The City Will Eat You Alive – Lessons from Gary Stevenson’s The Trading Game
- NexxtGen Markets
- Apr 5
- 2 min read
Gary Stevenson’s memoir The Trading Game: A Confession is one of the most gripping and revealing finance books in years. It’s more than a tale of making millions—it’s a raw, emotional deep-dive into the realities of life on a trading floor, told from the perspective of a working-class maths genius who rose to the top of Citi before walking away for good.
This is a book about winning—but it’s also about what that win costs.
From East London to Citi’s Elite Desk
Stevenson’s journey from a modest upbringing in Ilford to the heart of the global financial system reads like fiction. But it’s real. After excelling in economics at LSE, he was selected to join Citibank’s London office and quickly rose through the ranks. What he lacked in polish he made up for in pure insight—and an uncanny ability to predict market behaviour.
He learned fast, earning his place on Citi’s trading floor not through privilege but through relentless analysis, data modelling, and sheer mental sharpness.
“You don’t make millions by being average. You make it by seeing things others don’t.”
The Making of Citi’s Most Profitable Trader 💸
In 2011, amid economic stagnation and central bank experimentation, Stevenson correctly predicted that inflation would remain stubbornly low and inequality would worsen. He traded accordingly—and the profits followed. That year, he became Citibank’s most profitable trader worldwide.
But unlike many who hit those heights, Stevenson didn’t just celebrate. He reflected. He questioned the system he was profiting from.
“I made money because I understood that things were getting worse—not better. And I was rewarded for that.”
That discomfort lingered. The deeper he went, the more he saw how financial markets weren’t helping fix inequality—they were fuelling it. While traders raked in seven-figure bonuses, ordinary people were squeezed harder by stagnant wages and rising living costs.
Leaving The Game Behind
Despite his meteoric success, Stevenson made a decision few would: he walked away. In his twenties, financially secure and disillusioned, he left Citi to pursue a different path—one focused on education, speaking, and exposing the flaws in the modern economy.
He now runs a popular YouTube channel, GarysEconomics, where he breaks down inequality, interest rates, and fiscal policy for everyday people—translating complex macro into language that matters.
This Book Is a Wake-Up Call 📖
The Trading Game is a must-read not only for aspiring traders and economists, but for anyone who wants to understand how wealth is really created and distributed in today’s economy.
It’s sharp, intelligent, and brutally honest—packed with lessons on trading, money, power and the human cost of success in The City.
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