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The Number
With a new Afterword by the author and a new Foreword by Mark Cuban
In this commanding big-picture analysis of what went wrong in corporate America, Alex Berenson, a top financial investigative reporter for The New York Times , examines the common thread connecting Enron, Worldcom, Halliburton, Computer Associates, Tyco, and other recent corporate the cult of the number.
Every three months, 14,000 publicly traded companies report sales and profits to their shareholders. Nothing is more important in these quarterly announcements than earnings per share, the lodestar that investors—and these days, that’s most of us—use to judge the health of corporate America. earnings per share is the number for which all other numbers are sacrificed. It is the distilled truth of a company’s health.
Too bad it’s often a lie.
Alex Berenson’s The Number provides a comprehensiv, brutally factual overview of how Wall Street and corporate America lost their way during the great bull market that began in 1982. With wit and a broad historical perspective, Berenson puts recent corporate accounting (or accountability) disasters in their proper context. He explains how the wheels came off the wagon, giving readers the information and analysis they need to understand Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Halliburton, and the rest of the corporate calamities of our times.
In this commanding big-picture analysis of what went wrong in corporate America, Alex Berenson, a top financial investigative reporter for The New York Times , examines the common thread connecting Enron, Worldcom, Halliburton, Computer Associates, Tyco, and other recent corporate the cult of the number.
Every three months, 14,000 publicly traded companies report sales and profits to their shareholders. Nothing is more important in these quarterly announcements than earnings per share, the lodestar that investors—and these days, that’s most of us—use to judge the health of corporate America. earnings per share is the number for which all other numbers are sacrificed. It is the distilled truth of a company’s health.
Too bad it’s often a lie.
Alex Berenson’s The Number provides a comprehensiv, brutally factual overview of how Wall Street and corporate America lost their way during the great bull market that began in 1982. With wit and a broad historical perspective, Berenson puts recent corporate accounting (or accountability) disasters in their proper context. He explains how the wheels came off the wagon, giving readers the information and analysis they need to understand Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Halliburton, and the rest of the corporate calamities of our times.
328 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 7, 2015
Awesome read
I read this book for my graduate business financial accounting class but I would read it all over again just for fun. It's extremely informative on the stock market. I learned so much after reading it. I would recommend to anyone interested in stocks.
I read this book for my graduate business financial accounting class but I would read it all over again just for fun. It's extremely informative on the stock market. I learned so much after reading it. I would recommend to anyone interested in stocks.
March 26, 2022
A solid book on the history of EPS. How and why it became most of those ostentatiously important numbers for public companies, investors, and all the middlemen in the financial system. There is also right, just right thinking in this book. Berenson has a heart, at least from what I see in this book.
The narrative also deparates people because as an insider of the system, I am too aware of the stupidity of this financial world. yet, as so many powerful people fail to act upon the stupidity of the system, I don't think I could change a lot within my lifetime. Maybe there is a faint chance, and I don't want to give it up.
The narrative also deparates people because as an insider of the system, I am too aware of the stupidity of this financial world. yet, as so many powerful people fail to act upon the stupidity of the system, I don't think I could change a lot within my lifetime. Maybe there is a faint chance, and I don't want to give it up.
May 20, 2021
This book was recommended to me by a friend and turned out to be a very engaging read. The author has a sense of humor which made the reading about financial history a bit more readable. It is sobering to read how much the accounting field is subject to "interpretations" in furtherance of earnings/share numbers and how the conflicts of interest [honest auditing vs revenue generation] within accounting firms may drive behavior in the wrong direction.
The only downside of the book is it's now 20 years old. It doesn't account for the great recession during the Bush-Obama era.
The only downside of the book is it's now 20 years old. It doesn't account for the great recession during the Bush-Obama era.
November 30, 2024
Perpetual Problems
Investors still need to be cautious about the firms that they invest in; the Great Recession and Pandemia hurt many firms, but some firms must grow to employ both the workers they have and people coming into the workforce. There’s always a temptation to get money from investors dishonestly, but how many executives and how many non-executives were indicted in recent years on charges of violating Sarbanes-Oxley?
Investors still need to be cautious about the firms that they invest in; the Great Recession and Pandemia hurt many firms, but some firms must grow to employ both the workers they have and people coming into the workforce. There’s always a temptation to get money from investors dishonestly, but how many executives and how many non-executives were indicted in recent years on charges of violating Sarbanes-Oxley?
June 13, 2017
Paints a bleak picture of the global accounting system. Seems it's only a matter of time before the same mistakes are repeated.
August 31, 2017
Forward from Mark Cuban: http://blogmaverick.com/2013/01/10/th...
June 8, 2024
Engaging read. Quite dated (understandably)
August 16, 2025
Quick read that was reasonably entertaining and made me feel like I could beat the market. Also this guy really doesn’t like Michael Lewis.
September 4, 2025
Strays from the topic into subpar examinations of the most over-covered events of his time.
December 5, 2025
Oh corporate America so sad to see what we have become. Good storyline about late 1800s to 2010 accounting, the economy, and Wall Street. Just not the most riveting story line
August 6, 2008
If you own stocks you should at least read chapter 7: Options.
