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Pyramid of Lies: The Prime Minister, the Banker and the Billion Pound Scandal
The Pyramid of Lies by international financial journalist Duncan Mavin, is the true story of Lex Greensill, the Australian farmer who became a hi-flying billionaire banker before crashing back down to earth, exposing a tangled network of flawed financiers, politicians and industrialists.
Lex Greensill had a simple, billion-dollar idea - democratising supply chain finance. Suppliers want to get their invoices paid as soon as possible. Companies want to hold off as long as they can. Greensill bridged the two, it's mundane, boring even, but he saw an opportunity to profit. However, margins are thin and Lex, ever the risk taker, made lucrative loans with other people's money: to a Russian cargo plane linked to Vladmir Putin, to former Special Forces who ran a private army, and crucially to companies that were fraudulent or had no revenue.
When the company finally collapsed it exposed the revolving door between Westminster and big business and how David Cameron was allowed to lobby ministers for cash that would save Greensill's doomed business. Instead, Credit Suisse and Japan's SoftBank are nursing billions of dollars in losses, a German bank is under criminal investigation, and thousands of jobs are at risk.
What Bad Blood did for Silicon Valley and The Smartest Guys in the Room did for Wall Street, The Pyramid of Lies will do for the world of shadow banking and supply chain finance. It is a world populated with some of the most outlandish characters in business and some of the most outrageous examples of excess. It is a story of greed and ambition that shines a light on the murky intersection between politics and business, where lavish fortunes can be made and lost.
Lex Greensill had a simple, billion-dollar idea - democratising supply chain finance. Suppliers want to get their invoices paid as soon as possible. Companies want to hold off as long as they can. Greensill bridged the two, it's mundane, boring even, but he saw an opportunity to profit. However, margins are thin and Lex, ever the risk taker, made lucrative loans with other people's money: to a Russian cargo plane linked to Vladmir Putin, to former Special Forces who ran a private army, and crucially to companies that were fraudulent or had no revenue.
When the company finally collapsed it exposed the revolving door between Westminster and big business and how David Cameron was allowed to lobby ministers for cash that would save Greensill's doomed business. Instead, Credit Suisse and Japan's SoftBank are nursing billions of dollars in losses, a German bank is under criminal investigation, and thousands of jobs are at risk.
What Bad Blood did for Silicon Valley and The Smartest Guys in the Room did for Wall Street, The Pyramid of Lies will do for the world of shadow banking and supply chain finance. It is a world populated with some of the most outlandish characters in business and some of the most outrageous examples of excess. It is a story of greed and ambition that shines a light on the murky intersection between politics and business, where lavish fortunes can be made and lost.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2022
232 people are currently reading
1860 people want to read
About the author
Duncan Mavin
4 books14 followersDuncan Mavin is a seasoned international financial journalist. Born and raised near Newcastle, he studied history at Durham University and spent a decade as a chartered accountant in the City and in Toronto. He then became a financial reporter and foreign correspondent for Canada’s National Post. Since 2009, he has been a reporter and editor for Dow Jones publications including the Wall Street Journal, based in Hong Kong, London and New York. Duncan wrote and edited the Journal’s influential Heard on the Street column for several years, and was the Journal’s Financial Editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was also the Managing Editor for Barron’s Group. His writing has also appeared in Barron’s, Financial News and on Bloomberg News. He lives with his wife and three sons in the UK, and is a long-suffering fan of Sunderland football club.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
August 22, 2022
A few years ago, I made it into an intimate meeting at the "top table". Just me and the top brass. I had prepared copious notes to discuss the large deal that was imminent. But I hadn't prepared to discuss horse racing, the ownership of horses, or the best dogs to keep at stables.
Like that meeting, this book made me incredibly angry. It's a detailed study of Lex Greensill's business activities, which (it makes clear in the title, but not quite directly in the text) required a pyramid scheme to make them look better than they were (or, likely, ever would be). But really (like Simon Clark's Key Man) this is a book about a man who has worked out what to say and how to present himself in order to become incredibly wealthy. Read with horror and disdain as a bunch of parasites divert investor's money into their own pockets, while businesses flounder or bizarrely continue to produce nothing.
Why do we put up with it? Why do we allow ourselves to be fooled by well-dressed, articulate monsters? Was Greensill a con-man or self-deluded? What about Cameron (cleared of "unregistered lobbying" despite the evidence here)? Is Sanjeev Gupta just a crook? Mavin just gives us the facts and lets the readers make their own minds up. This is important in our "tell-me-how-feel-about-it" world but, my goodness, people need to know.
Like that meeting, this book made me incredibly angry. It's a detailed study of Lex Greensill's business activities, which (it makes clear in the title, but not quite directly in the text) required a pyramid scheme to make them look better than they were (or, likely, ever would be). But really (like Simon Clark's Key Man) this is a book about a man who has worked out what to say and how to present himself in order to become incredibly wealthy. Read with horror and disdain as a bunch of parasites divert investor's money into their own pockets, while businesses flounder or bizarrely continue to produce nothing.
