The World for Sale
by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy
In The World for Sale, journalist Javier Blas takes readers inside the secretive world of commodity trading. Through hundreds of interviews and investigations spanning over a decade, he uncovers how a small group of powerful companies control the global flows of essential goods worth trillions each year.
We meet traders like Ian Taylor, the billionaire "King of Oil" who built an empire shipping over 1 million barrels daily. From his sprawling London office, Taylor bets billions each day on crude prices, gaining a "God's eye view" of energy markets. Meanwhile in America, Griffin and Tartaro parlayed ambitious careers at Goldman Sachs into founding their own fund, becoming two of the richest men on earth trading everything from oil to wheat.
Blas reveals how these "Pipeline Cowboys" store oil on supertankers for months, profiting on paper without the crude ever moving. We also learn how one reckless $100 million bet on cocoa nearly sank the entire global chocolate supply. Through it all, traders accumulate astonishing fortunes and political influence while keeping prices volatile for consumers and entire economies alike.
By lifting the veil on this secretive world, the authors show how a handful of firms increasingly dominate the vital global exchange of resources that underpins our daily lives. With supply chains stressed and inflation surging during the COVID era, The World for Sale provides valuable context on the century-long rise of the powerful commodity trader.
Quite intresting how the underground world operations on natural resources.