ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I feel privileged that my work takes me daily inside the vital heart of the financial system and gives me an eyewitness perch from which to view events that will shape the nation for decades to come. Between personal interviews, interviews on my shows, Closing Bell and Wall Street Journal Report, and my column in BusinessWeek I was able to be an eyewitness to this crisis. Because of such rare access, I have been able to write this account of the most significant financial upheaval in modern memory.
I could not have done it alone. I am grateful to the many people who helped make this book a reality. My collaborator, Catherine Whitney, provided invaluable assistance in helping me tell the story in the most powerful way. She helped shape and write this book and allowed the interviews with the players to come alive. My agent, Wayne Kabak, once again demonstrated his belief in me and supported this project from the start. Thanks, too, to Ciro Scotti, whose contribution to the concept and the text was important at every stage. From his help editing my column at BusinessWeek magazine for five years, always trusting me about who we needed to hear from to his knowledge of this subject and editing this book, he helped carve and refine it. Adrian Zackheim at Portfolio / Penguin embraced this idea from the start and gave me the room to explore my ideas. Along with Adrian, Brooke Carey, and Natalie Horbachevsky helped to shepherd this project to its conclusion with great patience and resolve. The marketing and publicity teams were instrumental, especially Will Weisser and Amanda Pritzker.
I am particularly grateful to all the men and women inside the financial industry and government who shared their insights and recollections with me during the crisis and in its aftermath. They have been generous with their time in personal interviews as well as in their willingness to come on my shows, Closing Bell and Wall Street Journal Report, to help people understand events and what they mean. I would like to offer special thanks to Josef Ackerman, Amar Bhide, Richard Bove, Bill Clinton, Bob Diamond, Jamie Dimon, Mohamed El-Erian, Larry Fink, Barney Frank, Scott Friedheim, Tim Geithner, Ace Greenberg, Hank Greenberg, Alan Greenspan, Brad Hintz, Bob Hormats, Jeff Immelt, Garry Kasparov, Dick Kovacevich, Christine Lagarde, Ed Lazear, Ken Lewis, John Mack, Dan Mudd, Vikram Pandit, Paolo Pellegrini, Hank Paulson, Jim Rogers, Ken Rogoff, David Rubenstein, Mary Schapiro, Stephen Schwarzman, Robert Steel, John Thain, Paul Volcker, Axel Weber, Jack Welch, Jim Wilkinson, Meredith Whitney, and Robert Wolf. As always, I am thankful to those at the New York Stock Exchange who have allowed me such remarkable access.
I am deeply grateful to all the people at CNBC who make my work possible. Thanks to Mark Hoffman, who made it one of his priorities to increase the number of guests on CNBC every day. As anyone who is covering a story in real time knows, it is essential to speak to the insiders, and CNBC did just that during this crisis, and provided viewers with real perspective with extra live global coverage and the biggest names in business and government weighing in. CNBC helped put the crisis in context for millions. In particular, I could not do what I do without the daily commitment and creativity of the people on my team. Lulu Chiang makes it hapen every day with her amazing dedication and talent. She and Donna Burton have been instrumental in landing the kinds of guests everyone needs to hear from to best understand what is happening. The entire Closing Bell team, led by Alex Crippen and Han-Ting Wang, covered this story in real time. Thanks to Joel Franklin, Katie Kramer, and everyone on the Wall Street Journal Report for putting this unprecedented moment in time in real perspective. Thanks to Deborah Nikiper for providing unwavering daily support. I am lucky to have such a fantastic team, including everyone at cnbc.com who also covered this crisis on a daily basis.
The media is often criticized for different reasons, but I have to say how proud I am of all of my colleagues in the industry. Reporters everywhere—from CNBC to Bloomberg and Fox to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Financial Times, the Washington Post, the wire and online news services, and many other business networks and publications—did remarkable work covering the worst financial crisis any of us had ever seen. Overall, the media did a great job handicapping complex issues and making them understandable and accessible for the public. Their coverage provided enormous value and critical information for investors, insiders, and consumers.
On a personal level, none of this would be possible without the ongoing support of my wonderful family, who remains the foundation of all that I do. Thanks so much, Jono, for always pushing me forward.
NOTES
In the course of each year I interview hundreds of people for my two shows, Closing Bell and the Wall Street Journal Report. They represent a wide spectrum of positions and viewpoints—from corporation heads