Why do we put up with it? Why do we allow ourselves to be fooled by well-dressed, articulate monsters? Was Greensill a con-man or self-deluded? What about Cameron (cleared of "unregistered lobbying" despite the evidence here)? Is Sanjeev Gupta just a crook? Mavin just gives us the facts and lets the readers make their own minds up. This is important in our "tell-me-how-feel-about-it" world but, my goodness, people need to know.
February 8, 2023
First 30 or so pages are a tough slog. The writers hatred of Lex (and all rich people) seemed very thinly veiled. If you're someone who enjoys financial true crime books you'll enjoy this a lot however. I followed the Greensill mess closely and there were things in the book I didn't know. It's very obvious that Gabriel Caillaux (of GA) was (likely!) a source for the author, his objective seems to have been to make himself look good and make the loan GA took from Greensill look less suspect than it clearly was. Rajeev Misra also seems like he was a source with the objective of trying to make himself look blameless (and less stupid) after the fact. Daniel Sheard was also likely a big source for the author, the author goes out of his way to deify Sheard. Sheard obviously did the right thing as did the author. In my book Lex deserves to be in prison. It astounds me that he's not in prison yet (along with his Indian associate who is fond of borrowing money). It's a good book, writing could've been better, but if you enjoy books like Billion Dollar Whale, Barbarians at the Gate, The Caesars Palace Coup, The Smartest Guys in the Room, The Predators' Ball - you're likely to find this a good read.
There was some gratuitous wealth porn which I found annoying. Book could've really used a better editor. And the authors transparent airing of his emotions should've been kept in check as that would've made this a 5/5 book.
I also love that the Financial Times doggedly helped run the Greensill scam out of town/business. Journalists like the ones at the FT who did their job (and the author at WSJ) are owed much by society for the incredible service they provide.
There was some gratuitous wealth porn which I found annoying. Book could've really used a better editor. And the authors transparent airing of his emotions should've been kept in check as that would've made this a 5/5 book.
I also love that the Financial Times doggedly helped run the Greensill scam out of town/business. Journalists like the ones at the FT who did their job (and the author at WSJ) are owed much by society for the incredible service they provide.
June 30, 2024
Pyramid of Lies is a straightforward narrative of the Greensill credit lending business, run by a well dressed extremely confident Antipodean. It reads well and builds appropriately – thanks to an extreme work ethic our protagonist fails upwards until he blows billions of dollars on a supply chain financing scheme that never really worked.
A Prophet of Doom?
It was complex. It loaned money to the riskier end of the market. The clients in Greensill’s reverse factoring programmes often didn’t have great credit ratings. The funds Lex created masked low-grade corporate debts with insurance, which made it look as safe as putting money in the bank. And Greensill was touting itself as a hot new fintech, when in reality Greensill was a financial intermediary with an appetite for convoluted corporate chicanery.
My (extremely) distilled understanding of Greensill’s business was that he would create loans and then securitize them. The returns on those securities were not great but theoretically they would be risk free because they were “insured.” The key issue was that the main insurer probably could not bear the cost of any major lender defaults. Once that insurer worked that out, they pulled the plug on that insurance and the whole business collapsed (because why have securities in high-risk/low reward loans). There was some techno babble in there as well, the relevance of which Mavin rightly dismisses. I am marginal as to whether the business as a whole was a fraud, but it was kept afloat by fraudulent acts.
This feels like 2008 all over again – even the insurer (IAG) feels like a remix of the original (AIG – who spots the risk earlier this time round). This does mean I partly feel short changed here – I get the vibe that, at least prior to inflation kicking in, billions of dollars flew round seeking investment in stuff that paid out far less than the actual risk being taken (the Greensill loans were often to shockingly bad entities). What we get is a snapshot of one particular business that just happened to have an ex-Prime Minister on its payroll and a major Indian magnate for a client, without really digging into how wide this problem is – if a company with so much apparent influence couldn’t make it, how many dead ducks are out there?
...but, I’ll forgive Pyramid of Lies for this. What Mavin managed to do, that certain businesses with billions of dollars did not, was ask probing questions and dig into Greensill’s financial reports. While I am sure there were other investors who also called Greensill’s bluff, it is fair Mavin does get to crow about his success. So while Pyramid of Lies is not overly broad, it does take you into the depths of investigative reporting. Of building the case. It is left to the reader to work out how cooked the global financial system is but Mavin does give you a recipe for doing that. As a final note out of fairness of depth versus breadth, Mavin does point out the systematic issue of supplier credit not being treated as debt for accounting purposes, which seems like something to keep an eye on.
