The Story of Money: The trader who made $100mn from the 1929 crash — only to lose it all

2026-08-04

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Today, we're bringing you an episode from another podcast in the FT stable: The Story of Money.Jesse Livermore was a legendary trader who made and lost several fortunes in the early 20th century, most famously by shorting the Wall Street crash of 1929. His early life was immortalised in the roman à clef Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre, and his trading insights and stunning successes continue to inspire professional traders and would-be traders to this day. But his life also contains c...

Today, we're bringing you an episode from another podcast in the FT stable: The Story of Money.

Jesse Livermore was a legendary trader who made and lost several fortunes in the early 20th century, most famously by shorting the Wall Street crash of 1929. His early life was immortalised in the roman à clef Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre, and his trading insights and stunning successes continue to inspire professional traders and would-be traders to this day. But his life also contains cautionary tales about the ease with which success can morph into failure, and what happens when the buzz of the markets is no longer enough. Host Robin Wigglesworth and the FT's US financial commentator Robert Armstrong explore the extraordinary life of the greatest day trader in history.

Watch, listen and subscribe to The Story of Money for free on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, at ft.com/tsom or wherever you get your podcasts.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide and mental health.