The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson
Apr. 27th, 2025 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
There is no Blurb on the Back, instead there are the following quotes:
“Stevenson had a meteoric rise from the rags of east London to the riches of Citibank, and his book charts that journey … A darkly funny book that makes a convincing case that high finance is as toxic, reckless and deeply cynical as ever.”
The Guardian
“The Wolf of Wall Street with a moral compass.”
Irvine Walsh
“Hilarious, shocking and deeply sad - often in the same sentence.”
Sunday Times
“Terrific … an unlikely hero, brimming with wit and a low tolerance for nonsense.”
Daily Telegraph
“A sharp observer, with a gift for colourful if merciless description.”
Financial Times
“Rude and funny … fast-paced … Gary Stevenson’s account of the frenzy and follies of trading ‘trillions a day’ is powerful … he tells a vivid story.”
TLS
Gary Stevenson is a former Citibank trader turned YouTuber and anti-inequality activist. This is an absorbing memoir of his life as a top trader at Citibank but the sections setting out how he rose from a working class upbringing in Ilford, Essex to become a top trader making millions of pounds in bonuses are more convincing than the final section, which charts how he became disillusioned with his job and its role in fuelling societal inequality.
I picked this up because I read an interview with Stevenson in The Guardian and was interested in his story and what he had to say about city culture and how the financial sector has fuelled inequalities within society. In particular I felt a degree of kindred spirit with him because although I did not come from the same working class roots as him, I did go to a grammar school (although I was not expelled for dealing drugs) and I was the first in my university to go to university - like him, attending LSE (albeit he studied mathematics and economics and I studied law). I also know what it’s like to go into the City and not know anything about how I’m expected to behave and what everyone is talking about.
After buying it, I became aware that there is some controversy about the claims that he makes within the book - notably about being the best trader at Citibank and having beaten Citibank to get them to release him with his bonus at the end. Having read the book, I have to say that whatever the merits of Stevenson’s claims, focusing on whether he was the best trader or whatever kinda misses the point about this book. Fundamentally this is the story of a man who got everything that he thought he wanted, only to realise that all of the money he was making did not make him happy and at a basic level he did not know who he was or what he actually wanted.
The memoir is pretty straightforward, focusing mainly on how Stevenson got his job at Citibank after performing well in a trading game competition sponsored by Citibank and he claims he went straight into working on the trading desks in 2007 rather than doing the usual graduate seat rotations. There he worked his way up in learning how to make his own trades and after realising how badly the global economy was doing, made millions of pounds in bonuses after trading against central banks increasing interest rates.
Where the book works well is in setting out what happens on the trading floor, the relationship between traders and brokers and how Stevenson made his money. I can’t say that I believed Stevenson’s claim not to have known how to go about applying to banks - I was no more clued into how to get jobs when I was at LSE but everyone knew about banking internships and the need to apply for the same in good there and I was there a good 10 years ahead of him. However his account of how he won Citibank’s trading game was interesting as are his descriptions of his fish-out-of-water view of being taken to fancy restaurants by brokers keen to win his business and the snapshot portraits he paints of his fellow traders are sharp and sardonic, albeit he has composed his trading characters based on people he knew rather than recounting actual people for confidentiality reasons.
Where the book is weak is in self-reflection and personal relationships. Stevenson doesn’t really go into personal relationships - he casually mentions towards the end that he never got on with his mum but there’s no explanation as to why and he gives nothing on his relationship with his dad other than to say that they used to go to football games together. The only interaction he describes has a somewhat snide tone to it as he mentions taking them to a Japanese restaurant but - mirroring a scene he recounts earlier - like him they don’t know how to use chopsticks. Similarly we don’t know anything about his girlfriend Wizard other than that she was beautiful and apparently very supportive.
The only friend he appears to have is Harry, who he knew from growing up in Ilford and who he helps to become a broker but even then there is little about their friendship with Stevenson seemingly feeling a mix of obligation and irritation as Harry succumbs to substance abuse and keeps him awake with his partying. It’s interesting that Stevenson feels no loyalty to those traders who helped him to get started and they in turn appear ready to stab him if it works for them and I would have welcomed more insight into it than Stevenson is willing to give.
Where the lack of introspection spoils the book though is in the final part where Stevenson recounts how he becomes depressed and disillusioned with trading as he can see how society is becoming more broken. It all comes a bit out of nowhere, Stevenson doesn’t try to explore why he became so paralysed and miserable and you have to read between the lines to see that it’s become about winning for him, about proving that he can take it but at the same time not doing anything with his bonuses other than investing them.
The problem is that his time in Japan simply isn’t that interesting to read and the fact that Stevenson has never shown himself as being particularly invested in his community and there is nothing tangible to show why he is worried about inequality other than as an academic exercise. This is reinforced by the fact that he openly says he only looked at working for a charity because he discovered that doing so would allow him to leave Citibank and keep his bonus and for someone who talks a lot about inequality and its effects, he does not offer any solutions - although maybe this is something he is saving for a follow-up book. His ‘battle’ to leave Citibank also doesn’t ring true for me in terms of how it plays out - specifically for someone who says he hired lawyers, his strategies are remarkably stupid and yet he triumphs regardless.
For all this the book is an absorbing read. Stevenson has a good narrative voice, which plays up his Ilford roots and the aggressive language and alpha male competitiveness of the trading floor. He breaks down the complexity of trading in a way that’s easy to understand and he wears his gift for numbers and clear intelligence lightly. His hunger and ambition to make something of himself also comes through strongly and I have to say that I related to that as well as I recognised it in my younger self, which may be why I enjoyed what he had to say and would happily read his next book.
