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The Money Trap

Lost Illusions Inside the Tech Bubble

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
0 of 1 copy available

This program is read by Raza Jaffrey, best known for his role in Homeland.
A gripping and entertaining memoir that shines a rare light on an industry that is disrupting our lives.

Veteran Morgan Stanley banker Alok Sama thought he'd seen it all. Then he found himself chief dealmaker at the most influential technology investor in the world—SoftBank, the backer of Arm Holdings, Yahoo, Nvidia, TikTok, Uber, T-Mobile, Alibaba and WeWork.
The Money Trap is Sama's thrilling, stranger-than-fiction personal odyssey featuring his experiences alongside SoftBank's iconic founder, Masayoshi Son, a visionary maverick who wants to be remembered as "the crazy guy who bet on the future" and whose mission is "happiness for everyone." Sama takes the reader on a wild journey as he consorts with A-list CEOs and heads of state, and negotiates mega-deals on a Gulfstream jet, Son's sanctuary with its exquisite Japanese garden, and a waterside restaurant in the Turkish Riviera—all while contending with a mysterious dark-arts smear campaign that takes a toll on his private life.
This fascinating and humorous saga provides a unique insider perspective on the insanity of high finance and venture investing. Written with self-deprecating wit, unflinching honesty and searing introspection, The Money Trap is ultimately a morality tale: in life, as in technology investing, more money isn't always the answer.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 23, 2024
      In this wry debut, Sama—the former CFO of investment firm SoftBank—offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the crushing world of corporate finance. Skipping back and forth in time, Sama covers his arc from theorem-solving college student to right-hand aide to tech investor Masayoshi Son. Along the way, Sama describes how he brokered deals with some of the world’s largest companies while gradually coming to learn that a hefty income can’t insulate him from life’s difficulties. His greatest strength as a writer is the way he grounds the glitz of his professional life with gritty personal stakes: he ruminates on the gap between himself and his social media–skeptical son, then smoothly transitions to a dinner with Mark Zuckerberg. Elsewhere, he effectively juxtaposes his attempts to fight off a smear campaign designed to remove him from SoftBank with his grief over his parents’ deaths. Less successful are the book’s granular descriptions of NASDAQ numbers and the mechanics of finance, which are likely to lose all but the most well-versed readers. In the end, it’s the smear campaign, during which business rivals surveil and threaten Sama’s family, that drives him out of tech investment and reminds him that “money doesn’t give you control, it buys you a nicer coat.” In Sama’s hands, that feels like revolutionary advice. Agent: Lynn Johnston, Lynn Johnston Literary.

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  • English

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