Trust Me
The bank also got a credit rating from the Berlin-based rating agency Scope. The analysis was tough in places and noted concerns about the rapidly growing bank but ultimately Scope gave it an investment grade rating – essentially a stamp of approval. It didn’t emerge till much later that the relationship was riddled with potential conflicts.
One other point I would note is that Pyramid of Lies is a cautionary tale about the asymmetry of information in the “free market”. That there’s a “sucker born every minute” remains apt. Greensill regularly obstructs Mavin’s inquiries and debts are offloaded from balance sheets in obscure ways. Critical capital raises come through thanks to obfuscation and optimism detached from reality. Pyramid of Lies leaves me extremely paranoid about any form of investment. This is an overly negative view, but basically Greensill lied and got away with it for an extremely prolonged period of time.
Pyramid of Lies shakes my confidence that 2008 ever really reset things – its the same tune, just in a different key.
A Prophet of Doom?
It was complex. It loaned money to the riskier end of the market. The clients in Greensill’s reverse factoring programmes often didn’t have great credit ratings. The funds Lex created masked low-grade corporate debts with insurance, which made it look as safe as putting money in the bank. And Greensill was touting itself as a hot new fintech, when in reality Greensill was a financial intermediary with an appetite for convoluted corporate chicanery.
My (extremely) distilled understanding of Greensill’s business was that he would create loans and then securitize them. The returns on those securities were not great but theoretically they would be risk free because they were “insured.” The key issue was that the main insurer probably could not bear the cost of any major lender defaults. Once that insurer worked that out, they pulled the plug on that insurance and the whole business collapsed (because why have securities in high-risk/low reward loans). There was some techno babble in there as well, the relevance of which Mavin rightly dismisses. I am marginal as to whether the business as a whole was a fraud, but it was kept afloat by fraudulent acts.
This feels like 2008 all over again – even the insurer (IAG) feels like a remix of the original (AIG – who spots the risk earlier this time round). This does mean I partly feel short changed here – I get the vibe that, at least prior to inflation kicking in, billions of dollars flew round seeking investment in stuff that paid out far less than the actual risk being taken (the Greensill loans were often to shockingly bad entities). What we get is a snapshot of one particular business that just happened to have an ex-Prime Minister on its payroll and a major Indian magnate for a client, without really digging into how wide this problem is – if a company with so much apparent influence couldn’t make it, how many dead ducks are out there?
...but, I’ll forgive Pyramid of Lies for this. What Mavin managed to do, that certain businesses with billions of dollars did not, was ask probing questions and dig into Greensill’s financial reports. While I am sure there were other investors who also called Greensill’s bluff, it is fair Mavin does get to crow about his success. So while Pyramid of Lies is not overly broad, it does take you into the depths of investigative reporting. Of building the case. It is left to the reader to work out how cooked the global financial system is but Mavin does give you a recipe for doing that. As a final note out of fairness of depth versus breadth, Mavin does point out the systematic issue of supplier credit not being treated as debt for accounting purposes, which seems like something to keep an eye on.
Trust Me
The bank also got a credit rating from the Berlin-based rating agency Scope. The analysis was tough in places and noted concerns about the rapidly growing bank but ultimately Scope gave it an investment grade rating – essentially a stamp of approval. It didn’t emerge till much later that the relationship was riddled with potential conflicts.
One other point I would note is that Pyramid of Lies is a cautionary tale about the asymmetry of information in the “free market”. That there’s a “sucker born every minute” remains apt. Greensill regularly obstructs Mavin’s inquiries and debts are offloaded from balance sheets in obscure ways. Critical capital raises come through thanks to obfuscation and optimism detached from reality. Pyramid of Lies leaves me extremely paranoid about any form of investment. This is an overly negative view, but basically Greensill lied and got away with it for an extremely prolonged period of time.
Pyramid of Lies shakes my confidence that 2008 ever really reset things – its the same tune, just in a different key.
July 27, 2022
Brilliantly researched, expertly paced and beautifully written. Mavin manages to explain the industry, the financial pyramid, the political back channelling and the ultimate collapse of Greensill.
February 2, 2024
I love books like this. Books about fraudulent biotech firm Theranos or hedge fund Long Term Capital management or office space firm WeWork. All cover companies that promised the world and then fell apart in spectacular ways - from the lies and deceit of Theranos helmswoman Elizabeth Homes or the catastrophic chutzpah of the LTC managers. And the books about them get to tell a riveting story of how these messes unfolded - usually detailing just a few years and focussing on both the people in the companies as well as the corporate shenanigans that played out.
In reviewing what it was I loved about books that tell these other stories, I came to realise what makes me struggle with Duncan Mavin's Pyramid of Lies. It is too much biography; too little corporate chaos. It tells the story of Lex Greensill, who founded a supply chain finance company (and acquired a bank in the process) that ran up billions in what were effectively loans to a handful of dodgy businesses and, when those loans went south, lost billions in creditor money.
