Rigged (2007 book)

Rigged: The True Story of a Wall Street Novice who Changed the World of Oil Forever is a book by author Ben Mezrich. The book recounts the story of John D'Agostino, whom the book renames David Russo.^[1][2] The hardback of the book was number 10 on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2007,^[3] and was number 29 in paperback nonfiction on December 14, 2008.^[4]

Rigged:
The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai

Cover of the first edition
Author	Ben Mezrich
Language	English
Subject	Commodities trading
Genre	Non-fiction
Publisher	HarperLuxe
Publication date	October 23, 2007 (2007-10-23)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print, e-book
Pages	294 pp.
ISBN	9780061252723
OCLC	153579458
Followed by	The Accidental Billionaires

Sources

Mezrich maintains that the book is non-fiction despite the narrative style of writing.^[5] Rigged is published as a biography and described by D'Agostino as "95 percent true, 5 percent minor embellishment".^[6]

Synopsis

David Russo, fresh from Harvard Business School, secures a job in Wall Street as the dot-com bubble had just depressed the market. A chance meeting led to an opportunity at New York Mercantile Exchange—the world's largest energy exchange. At the Merc, he finds his working-class background helps him compete in the aggressive atmosphere. Russo quickly rises to become the Head of Strategy where he helps in the transition to electronic trading. In the aftermath of 9-11, Russo joined with colleagues to establish the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, a partnership between NYMEX and the government of Dubai. Through this venture, Russo helped accelerate the development of capital markets in the region.^[7]

Film adaptation

Summit Entertainment acquired the screen rights to Rigged and the book has been optioned for movie production.^[8]

References

1. Wong, David S. (2013). "John D'Agostino: Evolving Markets from Brooklyn to Dubai" (PDF). BB Publications. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
2. "Official Site of Ben Mezrich". Ben Mezrich. Archived from the original on 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
3. New York Times. Hardcover Business Best Sellers
4. New York Times Best Sellers, Paperback NonFiction
5. Ben Mezrich. "Book Discussion on Rigged". C-Span. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
6. Dan Lonkevich (November 12, 2007). "Harvard Kid Bets on Oil, Builds Dubai Exchange, Guzzles Cristal". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
7. Ben Mezrich (October 13, 2009). Rigged. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061809637. Retrieved 2013-12-10.
8. Fleming, Michael (19 March 2008). "Summit acquired Mezrich's 'Rigged'". Variety. Retrieved 2013-12-10.