For The Love Of Money: A Memoir

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Synopsis

“Part coming-of-age story, part recovery memoir, and part exposé of a rotten, money-drenched Wall Street culture” (Salon), Sam Polk’s unflinching account chronicles his fight to overcome the ghosts of his past—and the radical new way he now defines success.

At just thirty years old, Sam Polk was a senior trader for one of the biggest hedge funds on Wall Street, on the verge of making it to the very top. When he was offered an annual bonus of $3.75 million, he grew angry because it was not enough. It was then he knew he had lost himself in his obsessive pursuit of money. And he had come to loathe the culture—the shallowness, the sexism, the crude machismo—and Wall Street’s use of wealth as the sole measure of a person’s worth. He decided to walk away from it all.

For Polk, becoming a Wall Street trader was the fulfillment of his dreams. But in reality it was just the culmination of a life of addictive and self-destructive behaviors, from overeating, to bulimia, to alcohol and drug abuse. His obsessive pursuit of money papered over years of insecurity and emotional abuse. Making money was just the latest attempt to fill the void left by his narcissistic and emotionally unavailable father.

“Vivid, picaresque...riveting” (NewYorker.com), For the Love of Money brings you into the rarefied world of Wall Street trading floors, capturing the modern frustrations of young graduates drawn to Wall Street. Polk’s “raw, honest and intimate take on one man’s journey in and out of the business…really gives readers something to think about” (CNBC.com). It is “compellingly written...unflinchingly honest...about the inner journey Polk undertakes to redefine success” (Forbes).

Chapters

  • For the Love of Money 001 Open

    Duration: 29s
  • For the Love of Money 002 Prologue

    Duration: 10min
  • For the Love of Money 003 Chapter 1

    Duration: 16min
  • For the Love of Money 004 Chapter 2

    Duration: 09min
  • For the Love of Money 005 Chapter 3

    Duration: 19min
  • For the Love of Money 006 Chapter 4

    Duration: 10min
  • For the Love of Money 007 Chapter 5

    Duration: 13min
  • For the Love of Money 008 Chapter 6

    Duration: 18min
  • For the Love of Money 009 Chapter 7

    Duration: 15min
  • For the Love of Money 010 Chapter 8

    Duration: 15min
  • For the Love of Money 011 Chapter 9

    Duration: 12min
  • For the Love of Money 012 Chapter 10

    Duration: 19min
  • For the Love of Money 013 Chapter 11

    Duration: 11min
  • For the Love of Money 014 Chapter 12

    Duration: 16min
  • For the Love of Money 015 Chapter 13

    Duration: 10min
  • For the Love of Money 016 Chapter 14

    Duration: 07min
  • For the Love of Money 017 Chapter 15

    Duration: 12min
  • For the Love of Money 018 Chapter 16

    Duration: 08min
  • For the Love of Money 019 Chapter 17

    Duration: 08min
  • For the Love of Money 020 Chapter 18

    Duration: 14min
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