This is all grist for the mill of books in this genre - and yet, the book never really seems to arrive. We spend chapter after chapter going over Lex's background in Australia, aborted attempts to get started in SCF and so on. I found myself putting the book down for a week at a time I was so unengaged. The book would have been far better delivered had all the biography and pre-Greensill Capital stuff been condensed to three chapters and the rest of the book dedicated to a more blow-by-blow account of the collapse of the companies and concomitant incineration of wealth.
Lex himself is never visible enough, never real enough in the book - perhaps as he is not well known or not available enough to the author (or anyone by the sounds of it) - for a Lex focussed story to be worth telling. Because at its core this is a book about power and the relationships between finance and politics. This relationship is worth telling through the lens of Lex but this is not what this book achieves.
It's perhaps an overblown criticism; but it's the only way I can explain why a book that ticks all the boxes for me can be so ... three out of five, so "OK". And it certainly does have some juicy detail - described by one of the key reporters involved in breaking the scandal. Far more UK readers should know about that "Cameron was paid several hundred thousand pounds in salary and took home a bonus worth several hundred thousand more". A business will only pay such sums where there is clear advantage: the advantage being Cameron had HM Treasury's Permanent Secretary as well as dozens of senior politicians on speed dial and could, and did, lobby for Greensill's firms to access government contracts. We pay £125k per year for every living Prime Minister - we are still paying their way. Their future earnings should be seen as revenues generated by taxpayers' support and vote - where is our cut?
Another challenge of the book - made more apparent by an unfortunate endorsement quote "The British version of Bad Blood ... [but] better" - is that aside from the political sleaze that we all accept too readily, the corporate side of the scandal is fairly hard to understand and appears to be the financial status quo. Business makes overaggressive loans (legally disguised in the accounts as supply chain financing), loans sour, people lose money. However you packaged this story, it won't have the same effect as tales of Theranos investors having pinprick blood samples taken in an Edison machine - which are then snuck out the back of those machines, tested in conventional ways and then snuck back into those machines to make it appear like a little bread maker-sized box has done the whole analysis. Or the clear idiocy of WeWork's tech start-up valuations as it accumulated hundreds of long-term leases and ... sublet them. These are easy scandals to understand and more gripping stories to tell.
In short, Mavin has done vital work exposing this scandal. But the affair as a whole had too little effect from a public perception standpoint at the time and I don't believe this book will change that. A book more focussed on the mechanics of the failures of Greensill perhaps could have been more effective; or a book that used this as one of many examples of the revolving door between government and finance perhaps? If you want to know more about this story, Pyramid of Lies is just about your only option and it's certainly worth reading, but it was not the book I had hoped.
In reviewing what it was I loved about books that tell these other stories, I came to realise what makes me struggle with Duncan Mavin's Pyramid of Lies. It is too much biography; too little corporate chaos. It tells the story of Lex Greensill, who founded a supply chain finance company (and acquired a bank in the process) that ran up billions in what were effectively loans to a handful of dodgy businesses and, when those loans went south, lost billions in creditor money.
This is all grist for the mill of books in this genre - and yet, the book never really seems to arrive. We spend chapter after chapter going over Lex's background in Australia, aborted attempts to get started in SCF and so on. I found myself putting the book down for a week at a time I was so unengaged. The book would have been far better delivered had all the biography and pre-Greensill Capital stuff been condensed to three chapters and the rest of the book dedicated to a more blow-by-blow account of the collapse of the companies and concomitant incineration of wealth.
Lex himself is never visible enough, never real enough in the book - perhaps as he is not well known or not available enough to the author (or anyone by the sounds of it) - for a Lex focussed story to be worth telling. Because at its core this is a book about power and the relationships between finance and politics. This relationship is worth telling through the lens of Lex but this is not what this book achieves.
It's perhaps an overblown criticism; but it's the only way I can explain why a book that ticks all the boxes for me can be so ... three out of five, so "OK". And it certainly does have some juicy detail - described by one of the key reporters involved in breaking the scandal. Far more UK readers should know about that "Cameron was paid several hundred thousand pounds in salary and took home a bonus worth several hundred thousand more". A business will only pay such sums where there is clear advantage: the advantage being Cameron had HM Treasury's Permanent Secretary as well as dozens of senior politicians on speed dial and could, and did, lobby for Greensill's firms to access government contracts. We pay £125k per year for every living Prime Minister - we are still paying their way. Their future earnings should be seen as revenues generated by taxpayers' support and vote - where is our cut?
