Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt

by Michael Lewis

Once their disbelief faded, most of the Wall Street guys were just in awe. Of course they all still asked the usual questions. What do I get for my $14 million in assorted fees and expenses? (Two glass fibers, one for each direction.) What happens if the line’s cut by a backhoe? (We have people on the line who will have it up and running in eight hours.) Where is the backup if your line goes down? (Sorry, there isn’t one.) When can you supply us with the five years of audited financial statements that we require before we do business with any firm? (Um, in five years.) But even as they asked their questions and ticked their boxes, they failed to disguise their wonder. Spivey’s favorite meeting was with a trader who sat stone-faced listening to him for fifteen minutes on the other side of a long conference table, then leapt to his feet and shouted, “SHIT, THIS IS COOL!”