Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist


Book Description

“Right out of the gate, the entire game was designed to empty the pockets of those rich, celeb-loving LA suckers.”—Houston Curtis Leonardo DiCaprio. Alex Rodriguez. Tobey Maguire. Ben Affleck. Matt Damon. John Cassavetes. What do these people have in common? Not just fame and fortune; all these men are also alumni of the ultra-exclusive, high-stakes poker ring that inspired Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated film, Molly’s Game. But Houston Curtis, the card shark who co-founded the game with Tobey Maguire, knows that Sorkin’s is the whitewashed version. In Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist, Curtis goes all-in, revealing the true story behind the game. From its origins with Maguire to staking DiCaprio’s first game, installing Molly Bloom, avoiding the hookers and blow down the hall, and weathering the FBI investigation that left Curtis with a lien on his house, this is the no-holds-barred account of the world’s most exclusive Texas Hold ’Em game from the man who started it—with all the names and salacious details that Molly’s Game left out. With the insider appeal of Rounders, more A-listers than Ocean’s 11, and the excitement of The Sting, Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist is the untold, insider’s story that makes Molly’s Game look tame.




Billion Dollar Whale


Book Description

Named a Best Book of 2018 by the Financial Times and Fortune, this "thrilling" (Bill Gates) New York Times bestseller exposes how a "modern Gatsby" swindled over $5 billion with the aid of Goldman Sachs in "the heist of the century" (Axios). Now a #1 international bestseller, Billion Dollar Whale is "an epic tale of white-collar crime on a global scale" (Publishers Weekly), revealing how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest heists in history. In 2009, a chubby, mild-mannered graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business named Jho Low set in motion a fraud of unprecedented gall and magnitude--one that would come to symbolize the next great threat to the global financial system. Over a decade, Low, with the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, siphoned billions of dollars from an investment fund--right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. Low used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and even to finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. By early 2019, with his yacht and private jet reportedly seized by authorities and facing criminal charges in Malaysia and in the United States, Low had become an international fugitive, even as the U.S. Department of Justice continued its investigation. Billion Dollar Whale has joined the ranks of Liar's Poker, Den of Thieves, and Bad Blood as a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.




Royals at War


Book Description

Reveals Shocking Revelations about Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the British Royal Family—and the Divisive Rifts Between Them This explosive exposé, Royals at War, takes readers inside a riven Buckingham Palace to provide the definitive account of the unfolding abdication crisis of 2020—dubbed Megxit—during which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, became royal outcasts. Through revealing interviews with royal family insiders, friends, aides, historians, royal watchers, and others with intimate knowledge of The House of Windsor, this tell-all book looks back at the events, motives and crises which led to Harry (sixth in line to the throne) dramatically abandoning his birthright—in a move not seen for nearly a century, when King Edward VIII also gave up the crown for the woman he loved as Europe teetered on the brink of fascism and war. Like Edward and Wallis Simpson, the catalyst for the scandal here is also an ambitious, controversial American woman. Dylan Howard, bestselling author of Diana: Case Solved and Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales, charts how Meghan’s relationship with Harry was viewed as controversial from the start—and how her brief honeymoon with the British public began to sour shortly after she and Harry announced in November 2018 that they would be leaving Kensington Palace to move to Frogmore Cottage, an hour outside London. As senior royals expressed disapproval, the public at first seemed to enjoy the royal spat, with many still supporting Team Meghan—until it emerged that the bill to renovate Frogmore Cottage to Meghan’s lavish expectations would be $3 million . . . and be picked up by British taxpayers. Finally, in a move nobody saw coming, Harry announced he was turning his back on the role he had been groomed for since birth—giving up his HRH title, repaying the renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage, abandoning his royal duties, and leaving Britain for good. Buckingham Palace reeled. Howard’s unique access and insight into this constitutional crisis will not only address the tensions and tantrums behind closed palace doors, but seek to answer the questions many are still asking: Has Prince Harry ever really recovered from the death of his mother Diana—and the resentment he feels against the institution that tried to destroy her? Why did Meghan, once hailed as a breath of fresh air, rile up the monarchy? Why did she refuse to conform to royal conventions in the way that Catherine did before her? Did the public and media criticism of Meghan go too far? And just how valid are the accusations of racism? How did these modern royals treat the tabloids differently to tradition? And did it backfire? What next for Harry and Meghan? And how will they—and the institution they’ve turned their back on—react to their new lives outside the confines of the Palace and free from the strict codes and conventions that bind all members of the Royal Family? Caught in a trap by virtue of a life entombed in a gilded cage, Royals at War answers these questions and more . . . and reveals how Harry’s infatuation with Meghan and desire to modernize the monarchy could yet end in disaster for the House of Windsor. Played out against the cataclysm of the British tabloid's laser focus on the duchess’ every movement—for good or ill—this is the true story of Harry and Meghan’s split from the Establishment . . . and perhaps just the beginning of a whole new Monarchy, redefined for the modern age.