Another challenge of the book - made more apparent by an unfortunate endorsement quote "The British version of Bad Blood ... [but] better" - is that aside from the political sleaze that we all accept too readily, the corporate side of the scandal is fairly hard to understand and appears to be the financial status quo. Business makes overaggressive loans (legally disguised in the accounts as supply chain financing), loans sour, people lose money. However you packaged this story, it won't have the same effect as tales of Theranos investors having pinprick blood samples taken in an Edison machine - which are then snuck out the back of those machines, tested in conventional ways and then snuck back into those machines to make it appear like a little bread maker-sized box has done the whole analysis. Or the clear idiocy of WeWork's tech start-up valuations as it accumulated hundreds of long-term leases and ... sublet them. These are easy scandals to understand and more gripping stories to tell.
In short, Mavin has done vital work exposing this scandal. But the affair as a whole had too little effect from a public perception standpoint at the time and I don't believe this book will change that. A book more focussed on the mechanics of the failures of Greensill perhaps could have been more effective; or a book that used this as one of many examples of the revolving door between government and finance perhaps? If you want to know more about this story, Pyramid of Lies is just about your only option and it's certainly worth reading, but it was not the book I had hoped.
December 10, 2022
Fascinating, infuriating, and fills you with despair over the venal cowboys blithely moving billions through international financial markets. Also lowered my opinion of David Cameron yet further, which I didn’t think was possible.
January 15, 2025
3.5/5
interesting but just long and structurally slightly hard to follow
interesting but just long and structurally slightly hard to follow
August 5, 2022
Good reading
A good fast flowing read for anyone interested in the corruption of the Tory government. But for those who have been following from the start there is little new. The picture of Greensill and Cameron enjoying a beer in the backyard of murderer Mohammed Bin Salman's house will remain in my memory for ever.
A good fast flowing read for anyone interested in the corruption of the Tory government. But for those who have been following from the start there is little new. The picture of Greensill and Cameron enjoying a beer in the backyard of murderer Mohammed Bin Salman's house will remain in my memory for ever.
October 28, 2024
I really enjoyed “The Pyramid of Lies: Lex Greensill and the Billion-Dollar Scandal” by Duncan Mavin.
I admit I hadn’t heard of Lex Greensill or Greensill Bank before picking up this book. It caught my attention when it was hailed as “incredible” by Bradley Hope, co-author of “Billion Dollar Whale.” While this book is similarly entertaining, it’s not quite as epic—in terms of both narrative and the scale of fraud.
Mavin certainly has a beagle’s nose for sniffing out financial fraud and sensed something concerning about Greensill very early on. While many continued to back Greensill, Mavin knew something was too good to be true; things simply didn’t add up.
Although Mavin has done a stellar job investigating all aspects of Lex’s history and business—with intimate retellings of board meetings and client engagements—I felt he failed to acknowledge that not all of Greensill’s business was fraudulent or a massive scandal; this was not another Theranos.
Building a business is incredibly hard, and raising the kind of funds Lex did is something only unicorn entrepreneurs can achieve. Lex managed to do this. Where he failed, like many others, was due to a combination of hubris, ego, self-deception, and a web of questionable deals with dubious businesses. As always, regulation and risk management failed massively. In Lex’s case, he allegedly manipulated these systems to do what he wanted.
Similar to cases like Sam Bankman-Fried and, to some extent, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Greensill seemed indifferent to the fact that he was spending clients’ money—money that wasn’t his. “Greed is good” - until you eventually cross the line into fraud.
Excellently researched, with intricate details, personal interviews, and a comprehensive account of the rise and fall of Lex and his business, I would gladly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a financial or business investigative narrative similar to those by Michael Lewis or Bradley Hope.
I admit I hadn’t heard of Lex Greensill or Greensill Bank before picking up this book. It caught my attention when it was hailed as “incredible” by Bradley Hope, co-author of “Billion Dollar Whale.” While this book is similarly entertaining, it’s not quite as epic—in terms of both narrative and the scale of fraud.
Mavin certainly has a beagle’s nose for sniffing out financial fraud and sensed something concerning about Greensill very early on. While many continued to back Greensill, Mavin knew something was too good to be true; things simply didn’t add up.
Although Mavin has done a stellar job investigating all aspects of Lex’s history and business—with intimate retellings of board meetings and client engagements—I felt he failed to acknowledge that not all of Greensill’s business was fraudulent or a massive scandal; this was not another Theranos.
Building a business is incredibly hard, and raising the kind of funds Lex did is something only unicorn entrepreneurs can achieve. Lex managed to do this. Where he failed, like many others, was due to a combination of hubris, ego, self-deception, and a web of questionable deals with dubious businesses. As always, regulation and risk management failed massively. In Lex’s case, he allegedly manipulated these systems to do what he wanted.
Similar to cases like Sam Bankman-Fried and, to some extent, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Greensill seemed indifferent to the fact that he was spending clients’ money—money that wasn’t his. “Greed is good” - until you eventually cross the line into fraud.
