The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources | Javier Blas - Jack Farchy

Shortlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
An Economist Book of the Year

The modern world is built on commodities - from the oil that fuels our cars to the metals that power our smartphones.

We rarely stop to consider where they have come from. But we should.

The World for Sale lifts the lid on one of the least scrutinized corners of the world economy: the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard, and sell the earth's resources. It is the story of how a handful of swashbuckling businessmen became indispensable cogs in global markets, enabling an
enormous expansion in international trade and connecting resource-rich countries - no matter how corrupt or war-torn - with the world's financial centers. The result is an eye-opening tour through the wildest frontiers of the global economy, as well as a revelatory guide to how capitalism really
works.

Brought to you by Penguin. 

Meet the traders who supply the world with oil, metal and food - no matter how corrupt, war-torn or famine-stricken the source.

The modern world is built on commodities - from the oil that fuels our cars to the metals that power our smartphones. 

We rarely stop to consider where they come from. But we should.

In The World for Sale, two leading journalists lift the lid on one of the least scrutinised corners of the economy: the workings of the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard and sell the earth's resources. 

It is the story of how a handful of swashbuckling businessmen became indispensable cogs in global markets: enabling an enormous expansion in international trade and connecting resource-rich countries - no matter how corrupt or war-torn - with the world's financial centres.

And it is the story of how some traders acquired untold political power, right under the noses of Western regulators and politicians - helping Saddam Hussein to sell his oil, fuelling the Libyan rebel army during the Arab Spring and funnelling cash to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin in spite of strict sanctions.

The result is an eye-opening tour through the wildest frontiers of the global economy, as well as a revelatory guide to how capitalism really works. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you have the slightest interest in how the modern world was made, by whom, at what price, and at what profit, this is the book for you... Superbly researched."-Foreign Policy

"Rollicking yarns from the biggest ever commodity boom . . . The high level narrative is gripping enough. But it is the details of what these freewheeling companies actually got up to that give the book a thriller-like quality . . . Educational and entertaining."-Financial Times

"A fascinating and revealing story . . . There are tales in the book of breathtaking trades, such as shipments of rebel oil from war-torn Libya or deals bartered amid the brutal 'aluminium wars' in the Russia of the 1990s."-The Economist

"The World For Sale contains at least half a dozen narrative threads that would form the basis of a good thriller. But the authors' main achievement is to subject the biggest commodity players, and their impact on the real world, to proper critical scrutiny."-Reuters

"A colorful and alarming exposé of the shadowy world of global commodity trading... Hair-raising anecdotes... An engrossing look at an obscure yet consequential corner of the financial world." --Publishers Weekly

"A virtuoso depiction of the globe's top oil, food and metals traders... Javier Blas and Jack Farchy should be awaiting the call from Hollywood. The World For Sale contains at least half a dozen narrative threads that would form the basis of a good thriller. But the authors' main achievement is to
subject the biggest commodity players, and their impact on the real world, to proper critical scrutiny... The depth of the reporting by the Bloomberg journalists, who previously worked for the Financial Times, is impressive... Fascinating." --Reuters

"Some of the stories beggar belief... A fascinating story, it's just incredible some of the routes that the money takes." --Lawrence Pollard, BBC Newsday

"Could there be a better moment for Javier Blas and Jack Farchy's rollicking new account of [commodity] markets' recent history to land on investors' desks? ...This high level narrative is gripping enough. But it is the details of what these freewheeling companies actually got up to that give the
book a thriller-like quality. The World For Sale opens with the private jet of [the late chief executive of Vitol] making corkscrew turns into Benghazi airport in 2011 so he can dodge hostile missiles and strike a deal to supply the rebel forces with oil in the middle of the Libyan civil war. That
turns out to be one of the more conventional deals that pepper the narrative... Educational and entertaining..." --Felix Martin, Financial Times

"If you have the slightest interest in how the modern world was made, by whom, at what price, and at what profit, this is the book for you... Superbly researched and tidily written... A clean, compelling chronicle of the central role that commodity traders have played in the global economy from the
end of World War II to the present. What they found isn't pretty -- but it's plenty illuminating. --Foreign Policy

"A highly readable study in world economics and a valuable primer for would-be oil barons." --Kirkus

"Blas and Farchy shine light on what's long been the financial market's darkest corner the crucial, yet underappreciated, role commodity traders play in global finance and geopolitics. The characters are fascinating and their impact cannot be understated. The World For Sale is a fascinating,
eye-opening read." --Gregory Zuckerman, New York Times-bestselling author of The Man Who Solved the Market
 

"Javier Blas and Jack Farchy deftly peel back the curtain on the amoral swashbucklers of capitalism who trade in commodities natural resources like oil, coal and aluminium. The World For Sale is a gripping account of how they achieved their stranglehold over the world economy, and their troubling
influence on global politics to this day." --Brad Stone, New York Times-bestselling author of The Everything Store

"The World For Sale is the definitive, eye-opening story of the most powerful and secretive traders in the world. These commodity traders, including all manner of cutthroats, eccentrics and amoral corruptors, play a major role in the global economy one that few people understand. Javier Blas and
Jack Farchy illuminate it perfectly, helped by their decades of experience covering the beat from the ground up." --Bradley Hope, New York Times-bestselling author of Billion Dollar Whale

About the Author

Javier Blas and Jack Farchy are two of the world's best-known journalists covering energy, commodities, and trading houses. They both work for Bloomberg, where Blas is a columnist specializing in energy and commodities and Farchy is a senior reporter covering natural resources. The World for Sale is
their first book.