Steve Eisman

Steve Eisman worked as an analyst at Oppenheimer and Co. when he began to research subprime mortgage companies. This information showed Eisman how willing big corporations were to exploit and cheat poor Americans and how the regulators failed to be interested in this open fraud. This caused Eisman to take a lifelong interest in these companies.

After he stopped working as an analyst and began his own investment company, Eisman found himself approached by a man named Greg Lippmann. Lippmann worked for Deutsche Bank. Lippman had learned about subprime mortgage CDOs and was attempting to find investors for them. Lippman's plan was a brilliant one to Eisman, offering him an opportunity to short the subprime mortgage companies without having to worry about timing.

Eisman began buying CDOs, but he also began investigating the banks, CDO managers, and rating companies that dealt in these CDOs. With what he...