Excellently researched, with intricate details, personal interviews, and a comprehensive account of the rise and fall of Lex and his business, I would gladly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a financial or business investigative narrative similar to those by Michael Lewis or Bradley Hope.
November 5, 2022
Well-researched, cool and reserved. Mavin examines another charismatic charlatan to add to the pile of grifters who've managed to wile their way into powerful circles and use that as well as some, ahem, "creative accounting", to squander hundreds of millions of dollars in a fraudulent pyramid scheme. The book shares many of exactly the same beats as Dan McCrum's Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth: a journalist sniffing out the story and doggedly pursuing it; a charismatic and confident (thrown eventually into desperation) fraudster; intimidation; attempts to spike stories; legal action; last-minute reprieves (in this case ) but an eventual comeuppance and collapse.
It's a good read and one of several fraud books I've read this year rebuilding my confidence in financial investigative journalism.
It's a good read and one of several fraud books I've read this year rebuilding my confidence in financial investigative journalism.
June 4, 2024
3.75⭐️rounded up for Goodreads to 4⭐️
A great piece of investigative journalism.
I thought sometimes that Marvin (understandable) dislike of Lex Greensill came out too strong. Yes, he is the main reason behind this scandal, but Marvin’s job he still to try and be a bit more distant when reporting on this.
This brings me to main issue I had with this book. I do understand that the judicial cases are still ongoing etc. And will take years before it fully comes to an end, (if ever). But the whole time I was reading this book I couldn’t stop thinking “why would some of the biggest names in finance, like and bank on Lex Greensil?” (pun intended)
The book tells us that he was crisp dressed, that he had a stick up his bu**, etc. Because of the writer open dislike of Greensil, it becomes hard to imagine for this guy who created a Ponzi scheme, could have had the charisma to do so, and to get the support he needed to do it.
Regardless I truly enjoyed this book.
A great piece of investigative journalism.
I thought sometimes that Marvin (understandable) dislike of Lex Greensill came out too strong. Yes, he is the main reason behind this scandal, but Marvin’s job he still to try and be a bit more distant when reporting on this.
This brings me to main issue I had with this book. I do understand that the judicial cases are still ongoing etc. And will take years before it fully comes to an end, (if ever). But the whole time I was reading this book I couldn’t stop thinking “why would some of the biggest names in finance, like and bank on Lex Greensil?” (pun intended)
The book tells us that he was crisp dressed, that he had a stick up his bu**, etc. Because of the writer open dislike of Greensil, it becomes hard to imagine for this guy who created a Ponzi scheme, could have had the charisma to do so, and to get the support he needed to do it.
Regardless I truly enjoyed this book.
June 9, 2025
Duncan Mavin’s The Pyramid of Lies: Lex Greensill and the Billion-Dollar Scandal unpacks the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of Greensill Capital, a financial firm that promised to revolutionize supply chain finance but ultimately collapsed in 2021. The book explores how Lex Greensill, an Australian financier, built his empire by leveraging political connections, opaque financial practices, and aggressive expansion strategies. Mavin details the web of shadow banking, regulatory failures, and unchecked ambition that led to Greensill’s downfall, exposing broader risks within the tech & financial services industries. I found the book entertaining and was particularly satisfied when the story become almost a first-person account of Mavin's investigation (and the maneuvers of Greensill to avoid getting caught). It's a great blend of analysis and intrigue. Also shines some light into Greensill's dealings with David Cameron and Masayoshi Son.
September 10, 2023
In the global world of finance, a riches-to-rages tale, a tale of scandal and corruption, a story of a high-flying empire crumbling to pieces is always around the corner. Greensill Capital’s downfall is one of the latest ones (of course Credit Suisse is more recent and a bigger story) and thus the book by Duncan Mavin, the journalist who tracked the entity and its promoter, makes for a very timely read for those who find such finance tales interesting. The book gives a good insight into the beginnings of the business, the ambitions of Lex Greensill, the rapid growth of the company, the lack of due diligence all around and the eventual downfall, which in hindsight looked but obvious. The book is well-written, well-explained, carries a solid human touch, and carries a lesson in prudent management of finances for those who want to learn…
September 17, 2023
I don't hesitate to give The Pyramid of Lies five stars, but I do so recognizing that the target audience for this particular work of narrative nonfiction is a somewhat narrow band. If you're a serial devourer of tales of financial crime, as I am, you're only 80% there. To enjoy this one, you also need to enjoy the subgenre of this universe that fearlessly dives into the nitty details of how the scheme was carried out. I for one do enjoy that, so I found the book a great time. But some might get lost in the financial and operational details. This is no fault of the author's as this is simply the kind of story that can't be told without explaining how the previously obscure realm of Supply Chain Finance was turned into a sort of monetary WMD by a blindly ambitious protagonist. Anyway, great read. Recommend.
