For 40 years, Jay Newman was a legendary hedge fund portfolio manager, traveling across the globe to recover billions of dollars in debt defaults by countries like the Congo, Panama, and Argentina. When he retired in 2016, he considered writing a biographical, non-fiction account of his storied career. Instead, he decided that fiction would be a better vehicle to capture the essence of the people and events he encountered over the years. In today’s episode, Jay talks about his new novel, “Undermoney,” a blockbuster financial thriller about a group of Americans who secretly take over the world’s largest dark money fund. He’ll talk about what he learned about how the unseen confluence of money, power and corruption has shaped the destiny of nations.

For debut novelist Jay Newman, a tale of cash and conspiracies draws on real-life observations.

Jay Newman makes BIG bets. In his 40 year hedge fund career, Jay was the guy who fought to recover deca-billion dollar debt defaults by countries like the Congo, Panama, and Argentina. Recouping from these deadbeat governments required long term thinking, stealthy patience, and giant cajones, the same attributes required to publish a debut novel, which Jay did earlier this year.

Jay Newman is a lawyer, investor, expert in emerging market debt and the author of Undermoney, a novel that takes a reader inside a fictionalized world drawn from the rarified one he himself occupied for many years.

Jay Newman, a former hedge fund portfolio manager who spent 40 years involved with international finance, has authored the new novel “Undermoney,” part of a three-book deal with Scribner. With cameo appearances by Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the novel offers a fictionalized account of the very real instances of the moral turpitude and financial skullduggery swirling around the ultra-rich and politically powerful governments.

Jay Newman, a former hedge fund portfolio manager who spent 40 years involved with international finance — including being viewed as the mastermind behind a historic 15-year fight to recover billions of dollars in defaulted debt from the government of Argentina — has authored the new novel Undermoney, part of a three-book deal with Scribner. With cameo appearances by Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, the novel offers a fictionalized account of the very real instances of the moral turpitude and financial skullduggery swirling around the ultra-rich and politically powerful governments.

Jay Newman was a big player on Wall Street, making huge bets on distressed sovereign debt, and -- although it took years in the case of his most famous trade -- paying off huge. His first book, Undermoney, is a fast-paced thriller that combines international military and spy intrigue with the kind of insider trading on financial markets that Martha Stewart could only dream of...although these cases involve lots of people dying. I encourage you to buy Undermoney and enjoy!