America: From the South Side to Wall Street

In 2002, in a poor neighborhood in South Los Angeles, Jason White is a high school student who gets up at four every morning to deliver newspapers. Four children share a two-bedroom home; his father drives a truck, and his mother works as a cashier. No one believes the poor kid in patched-up jeans can get into college, let alone that ten years later he will become Wall Street's most feared short seller.

From a failed campus startup to making $42 million shorting subprime mortgages in 2008, from a mobile internet security unicorn to a fintech empire that upends the industry, Jason rewrites his fate with code and capital. Along the way, he draws a combined assault from rich-kid rivals, shadowy hackers, and political fixers.

This is the story of a man rising from the dust, and of how dreams are made, sold, betrayed, and redefined.