Michael Lewis

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<h2>Early Life and Education</h2>
<a href="/biography/michael-lewis">Michael Monroe Lewis</a> was born on October 15, 1960, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is an American financial <a href="/biography/michael-lewis">journalist</a> and bestselling non-fiction author. His father, J. Thomas Lewis, was a corporate lawyer, while his mother, Diana Monroe Lewis, was a community activist. Michael attended the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans and later enrolled at Princeton University, where he graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history, graduating cum laude.
While at Princeton, he was a <a href="/biography/michael-lewis">member</a> of the Ivy Club, one of the oldest and most prestigious eating clubs on campus. Initially pursuing a career in the arts, Lewis worked briefly for noted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Wildenstein">art dealer</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Wildenstein">Daniel Wildenstein</a> in New York. However, he soon realized that job opportunities related to his degree were limited in both availability and financial reward. This led him to continue his education at the London School of Economics, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in economics in 1985.</h2>

<h2>Career at Salomon Brothers and the Success of "Liar's Poker"</h2>
After completing his studies, Michael Lewis joined Salomon Brothers, a prominent Wall Street investment bank. He underwent training in the firm's New York office before relocating to London to work as a bond salesman. His time at Salomon Brothers exposed him to the high-pressure world of investment banking, particularly during the rise of mortgage-backed securities.
Disillusioned with the culture of Wall Street, he left the firm to pursue writing full time. Drawing on his personal experiences, Lewis authored Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street, published in 1989. The book offered a firsthand look at the financial excesses of the 1980s and the development of mortgage-backed bonds. It was both a critical and commercial success and established his reputation as a leading financial journalist.

<h2>Continued Writing and Influence in Financial Journalism</h2>
Michael Lewis continued to explore topics at the intersection of economics, culture, and human behavior. His bibliography includes:
<ul>
 <li>Pacific Rift: Why Americans and Japanese Don’t Understand Each Other (1991)</li>
 <li>The Money Culture (1991)</li>
 <li>Trail Fever (1997)</li>
 <li>The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story (1999), analyzing Silicon Valley during the Internet boom</li>
 <li>Next: The Future Just Happened (2001)</li>
 <li>Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003), examining data-driven decision-making in baseball and market inefficiencies</li>
 <li>Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life (2005), reflecting on the influence of his high school baseball coach</li>
 <li>The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (2006), recounting the story of <a href="/biography/michael-oher">Michael Oher</a>, a homeless <a href="/biography/michael-oher">teen</a> whose life changed after being taken in by a supportive family</li>
 <li>Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity (2009)</li>
 <li>Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood (2009), chronicling his experiences as a father</li>
 <li>The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (2010), investigating the causes of the 2008 financial crisis</li>
 <li>Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World (2011), a travel narrative set during the global financial crisis</li>
 <li>Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt (2014), focusing on high-frequency trading</li>
 <li>The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds (2016), detailing the collaborative work of psychologists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman">Daniel Kahneman</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Tversky">Amos Tversky</a> and the emergence of behavioral economics</li>
</ul>
His publications have made complex economic and financial subjects accessible to broad audiences and have reshaped public understanding of modern finance.

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<h2>Political Commentary and Psychological Insights</h2>
In a 2016 interview with NPR discussing The Undoing Project, Lewis connected the psychological theories of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman">Kahneman</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Tversky">Tversky</a> to public reactions following the U.S. presidential election. He noted: “They did these wonderful unfinished studies about how the human imagination worked. They studied how people undid tragedy... beginning with the final event. So people fixated on the last moment, like [FBI Director] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Comey">Comey</a>’s announcement, rather than other contributing factors that made the outcome more probable.” The insight reflected Lewis's continuous engagement with economics, psychology, and politics.

<h2>Journalism and Media Contributions</h2>
Beyond books, Michael Lewis has had a prolific career as a journalist and media contributor. He serves as a columnist for Bloomberg View and contributes to Vanity Fair. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Slate, Gourmet, Sports Illustrated, Foreign Affairs, and Poetry Magazine.
Lewis has worked as a senior editor and campaign correspondent for The New Republic and as a columnist for Britain's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spectator">The Spectator</a>. In broadcasting, he has narrated segments for ABC-TV’s Nightline, produced a four-part documentary on the social impact of the Internet for the BBC, and contributed several stories to the radio program This American Life.

<h2>Personal Life and Social Media Presence</h2>
Michael Lewis has been married three times. His first marriage was to Diane de Cordova Lewis, followed by CNBC <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bohner">correspondent</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bohner">Kate Bohner</a>. He is currently married to former MTV <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha_Soren">reporter</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha_Soren">Tabitha Soren</a>. The couple resides in Berkeley, California, with their three children: Quinn, Dixie, and Walker.
Although he maintains a Facebook page with approximately 110,000 followers, Lewis is not highly active, typically sharing occasional updates related to his books and journalism. He also has a Twitter account but uses it infrequently.

<h2>Net Worth and Legacy</h2>
Michael Lewis's net worth is estimated to be around $15 million. Through his accessible writing style and ability to distill complex financial systems, he has become one of the most influential writers in financial journalism. His books, several of which have been adapted into major films, continue to shape discourse in economics, behavioral science, and public policy.

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