March 15, 2025
Having previously read Going Infinite by Michael Lewis about Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX crypto scandal, Lex Greensill’s story has affirmed my prejudices against slick, public school grifters with the right connections, and gullible investors, greedy bankers, lawyers and PR firms with their snouts in the trough, not doing due diligence which might interfere with their feeding frenzy, and bullies who ride roughshod over anyone who suggests something is ‘off’.
This book sets out Greensill’s Ponzi scheme in graphic detail. It is more than frustrating that the perpetrators may have gone bust but not after sheltering more wealth than most will earn in several lifetimes. And there are likely many more Greensill’s as yet undiscovered.
Great book, story well told. Avoid if you have anger management issues.
This book sets out Greensill’s Ponzi scheme in graphic detail. It is more than frustrating that the perpetrators may have gone bust but not after sheltering more wealth than most will earn in several lifetimes. And there are likely many more Greensill’s as yet undiscovered.
Great book, story well told. Avoid if you have anger management issues.
August 25, 2025
Good easy read.
Notes
1. The GFG, GAM Greensill nexus
2. GAM struggles, so Credit Suisse comes in - funnily because Thiam was put in charge of stopping the defecation
3. General Atlantic and Vision Fund make Greensill look awesomer
4. Whats with the shady banks that are allowed to proliferate and park money?
Great stuff on halo effect, reciprocity, the aura of Cameron, Masayoshi, Credit Suisse and fancy looking bankers who 'manage' wealth
More important now is:
It reads like a precursor to the current private credit bubble.
All bubbles start with a good premise - look, we dont do unsecured; we dont lever up too much... we are simply replacing banks; giving access to good deals directly to investors...
The need to obfuscate, cover up, save face - all shall show up soon
Notes
1. The GFG, GAM Greensill nexus
2. GAM struggles, so Credit Suisse comes in - funnily because Thiam was put in charge of stopping the defecation
3. General Atlantic and Vision Fund make Greensill look awesomer
4. Whats with the shady banks that are allowed to proliferate and park money?
Great stuff on halo effect, reciprocity, the aura of Cameron, Masayoshi, Credit Suisse and fancy looking bankers who 'manage' wealth
More important now is:
It reads like a precursor to the current private credit bubble.
All bubbles start with a good premise - look, we dont do unsecured; we dont lever up too much... we are simply replacing banks; giving access to good deals directly to investors...
The need to obfuscate, cover up, save face - all shall show up soon
July 1, 2023
It is always interesting to see how much damage can be done by charismatic (at least to some) characters in a far-from-perfect system. The story of the boy from Bundaberg, Lex Greensill, is intriguing as he managed to gain the trust of many key individuals in the financial sector and built a big facade which ended up costing billions of dollars after it all came crashing down. Why were red flags ignored? Why did the regulators not act sooner? It is striking how easily some financial scandals emerged in recent years. It can only be hoped that lessons were learned, but after reading this book (and others) I remain somewhat sceptical. The author does a good job of outlining the score.
January 2, 2023
What a GREAT story.
I was aware of the collapse of Greensill Capital and Lex Greensill, the pineapple farmer
from North Queensland who scammed his way into the upper reaches of English society and a fair swag of Australian business and a few former politicians including the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. She was in 'good company' with former British Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Well written, and gathers pace and danger.
I was left, yet again, shaking my head about how greed makes fools of many and millionaires (if only for a while) out of some.
Well worth reading.
I was aware of the collapse of Greensill Capital and Lex Greensill, the pineapple farmer
from North Queensland who scammed his way into the upper reaches of English society and a fair swag of Australian business and a few former politicians including the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. She was in 'good company' with former British Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Well written, and gathers pace and danger.
I was left, yet again, shaking my head about how greed makes fools of many and millionaires (if only for a while) out of some.
Well worth reading.
August 3, 2022
Wow! The Great Australian con led onto an international stage.
Hard to believe that in todays economy this could even be allowed to happen.
A sad day for his family, their reputation and name. May he be held accountable for his actions through pure contempt and arrogance for those around him.
This is not a sliding doors moment. This book was based on such extreme detail and factual evidence that it astounds me he ever thought this was going to end any other way.
Hard to believe that in todays economy this could even be allowed to happen.
A sad day for his family, their reputation and name. May he be held accountable for his actions through pure contempt and arrogance for those around him.
This is not a sliding doors moment. This book was based on such extreme detail and factual evidence that it astounds me he ever thought this was going to end any other way.
September 13, 2022
An absolutely fabulous story of a breathtaking financial fraud, taking place under the noses of the rich, famous, and far too many people who should have known better.
Written like a taut thriller, the author has painstakingly researched a highly complex web of deceit, and laid bare an extraordinary true scandal which ensnared the UK Government, and casts doubt on the integrity of then British prime minister himself.
A cracking and jaw-dropping read.
