For the Love of Money: A Memoir

Sam Polk

Jul 2016 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

“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).

Ratings and reviews

AAA

About the author

Former hedge fund trader Sam Polk is a writer; cofounder and CEO of Everytable, a social enterprise that sells fresh, delicious meals at prices everyone can afford; and the founder and executive director of Groceryships, a nonprofit that helps low-income families struggling with obesity. Polk graduated from Columbia University in 2002 with a BA in English and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Designation. His writing has been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, and CNBC.com. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their daughter. For the Love of Money is his first book.