Bad


Book Description

An Inside View into the Dark Side of a Music Icon He was the King of Pop, a superstar without equal, the idol of millions of young people around the world. But was Michael Jackson also a sexual predator without equal, someone who preyed on the very fans who adored him? Bad is the revelatory untold true story of the strange and larger-than-life career of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. In the wake of the controversial two-part documentary Leaving Neverland, which told the stories of two young boys who were befriended by the singer and have claimed they suffered years of agonizing abuse, Dylan Howard set out to investigate Jackson’s life and death in unprecedented depth, to determine—as one lawyer suggested—that the pop star ran “the most sophisticated child sexual abuse procurement and facilitation operation the world has known.” After all the highly publicized trials and unfounded accusations, stunning new information has finally come to light: irrefutable evidence that one of the best-known, best-loved figures in the world was a monster behind closed doors—a foul-mouthed, abusive, drug-sodden freak whose deeds and the reasons for those deeds are revealed now for the first time. A dramatic narrative account based on dozens of interviews, Howard shares Jackson’s own riveting personal journal—obtained exclusively for this book—interviews with family members, multiple first-person sources—some of whom have asked to remain anonymous—as well as thousands of pages of court documents. What he uncovers is a man who was both naive and Machiavellian, unorthodox, a devoted father, shrewd businessman, and drug addict whose life was cut short but whose sound and style have influenced artists of various genres and generations. Remarkably though, in death, there remains two portraits of Michael Jackson: the reigning King of Pop, and a pedophile whose pattern of abuse ruined his reputation. Fans and individuals alike will forever be asking if the insidious claims being made about MJ are true. This is the new narrative and the sad legacy of one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Here is his life story, told for the first time with stories and testimony that will leave you shaken.




COVID-19


Book Description

In the final days of 2019, a new and deadly virus was quietly spreading through the city of Wuhan, China. Within six months it would kill half a million people worldwide, infect a further 10 million, and change the way all of us live, work and play forever. Now, for the first time, the real story of the greatest global crisis of the age can be told. Reporters Dylan Howard and Dominic Utton, collaborating from New York and London—infection hotspots in what would become two of the worst-hit nations on Earth—have together mapped the rise, spread and impact of the virus . . . and uncovered some explosive revelations. COVID-19: The Greatest Cover-Up in History—From Wuhan to the White House delivers the unfettered truth about what is undoubtedly the biggest political scandal of our time. It shows in unprecedented detail how governments in China, the UK, and the US not only failed to protect their citizens from the threat of the disease, but actively conspired to put their own political and economic ideologies above the lives of ordinary people. From early attempts by Beijing to silence any reports of the new virus to the inability of the WHO to act decisively; from warnings received and ignored by President Trump to decisions taken by the UK government that directly led to the loss of tens of thousands of lives; from whispers of military experiments to outlandish 5G conspiracy theories, Howard and Utton separate fact from fiction, science from hysteria, and expose a trail of dead bodies, wilful mismanagement, incompetence, arrogance, deliberate cover-ups, and outrageous lies that raise serious questions about who is really responsible for the hundreds of thousands killed by COVID-19. Through vigorous investigations, dedicated reporting, and exclusive first-person sourcing, COVID-19 unearths a more complex understanding of the rise, spread, and consequences of the first six months of the pandemic than has yet been seen, and exposes shocking revelations about the roles and motivations of the American and British governments in the crisis. The true story of COVID-19 is not just that of a silent killer that suddenly invaded the world . . . it’s the scandal of a global tragedy that could have—and should have—been prevented. The real number of deaths and infections from the virus will never be known. The figures have not only been underreported in China, but by supposedly transparent governments in the West for reasons less connected with public safety and more to do with their own mendacity, incompetence, and corruption. Written with the urgency and tension of a thriller novel but grounded in rigorously factual reporting, COVID-19 is the essential read on the most horrifying scandal of our age.




