Alex’s Reviews > Liar's Poker > Status Update
Alex
is on page 37 of 310
Michael Lewis is invited to a dinner with the Queen Mother while finishing studies at LSE, where he meets a wife of a Salomon director. She grills him and offers to get him a position, which he accepts (without being asked) from the head of recruiting. He previously studied art history at Princeton (not economics, which was popular at the time) and failed an early interview by saying he wanted the job to make money
— Jan 25, 2026 07:41PM
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Alex’s Previous Updates
Alex
is on page 98 of 310
Descriptions of many speakers in the training class. The high-rolling execs, the dreaded equity dept (stocks made much less than bonds after the end of fixed commissions and the bond boom) who tried to recruit trainees of whom none wanted to be recruited, and the bond dept. The role of traders vs salesman, with characters from both speaking. Both good and evil people were successful by not taking shit from anyone
— Mar 31, 2026 07:40PM
Alex
is on page 66 of 310
Lewis describes how Salomon cornered the bond market. No one else was trading bonds, and when the Fed fixed money supply/freed interest rates, bonds became much more volatile/tradable. Then, the long training program/indoctrination into the firm, where you had to get a manager to pick you and the class very split between rowdy and suck-up. The firm was changing. Then a description of shadowing on the trading floor
— Jan 27, 2026 07:13PM
Alex
is on page 19 of 310
An introduction to Wall Street in the 80s, specifically at Salomon Brothers. The chairman, John Gutfreund, challenges John Meriwether, his best trader, to a million dollar hand of Liars poker. The dynamic was Gut showing he can roll with the traders by playing a game Meri was superior at. Meri can’t back out and ups the bet to 10 mil. Gut backs out slyly. Demonstrates the mindset and behavior of those on the floor
— Jan 25, 2026 07:34PM
