Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance

by Janet Gleeson

Book Overview

Relates how Scottish mathematical genius, playboy, and gambler John Law invented paper money, a creation that nearly destroyed the French economy and that transformed the world of finance and banking.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684872951
• ISBN13: 9780684872957
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 303 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Why Isn't Law A Household Name

This book brought to life in vivid fashion one of the most interesting and influential individuals in history. I found the book to provide a balanced account of his life, his pros and cons, his contributions and mistakes (without moralizing). One comes away with an amazing flavor for what life was like during John Law's life, socially and politically. Finally, this is an important chapter in the development of Western capitalism it was a pleasure to have the story so well told.

Con Man, Compulsive Gambler, or Useful Visionary?

Based on this biography of John Law, the real character of the man remains somewhat murky. While this book tells us a lot about the effects he created on the lives of others, what other people had to say about him, and what his environment was like, we get a limited sense of the man himself. Little is recorded of his writing or conversations in this book. In this sense, he reminds me a little of Howard Hughes who also had many visionary elements (in developing technology), spectacular failures (the Spruce Goose), and preferences for beautiful women (especially movie actresses). What is most clear is that John Law made both his successes and his failures through his persuasiveness (he sought the ear of powerful people, not the other way around) and his personality faults (he was clearly reckless in many ways -- killing a man in a duel, pushing the implementation of his financial schemes too aggressively, and being very friendly with married ladies). The book seems to gloss over what it says about John Law that his administration as finance minister in France was almost deliberately harmful in some cases (sending people by force to Louisiana after it was known that a high percentage of the people sent there died of disease, publishing glowing reports based on no shred of reality about Louisiana to encourage investments, and going along with printing vastly too much paper currency knowing that this would backfire).For a man who came from a Scottish family of clerics, he was amazingly immoral. The ideas he advanced about paper money were pretty simply based on the earlier successful development of such bank-based currency in England. The Mississippi Company scheme was not too much different from an earlier one that had almost bankrupted Scotland involving Panama. Although much is made in the book about him learning the laws of statistics so he could make the odds run in his favor, he clearly took outlandish risks throughout his life. Outside of card games, he seemed to ignore statistics.I see the man through this book more as sinner than saint. Clearly, his concepts would have eventually been used in France. Perhaps pushed by a more responsible person, these concepts would have worked and France would have had better economic development in the 18th century. Perhaps visionary con man is the right appellation. You'll have to read the book and decide for yourself. Clearly, he got his just deserts because he died penniless in terms of cash, and hounded by his enemies. Overcome your misconception that every pioneer is a great woman or man by learning about John Law. Sometimes, they were just one of the first. When the history of the early Internet age is written in a few years, who will be our John Law? Think about it! Your answer may save (or even make) you a fortune!

Before All The Yahoo!

Janet Gleason has delivered a sensual book about money. And what better mix is there than that? I'll buy a block of Yahoo on a dip and dip into a private office for some fun. Seriously, "Millionaire: The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance" is a suberb glimpse into the life of John Law. A man from the 17th Century with a head for math, cards, women, and danger.This is an entertaining read of a usually dry topic. I had never heard of the infamous "Mississippi Bubble". A land investment scheme regarding development for the French territories. Making the run of the Bulls in Pamplona a snap compared to the Bull Market & crash Law helped create.A fun business book--Gordon Grecko would be proud.Thanks for your interest & comments--CDS

A brilliant biography of a brilliant man

It's hard to believe that no one thought to write this book before. John Law stands at the intersection of 17th-century finance, mathematics, and politics in Great Britain, and this biography of him (broadly construed) sheds light on all three. Gleeson does an amazing job of using often scanty source materials to shine a light on previously little-known elements of Law's career: we all know him as a smooth-talking financier, but most readers will be surprised by some of the anecdotes Gleeson gives us from Law's prison days (including the fact that he eventually escaped, which was news to me).I recommend this book without hesitation. The subject is fascinating, the research is exhaustive, and the writing is superb. My only caveat, and it is a minor one, is that Law was assisted by an almost equally colorful cast of minor players, some of whom get short shrift here. But that is a reason to read more widely on the subject, and the best place to start is this book.

They didn't have Alan Greenspan...

And even if they had, you still cannot protect people from themselves.This is one great piece of work about a major player in World Financial History that I knew little about. This book can easily sit atop; your reading list for Biography, History, and Finance. And some tangential subjects of probabilities, sociology, and Human Nature that is nothing if not consistent.Ms. Gleeson brings a man to readers who was the original Great White Shark of the financial world. In addition, John Law has got to be one of the 18th Century's greatest personal stories. He was at once the Bill Gates of his time for his wealth, and for his uncanny "luck", a variety of more notorious Wall Street names of recent years. Were he alive today, his final days probably would have been spent in a minimum security Federal Prison, after paying billions in fines.When reading the book I was reminded of Warren Buffet when speaking about Airlines, that if you took the bottom line for the industries entire existence it would equal zero. He then went on to state that if there had been a Capitalist at Kittyhawk when Mr. Wright left the ground, he hoped he would have shot the pilot.The book also is very appropriate for the Financial Markets we now are living with. More people in the United States own securities in one form or another than at any other time in our Nation's History. On-line investing, the extreme sport of day trading, all are more expedient ways for the typical investor to become Wall Street Road Kill. There has been discussion about raising the minimum that a person must have in their account to $25,000 prior to be able to use margin loans. At first blush this appears to be an outrageous intrusion on a person's right to make his or her own decisions, for better or for worse. In the end it is another attempt to do what is impossible, and what this book so beautifully shows, that when it comes to money, quick money, it's once burned twice burned, yet again.John Law's story is spectacular, he had a brilliant mind for numbers, and at least as important, for Human Nature. He at times made his living as a gambler, and when at his height, he could implicitly threaten a given Country with his ability to ruin their economy. It was not a hollow threat; the King Of England for one did not pick up the gauntlet once it had been thrown down.Readers of all types will like this book, students of Finances, History, Biography, basic gaming theory, or just for pure reading pleasure, this work by the Lady who brought us "The Arcanum" will disappoint no one.