How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire
With exclusive access to Mr. Safra’s personal archives, financial journalist and historian Daniel Gross tracks the banker’s remarkable journey from Beirut to Milan, São Paulo, Geneva, and New York—to the pinnacle of global finance.
International Best Seller
News
Nov 28, 2024 –
Revue Banque (France), L’épopée d’un banquier
Nov 29, 2024 –
La Bibliothèque de Poche (France), L’entretien : Dan Gross
Nov 18, 2024 –
Le Temps (Switzerland), L’épopée du banquier
Nov 4, 2024 –
Dan Gross discusses “L’épopée d’un banquier” on Radio J
Oct 16, 2023 – Folha de S.Paulo
Folha de S. Paulo welcomes the biography of ‘The Bankers’ banker’
Sep 27, 2023 – Seleções
‘A Banker’s Journey’ has been named as one of the top five biographies in Brazil in 2023
Aug 30, 2023 – Economic News Brasil
Brazilian economic media salutes ‘an unrivaled leader in banking’
Aug 25, 2023 – Veja
Major Brazilian magazine includes ‘A Banker’s Journey’ in best-seller list
Aug 22, 2023 – Valor Economico
Review of ‘A Banker’s Journey’ by Valor Economico
About the Author
Daniel Gross is one of the most widely-read writers on finance, economics, and business history. Over the past three decades, he has reported from more than 30 countries, covering everything from the dotcom boom and the rise of China to the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.
Gross has worked as a reporter at The New Republic and Bloomberg News, wrote the “Economic View” column in The New York Times, and served as Slate’s “Moneybox” columnist. At Newsweek, where he was a columnist and correspondent, he authored seven cover stories. A frequent guest on television and radio, he has contributed to more than 60 publications, including New York, Fortune, and the Washington Post.
Gross is a bestselling author of eight books, including Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time; Generations of Corning; Dumb Money: How America’s Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation; and Better, Stronger, Faster: The Myth of American Decline and the Rise of a New Economy.
Gross was educated at Cornell University and holds an AM in American history from Harvard University. His great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Aleppo and Damascus.
Who was Edmond J. Safra ?
The greatest banker of his generation,
in the estimation of a former World Bank President. The founder of four massive financial institutions on three continents, and a proud child of Beirut’s Jewish quarter. An innovative pioneer of financial globalization, and a faithful heir to a tradition of old-world banking. The leading champion and protector of the Sephardic diaspora.
In A Banker’s Journey, financial journalist and historian Daniel Gross, who, like Safra, traces his heritage to Aleppo, Syria, reconstructs the public life of an intensely private man. With exclusive access to Safra’s personal archives, Gross tracks the banker’s remarkable journey from Beirut to Milan, São Paulo, Geneva, and New York—to the pinnacle of global finance.
Edmond Safra was fifteen in 1947, when his father sent him to establish a presence in Milan, Italy. Fluent in six languages, and with an eye for value, managing risk, and personal potential, Safra was in perpetual motion until his tragic death in 1999. The modern, global financial empire he built was based on timeless principles: a banker must protect his depositors and avoid excessive leverage and risk. In an age of busts and bailouts, Safra posted remarkable returns while rarely suffering a credit loss.
From a young age, Safra assumed the mantle of leadership in the Syrian-Lebanese Jewish community, providing personal aid, supporting the communities that formed in exile, and championing Sephardic religious and educational efforts in Israel and around the world.
Edmond J. Safra’s life of achievement in the twentieth century offers enduring lessons for those seeking to make their way in the twenty-first century. He inspired generations to make the world a better place.