alone 289

Seed Money 292

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming 296

A Made Man 300

If You Build It They Will Come 301

Running on Empty 306

Entering the Big Leagues 311

Everything Is Connected 312

Time to Get Out of the Way 315

Epilogue 317

Acknowledgments 319

Index 321