Rivkin Unauthorised - The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of an Unorthodox Money Man

Harper Collins Publishers, 2005. Light creasing to spine, good secondhand condition.

For the first time, the whole uncensored story of one of the financial world's most flamboyant characters. In some ways, Rene Rivkin's story was the classic tale of an immigrant made good. Born in Shanghai, the young Rivkin struggled with weight problems, which, along with bipolar disorder, would dog him throughout life. In Australia, his intelligence and drive gave him the edge over his peers, both at school, and later, in the then staid field of stockbroking where he made a name for himself. With his trademarks - worry beads, cigars, expensive toys and a love of the limelight - he captured the media's attention and gathered a crowd of followers from the powerful to the shady. But then things began to go badly wrong... Investigative journalist Andrew Main has followed Rivkin's career for over a decade. In 2003, Main was one of a team of journalists who uncovered the trail of the stockbroker's public disgrace, with its links to insider trading, undeclared bank accounts, arson and the death of a former model. Here, he documents a turbulent life: its spectacular highs, bizarre lows and its sudden, anguished end. In Rivkin Unauthroised Andrew Main paints a no-holds barred portrait of a complex money man, his unconventional life and his troubled demise.