Written like a taut thriller, the author has painstakingly researched a highly complex web of deceit, and laid bare an extraordinary true scandal which ensnared the UK Government, and casts doubt on the integrity of then British prime minister himself.
A cracking and jaw-dropping read.
December 11, 2022
It is not often that ones niche sector gets covered through a book. This has been quite well researched and does give good detail though am unsure how much of it was hindsight bias.
The overall journey has been well covered and does focus a lot more on the personality of Lex Greensill and how multiple sophisticated companies could have this call through their controls.
A must read for anyone in the banking space especially in corporate banking.
The overall journey has been well covered and does focus a lot more on the personality of Lex Greensill and how multiple sophisticated companies could have this call through their controls.
A must read for anyone in the banking space especially in corporate banking.
December 31, 2022
3.5 Stars
Well researched and documented book but it lacks a great narrative to pull it all together. The story gets dragged down in facts at times — not a terrible thing — but the story-telling takes a back seat. It could be my unfamiliarity with the topic but I got bored at times.
Note on audiobook: Author reads and he’s very clear but British pronunciation is annoying to the North American reader. And his Yiddish pronunciations are unforgivable on any continent.
Well researched and documented book but it lacks a great narrative to pull it all together. The story gets dragged down in facts at times — not a terrible thing — but the story-telling takes a back seat. It could be my unfamiliarity with the topic but I got bored at times.
Note on audiobook: Author reads and he’s very clear but British pronunciation is annoying to the North American reader. And his Yiddish pronunciations are unforgivable on any continent.
January 2, 2023
For those interested in financial matters, especially financial chicanery, this book is worth a read. The author is a journalist who conducted research for stories he was writing. There is a lot of detail, perhaps too much sometimes. The recurring theme is the "super salesman" persona of Lex Greensill, and the apparently lax due diligence of parties who provided funds to his firm. The book provides a lesson to be learned - be very suspicious when investing in any business.
September 11, 2023
There is literally no end to the damage our beloved masters of the universe in Finance are wreaking. And predictably in cahoots with our Tory government leaches in search of cashing in on their period of “public service” at any cost. How these people sleep at night, I have no idea - but presumably the lack of any conscience helps.
Another thoroughly depressing but entertaining read. Kudos to the author for uncovering and pursuing the story.
Another thoroughly depressing but entertaining read. Kudos to the author for uncovering and pursuing the story.
December 5, 2024
A brilliant non fiction read on Financial Scandalous Accounting
I love this book and read the author second book Meltdown first and then I immediately purchased his first book.
This is a brilliant written book and kept me on edge as it was so addictive and I couldn't believe it that this is real and not fiction.
Overall I highly recommend it, especially anyone doing either accounting or business management course. I definitely will be rereading again soon. Best wishes
I love this book and read the author second book Meltdown first and then I immediately purchased his first book.
This is a brilliant written book and kept me on edge as it was so addictive and I couldn't believe it that this is real and not fiction.
Overall I highly recommend it, especially anyone doing either accounting or business management course. I definitely will be rereading again soon. Best wishes
December 11, 2022
A fascinating look into the recent financial implosion of one of the many businesses that collapsed under the strain of attempting to make a conventional and what otherwise would be a modestly valued, low margin finance business into a ‘disruptive fintech’ company.
As the historic asset bubble currently being experienced in the global markets continues to shrink, many more will follow.
As the historic asset bubble currently being experienced in the global markets continues to shrink, many more will follow.
December 14, 2022
Very well researched story. It was obvious from the start that Lex Greensill was running a ponzi scheme - there is very little money to be made from Supply Chain Finance or Trade Finance. It still boggles my mind that he was able to run it for so long, lose investor funds in the process and get away with it - or so it appears.
June 18, 2024
Exceptionally well researched and provides a very thorough account of rise and fall of the Greensill empire and the shaky foundations upon which it was all based.
Would have benefited from a better editor. There's a fair amount of repetition throughout the book, and a number of sections feels like raw material stitched together.
Overall though an interesting and insightful read.
Would have benefited from a better editor. There's a fair amount of repetition throughout the book, and a number of sections feels like raw material stitched together.
Overall though an interesting and insightful read.
February 4, 2025
Beware false prophets. Beware profiteers. This story of unbridled greed, enabled by trusting investors and regulators is a reality more crazy than fiction. Any bank regulator, board member and top executive needs to read this. This is a manual for what governance should look like, by demonstrating what it should never be but often is.
August 1, 2022
Back to reading.
Slightly repetitive at points but v much enjoyed. Informative, interesting, well written - classic non fiction that reads almost like a fiction
NB: review of my own purposes so I don’t forget what I’ve read
Slightly repetitive at points but v much enjoyed. Informative, interesting, well written - classic non fiction that reads almost like a fiction
NB: review of my own purposes so I don’t forget what I’ve read
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