Ron Perelman; Carl Icahn; Power Man (cameo); Matt Murdock [Daredevil] (cameo); J. Jonah Jameson (cameo); Thing (cameo); Spider-Man (cameo); Magneto (cameo); Captain America (cameo); Hulk (cameo)
Synopsis
Story of how Ron Perelman bought Marvel Comics, expanded into licensing, took the company public, then lost a takeover battle for control of Marvel to Carl Icahn as Marvel's stock price crashed, but still ended up making about $200 million in personal profit.
Vranos makes millions at Kidder Peabody selling risky mortgage-backed securities. The company is ruined when Joe Jett is caught making phantom trades, and changes in interest rates in the bond market make a recovery of the millions lost impossible. Kidder Peabody goes bankrupt and is sold to Paine Webber.
Niederhoffer made a fortune making as a short-term speculator in commodities. He claimed the National Enquirer was the only paper he read, and that it was more accurate than the New York Times. His autobiography was titled "Education of a Speculator." In 1997 he lost all of his fortune when the market crashed in October, and he was forced to make good on his margin positions - a guarantee to buy at a certain price, regardless of whether the current price was higher or lower.
Dunlap made over $100 million in just over a year by purchasing 2% of the stock of the failing Scott Paper company, cutting employees and costs, then selling what was left of the company to the Kimberly-Clark company. He made $1.25 million in one day when he bought $3 million of Sunbeam stock the day before he was named the new CEO, and the stock price jumped from $12 to $17 per share.
Goldinger made a fortune working for Cantor Fitzgerald, specializing in fixed-income securities and low-tax investments, then started his own company, Capital Insight, bought a baseball team wrote an investment advice column titled "Ask Jay", did a lot of TV interviews, and had infomercials to promote his investment seminars. After a divorce, investors claimed he was making excessive numbers of trades to rack up commissions. He made a massive bet using borrowed money that interest rates would rise, but they fell, costing investors $16 million and driving Capital Insight out of business.
Ron Perelman; Monroe Trout; Victor Niederhoffer; Al Dunlap; Katrina Garnett; Michael Vranos; Jay Goldinger
Synopsis
Update on the status of the main characters in each story, detailing changes in their situations from late 1998 through late 2000, after the stories were completed.