History of Money & Markets · Requested
Archegos: Total Return Swaps and a Margin-Call Blowup
In March 2021 a family office most people had never heard of lost about $20 billion in two days and cost global banks over $10 billion. How Bill Hwang built hidden, leveraged, concentrated bets with total return swaps, why the banks didn't see each other, and the rules that changed after.
Step 1 of 7 · Overview35 min read ·
Key idea
Prereqs: The 2008 crisis; Swaps & SOFR (Markets); Position sizing. Next: Great Firms › LTCM; Credit Suisse's fall. Sources: Credit Suisse's July 2021 independent report on Archegos (Paul, Weiss), SEC and DOJ filings in *U.S. v. Hwang* (2022–2024), and Patrick Boyle's coverage. Great story for a 60–90 second drama video: hidden leverage, one bad Monday, banks racing each other to the exit.Next: 1. Who was Bill Hwang?