FTSE: The inside story of the deals, dramas and politics that revolutionized financial markets

Description

A RINGSIDE SEAT ON SOME OF THE BIGGEST DEALS AND BIGGEST PERSONALITIES IN BUSINESS AND GLOBAL POLITICS. They are just four letters on an electronic ticker tape, but FTSE has become a byword for money, power, influence and - crucially, after numerous financial crises - trust. How this organisation, FTSE International, brought order to the financial system over several decades, is a story of how capitalism globalized and a data revolution transformed the investment industry. It is a story of how a team of innovators seized an opportunity to build a business that today leads its field and guides the fortunes of an astonishing $16 trillion of funds. It is a story that Mark Makepeace, founding Chief Executive of FTSE International, knows better than anybody. FTSE is a ringside seat on some of the biggest deals and biggest personalities in business and global politics, chronicling how the FTSE 100 was born, behind-the-scenes rows with chief executives of some of the world's largest companies, political in-fighting, diplomatic incidents, and the ferocious dealmaking that followed over 35 years of market boom and bust. 'FTSE is a story which should inform and fascinate anyone interested in capital markets.' Sir Donald Brydon, CBE

MARK MAKEPEACE offers a unique perspective on the financial services industry. During a 35-year career he was founding Chief Executive of FTSE International and turned a small UK start-up into one of the largest and most successful global index providers - and one of Britain's most famous brands. In 1985, he arrived in the City at the London Stock Exchange as a clerk to co-ordinate Big Bang - and never left. He recently stepped down as Chief Executive of FTSE Russell and from his role as Executive Director responsible for the LSE's information services division. JAMES ASHTON is a senior financial journalist who has covered some of the biggest economic and corporate stories of recent times. He was City Editor and Executive Editor of the Evening Standard and Independent titles and before that City Editor of the Sunday Times. Today he is a business commentator and interviewer for the Telegraph and Times and produces his own influential leadership podcast, 'Leading with James Ashton'.

"Mark Makepeace takes us on a 35-year journey from a sedentary world of top hats, long lunches and fixed commissions to a dynamic global marketplace dominated by computers and algorithms, a marketplace of infinite choice. In the process he not only tells the story of a brilliant British company that kept pace with this dizzy change but he charts the development of financial markets transformed within a generation by the forces of technology and globalization." -- John Makinson, founder of Makinson & Cowell, former CFO of Pearson, and former CEO of Penguin "FTSE and Mark have had a ring-side seat for every major change in the UK stock market - and have been active players in many of the deals and mergers that have re-shaped the sector internationally. It is a fascinating story of a crucial phase in the investment landscape." -- John Ridding, CEO of the Financial Times Group and former editor of the Financial Times, Asia "FTSE is a story which should inform and fascinate anyone interested in capital markets." -- Sir Donald Brydon CBE, chairman of the Sage Group and former chairman of the London Stock Exchange Group "An inspiring success story; how a clear vision, relentless commitment and two great British brands combined to create a global leader." -- Rona Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead CBE, former chief executive of the Financial Times Group and former Minister of State at the Department for International Trade "Richly detailed, and written with an attractively light touch, bringing out personalities as well as indices, this is an important contribution to our understanding of how the modern City has developed." -- David Kynaston, social historian and author of City of London: The History and Austerity Britain 1945-1951