Stealing Manhattan


Book Description

Punch Stanimirovic insists: “My father, known as Mr. Stan, is the greatest gentleman thief who ever lived—a true genius." Punch was raised to be an exceptional diamond thief. He could work magic on a safe that would have sent Mandrake the Magician back to the novelty store, and Dr. Strange back to medical school. He and his family risked it all to make the patriarch, Mr. Stan, proud. Punch’s pop culture sensibilities, his father’s proven skills, and his mother’s artistic input merged to create cinema-style capers—elaborately planned and executed, including a spectacular 1992 New York mega-heist of over one billion dollars in diamonds, gold, and precious gems—and they got away with it. Many of the crew members went on to invest in real estate, helping to “build the New York skyline”, while others moved to Europe and became the Pink Panthers. They had one rule: No One Gets Hurt. From daring heists to the ultimate escape, discover the true story of Punch, his extraordinary crew, and his high-society family. Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Burl Barer brings to light the remarkable story of four decades and two generations of America’s First Family of kind and generous “altruistic outlaws” in STEALING MANHATTAN: The Untold Story of America’s Billion Dollar Gem Heist Masterminds.




The Ten Million Dollar Getaway


Book Description

The money comes in once a month by plane—untraceable bills, totaling millions of dollars. And these men are going to steal it. The Lufthansa Heist was one of the most audacious, and profitable, crimes ever committed on U.S. soil. It has been immortalized in movies like Goodfellas and The Big Heist. The New York crime families contributed brains and muscle and, on December 11, 1978, these men stole almost ten million dollars. Then the bodies started piling up. Doug Feiden weaves this spellbinding tale of the crime and its bloody aftermath, where the FBI started to piece together what had happened, where paranoia make the risk greater than the reward, and where witnesses were soon silenced for good.




The Lazarus Heist


Book Description

BASED ON THE NO 1 HIT PODCAST 'The Lazarus Heist' 'You'll never see North Korea the same way again' Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland 'One of the most incredible cyber-espionage stories I've ever heard' Jamie Bartlett, author of The Missing Crypto Queen 'Pacy and eye-popping' - Tom Burgis, author of Kleptopia They have been accused of causing mayhem in Hollywood with 2014's infamous Sony hack. They're allegedly behind WannaCry, a cyber-attack which brought NHS hospitals to a dangerous standstill. And it has been claimed that they have stolen more than $ 1bn in an international crime spree. They are the Lazarus Group, a shadowy cabal of hackers accused of working on behalf of the North Korean state. From the streets of Dhaka to the casinos of Macau to the secretive capital of Pyongyang, this shocking story uncovers the secret world of the Lazarus Group, their victims and those who have tried - and so far, failed - to stop them. 'Madly intriguing' Guardian




Statesmen Three!


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.




Billion Dollar Whale


Book Description

A FORTUNE MAGAZINE AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK The epic story of how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in history. In 2015, rumours began circulating that billions of dollars had been stolen from a Malaysian investment fund. The mastermind of the heist was twenty-seven-year-old Jho Low, a serial fabulist from an upper-middle-class Malaysian family, who had carefully built his reputation as a member of the jet-setting elite by arranging and financing elaborate parties for Wall Street bankers, celebrities, and even royalty. With the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, Low stole billions of dollars, right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. He used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and bankroll Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. Billion Dollar Whale reveals how this silver-tongued con man, a ‘modern Gatsby’, emerged from obscurity to pull off one of the most audacious financial heists the world has ever seen, and how the financial industry let him. It is a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.