The Verdict:
Gary Stevenson is a former Citibank trader turned YouTuber and anti-inequality activist. This is an absorbing memoir of his life as a top trader at Citibank but the sections setting out how he rose from a working class upbringing in Ilford, Essex to become a top trader making millions of pounds in bonuses are more convincing than the final section, which charts how he became disillusioned with his job and its role in fuelling societal inequality.
There is no Blurb on the Back, instead there are the following quotes:
The Guardian
Irvine Walsh
Sunday Times
Daily Telegraph
Financial Times
TLS
Gary Stevenson is a former Citibank trader turned YouTuber and anti-inequality activist. This is an absorbing memoir of his life as a top trader at Citibank but the sections setting out how he rose from a working class upbringing in Ilford, Essex to become a top trader making millions of pounds in bonuses are more convincing than the final section, which charts how he became disillusioned with his job and its role in fuelling societal inequality.
I picked this up because I read an interview with Stevenson in The Guardian and was interested in his story and what he had to say about city culture and how the financial sector has fuelled inequalities within society. In particular I felt a degree of kindred spirit with him because although I did not come from the same working class roots as him, I did go to a grammar school (although I was not expelled for dealing drugs) and I was the first in my university to go to university - like him, attending LSE (albeit he studied mathematics and economics and I studied law). I also know what it’s like to go into the City and not know anything about how I’m expected to behave and what everyone is talking about.
After buying it, I became aware that there is some controversy about the claims that he makes within the book - notably about being the best trader at Citibank and having beaten Citibank to get them to release him with his bonus at the end. Having read the book, I have to say that whatever the merits of Stevenson’s claims, focusing on whether he was the best trader or whatever kinda misses the point about this book. Fundamentally this is the story of a man who got everything that he thought he wanted, only to realise that all of the money he was making did not make him happy and at a basic level he did not know who he was or what he actually wanted.
The memoir is pretty straightforward, focusing mainly on how Stevenson got his job at Citibank after performing well in a trading game competition sponsored by Citibank and he claims he went straight into working on the trading desks in 2007 rather than doing the usual graduate seat rotations. There he worked his way up in learning how to make his own trades and after realising how badly the global economy was doing, made millions of pounds in bonuses after trading against central banks increasing interest rates.
Where the book works well is in setting out what happens on the trading floor, the relationship between traders and brokers and how Stevenson made his money. I can’t say that I believed Stevenson’s claim not to have known how to go about applying to banks - I was no more clued into how to get jobs when I was at LSE but everyone knew about banking internships and the need to apply for the same in good there and I was there a good 10 years ahead of him. However his account of how he won Citibank’s trading game was interesting as are his descriptions of his fish-out-of-water view of being taken to fancy restaurants by brokers keen to win his business and the snapshot portraits he paints of his fellow traders are sharp and sardonic, albeit he has composed his trading characters based on people he knew rather than recounting actual people for confidentiality reasons.
Where the book is weak is in self-reflection and personal relationships. Stevenson doesn’t really go into personal relationships - he casually mentions towards the end that he never got on with his mum but there’s no explanation as to why and he gives nothing on his relationship with his dad other than to say that they used to go to football games together. The only interaction he describes has a somewhat snide tone to it as he mentions taking them to a Japanese restaurant but - mirroring a scene he recounts earlier - like him they don’t know how to use chopsticks. Similarly we don’t know anything about his girlfriend Wizard other than that she was beautiful and apparently very supportive.
The only friend he appears to have is Harry, who he knew from growing up in Ilford and who he helps to become a broker but even then there is little about their friendship with Stevenson seemingly feeling a mix of obligation and irritation as Harry succumbs to substance abuse and keeps him awake with his partying. It’s interesting that Stevenson feels no loyalty to those traders who helped him to get started and they in turn appear ready to stab him if it works for them and I would have welcomed more insight into it than Stevenson is willing to give.
Where the lack of introspection spoils the book though is in the final part where Stevenson recounts how he becomes depressed and disillusioned with trading as he can see how society is becoming more broken. It all comes a bit out of nowhere, Stevenson doesn’t try to explore why he became so paralysed and miserable and you have to read between the lines to see that it’s become about winning for him, about proving that he can take it but at the same time not doing anything with his bonuses other than investing them.
The problem is that his time in Japan simply isn’t that interesting to read and the fact that Stevenson has never shown himself as being particularly invested in his community and there is nothing tangible to show why he is worried about inequality other than as an academic exercise. This is reinforced by the fact that he openly says he only looked at working for a charity because he discovered that doing so would allow him to leave Citibank and keep his bonus and for someone who talks a lot about inequality and its effects, he does not offer any solutions - although maybe this is something he is saving for a follow-up book. His ‘battle’ to leave Citibank also doesn’t ring true for me in terms of how it plays out - specifically for someone who says he hired lawyers, his strategies are remarkably stupid and yet he triumphs regardless.
For all this the book is an absorbing read. Stevenson has a good narrative voice, which plays up his Ilford roots and the aggressive language and alpha male competitiveness of the trading floor. He breaks down the complexity of trading in a way that’s easy to understand and he wears his gift for numbers and clear intelligence lightly. His hunger and ambition to make something of himself also comes through strongly and I have to say that I related to that as well as I recognised it in my younger self, which may be why I enjoyed what he had to say and would happily read his next book.
The Verdict:
Gary Stevenson is a former Citibank trader turned YouTuber and anti-inequality activist. This is an absorbing memoir of his life as a top trader at Citibank but the sections setting out how he rose from a working class upbringing in Ilford, Essex to become a top trader making millions of pounds in bonuses are more convincing than the final section, which charts how he became disillusioned with his job and its role in fuelling societal inequality.
