Inside Out: The Dennis Levine Story - Hardcover

Dennis B. Levine; William Hoffer

3.96

23 ratings by Goodreads

9780712649322: Inside Out: The Dennis Levine Story

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0712649328 ISBN 13: 9780712649322

Publisher: Random House Business Books, 1992

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A look at the crimes of Dennis Levine describes how the Wall Street man who made deals for Milken and took calls for Ivan fell from grace--a fall that preceded the demise of his former bosses. Reprint.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

If the text at hand is any indicator, the apologies of Wall Streeters at the center of the insider-trading scandals of the 1980's will be even less revelatory and ingratiating than those of Watergate accomplices who rushed into print after serving their time. Despite the first-rate assistance of Hoffer (co-author of Not Without My Daughter, etc.), Levine recounts rather than reflects on his self-destructive career as an investment banker. With precious little going for him beyond ambition, a gift of gab, and analytic talent, the author, by dint of hard work, nonetheless broke into the clubby M&A (mergers and acquisitions) community, soon achieving superstar status at Drexel Burnham (home base for Michael Milken) with a guaranteed annual income topping $1 million. During his swift ascent, however, Levine was using privileged data obtained from employers and a network of informants to trade in the shares of companies involved in unannounced deals. In his case, crime paid handsomely, as he amassed profits of nearly $11.6 million in a clandestine offshore account. The author also fenced inside information to Ivan Boesky. Ironically, an anonymous tip, not a misstep, put the SEC on Levine's trail. Once he was brought to book, the author made possibly the best trade of his life, identifying co-conspirators in eventually justified hopes of a lenient sentence. Paradoxically, perhaps, Douglas Frantz provided in Levine & Co. (1987) a more tellingly detailed and thoughtful account of the author's fall. Apart from some perfunctory anguish over the pain he caused family and friends, Levine (who served 17 months of a three-year term in Club Fed) does not grapple with the implications of his breaches of trust. Indeed, he still seems outraged that US authorities could induce Bahamian bankers to give him up, and argues for certainty of detection as the most effective deterrent to market rigging. Nor does he offer any keen insights on notable colleagues and clients. The bottom line: pallid confessions from a scofflaw who seems to have only the vaguest perceptions of his misdeeds' significance. (Eight pages of photos--not seen.) -- Copyright �1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal:

Without condoning the insider trading for which Levine was convicted in 1986, it must be said that this is (as the blurb has it) a riveting book. Serving 17 months provided Levine time to reflect on his crime, wondering why, with a salary of $2 million-plus, he continued to use his inside knowledge of mergers and acquisitions to trade illicitly, racking up profits of $11 million. Levine's chronicle is free of business-world jargon and obtuse concepts, the pace is intense, and the events are fascinating. All the big names later also convicted (Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken) are here, as well as the Leveraged Buyout (LBO) mavens Rupert Murdoch and Carl Icahn. The question remains: How can we prevent future insider trading? Even in prison Levine was continually asked for "hot tips" by other inmates. Recommended, not just for business collections.
- Alex Wenner, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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