I always knew that stock options were just a way for management to steal from stockholders, but the author does an execellent job of explaining this process and gives outragous examples.
Most exec's sell the stock as soon as they exercise an option so it's a lie that they are alining their interests with stockholders.
And to make it worse, the cost of these options aren't deducted from company earnings so it looks like there is no cost.
The rest of the book is about crooked auditors and management's and is interesting also.
I always knew that stock options were just a way for management to steal from stockholders, but the author does an execellent job of explaining this process and gives outragous examples.
Most exec's sell the stock as soon as they exercise an option so it's a lie that they are alining their interests with stockholders.
And to make it worse, the cost of these options aren't deducted from company earnings so it looks like there is no cost.
The rest of the book is about crooked auditors and management's and is interesting also.
December 5, 2015
Financial writing is not normally my cup of tea, but somehow accounting became pretty interesting in this book. Not many books have mild-mannered accountants as villains, after all (see Arthur Anderson and friends). It's pretty amazing how you can turn a loss into a profit simply by calling something by a different word and POOF! Instant millionaires. Although this was written shortly after a stock market plunge in 2002, it is still relevant as it helped me to understand how the even bigger crash happened in 2008. If you've always distrusted your CEO's platitudes due to a gut feeling, this can give you facts to back it up. Encourages big picture, long term thinking.
July 6, 2012
An interesting review of how corporations use and misuse accounting to compete for your investment dollars. Wish I could have rated the book higher, however, the conclusions seemed to just live with the facts some companies will misrepresent their true business profitability and that you as an investor, caveat emptor.
February 11, 2013
This is a terrifying look into how big profits and large bonuses have corrupted some of the leaders of major corporations in America. Everyone who does some investing should read chapter seven on stock options. It is really a fascinating look into the world of quarterly earnings and profit reports. That does not really sound possible.
August 19, 2016
Does an amazing job detailing the history of the stock market. Highlights some of the major flaws in stock options and the reporting of corporate earnings. Perhaps more importantly, though, it also touches upon the human condition, how stock market crashes persist, and why history is doomed to repeat itself.
August 20, 2010
-Interesting history of the interaction of corporate America’s executives “independent auditor oversight and politics.” Tries to explain cycles of boom and bust in the S & P 500, also discusses corporate financial corruption.
May 28, 2020
Did a re-read of this one, and yep everything in it still applies.
Surprised to see all the wannabe-Tom-Clancy novels on the author's GR page. Guess he packed it in, as far as business writing goes. Bit of a shame.
Surprised to see all the wannabe-Tom-Clancy novels on the author's GR page. Guess he packed it in, as far as business writing goes. Bit of a shame.
October 15, 2016
Breezy, pretty easy understand look at the history of accounting in business and how it has contributed to wider economic issues. Very rooted in the post-Internet bubble, but pre-financial meltdown time it was written.
September 29, 2009
What is "The Number?" You'll have to read to find out.
May 1, 2010
This is a pretty well written book, but Berenson is arrogant and cynical about everything. Everyone was ignorant and did everything wrong, except Berenson, who saw it all coming.
August 17, 2011
An introductory history of Wall Street and the screwups that led to corporate scandals. I found it enlightening even as I felt out of my depth on various accounting issues. A worthwhile read.
June 19, 2012
This is a sad book as it tells the story of Wall Street corruption. I learned most from the stories of how the Big 8 Account firms became the Big 6, the Big 5, and embarrassingly the Big 4.
February 6, 2013
If Mark Cuban recommends it, it can't be bad.
June 19, 2013
Excellent read! This investigative effort tells us how the investors' unparraleled love for quarterly EPS corrupted the largest listed companies.
August 1, 2013
A little too flippant about some legitimate debates in accounting. But overall a great read, asking good questions and illuminating some tricky issues.
April 23, 2017
Easy going chatty style with helpful appendices for accounting concepts
April 1, 2017
The Number is a history of the financial and stock markets over the past two centuries. It delves into many of the great crashes the markets have endured in that time including the individuals, laws, instruments, bubbles and outcomes. What I liked about this was it provides the reader with a chronological history of how the financial markets have been developed, the laws that have been enacted and how both aspects have shaped over the many decades. Furthermore it demonstrates how greedy we are as human beings. Many examples like WorldCom, Computer Associates and Arthur Andersen show the propensity we have in being devious with the aim of rewarding ourselves.
Three key takeaways from the book:
1. Accountants are the plumbers of capitalism, unappreciated but vital to the system.
2. Any company with a high price-earnings ratio can cause its earnings to rise simply by buying another company whose stock is cheaper than its own.
3. Stocks have a century-long record of strong performance at the beginning of the year when investors inject their Christmas bonuses into the market and look for stocks knocked down by year-end selling. In hell, on the other hand, the calendar always reads October.
Three key takeaways from the book:
1. Accountants are the plumbers of capitalism, unappreciated but vital to the system.
2. Any company with a high price-earnings ratio can cause its earnings to rise simply by buying another company whose stock is cheaper than its own.
3. Stocks have a century-long record of strong performance at the beginning of the year when investors inject their Christmas bonuses into the market and look for stocks knocked down by year-end selling. In hell, on the other hand, the calendar always reads October.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews