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Programmer Sergey Aleynikov was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for downloading 8 megabytes of code he worked on from Goldman Sachs’s high-frequency stock-trading system. Financial journalist Michael Lewis investigates how Aleynikov was punished for something only a few people understand, and holds a “kind of second trial” for Aleynikov so he can be […]

How corruption inside the ratings agencies played a critical role in the financial crisis: “In incriminating e-mail after incriminating e-mail, executives and analysts from these companies are caught admitting their entire business model is crooked. “‘Lord help our fucking scam . . . this has to be the stupidest place I have worked at,’ writes one Standard & Poor’s […]

A writer looks for a balance between creative ambition and financial security: “I recently asked my dad if he ever regretted not following those early ambitions. No, he told me. Even though he’d toyed with doing a more commercial craft like silversmithing or pottery, he realized how hard a life that would be, always having […]

How financial and personal pressure took a toll on an entrepreneur: “Before the fundraising, Sherman would push himself and others to raise as much money as possible for their businesses. After the financing closed, he began referring to venture capital as a ‘fraud’ and a ‘sham.’ “Employees could tell something was off when Sherman announced […]

A man decides to divide himself into 100,000 shares and sell himself on the open market, allowing investors to decide what he should do with his life: “Then, on August 10, 2008, Merrill asked the shareholders to decide whether he should get a vasectomy. He didn’t tell McCormick that he was going to bring them […]

Two California men use conspiracy theories to fuel a massive tax-fraud scheme: “The Old Quest presenters told Trinidad every time he used his social security number as part of a financial transaction, he was ‘creating money,’ and that when he signed a loan document, the bank received nine times the amount he borrowed. They warned […]

It remains nearly impossible for investors to understand what’s going on inside the big banks—and what risks they’re taking on: “When we asked Dane Holmes, the head of investor relations at Goldman Sachs, why so few people trust big banks, he told us, ‘People don’t understand the banks,’ because ‘there is a lack of transparency.’ […]

How much blame for the financial crisis should be placed on people like Robert Rubin, former Clinton Treasury Secretary and Citigroup chairman? A fresh look at the decisions he made: Like many Rubin defenders, Sheryl Sandberg suspects that her mentor has become a scapegoat for events beyond comprehension. ‘My own view is that, look, these […]

A look at the women who work as “Internet cam girls,” and the criminal activity that may be occurring behind some of the cam networks: “‘Cam sites are ideal for laundering. The studios are being used to have girls online accepting a financed hand that uses ‘dirty’ money to buy the private time. The studio […]

A look at the rise of the hactivist group Anonymous, and why they’ve targeted certain organizations: “On February 5, 2011, the Financial Times quoted Aaron Barr, CEO of a security company called HBGary Federal, as saying that he had uncovered the leadership of Anonymous. He claimed the group had around 30 active members, including 10 […]