Zero-Sum Game Trailer

In 2007, a stranger-than-fiction multibillion-dollar bidding war for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) erupted between the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Atlanta's IntercontinentalExchange (ICE). Zero-Sum Game: The Rise of the World's Largest Derivatives Exchange takes readers behind the scenes of this battle to tell the gripping, and often comical, story of how the historic merger between CME and CBOT almost didn't happen. Author Erika S. Olson—a former managing director at CBOT—reveals why these bitter crosstown enemies put aside more than a century of bad blood in order to form CME Group, a behemoth that now controls 98 percent of the regulated futures market in the United States. From fast food, electricity, and interest rates, to building materials, jewelry, and gas, the prices of countless products and services that companies and consumers use every day are influenced by contracts traded at CME Group. Olson delivers a blow-by-blow account of the fight for the world's oldest futures exchange, taking you inside CBOT's landmark Chicago Loop headquarters, past security guards, onto the high-octane trading floor, and into executives' offices. Along the way, she makes the inner workings of futures exchanges accessible by explaining what these institutions do, how futures contracts work, and who benefits from investing in derivatives. She also provides background and insight on the men in control of this powerful, tight-knit, and frequently misunderstood industry. Zero-Sum Game is the incredible inside story of how the world's largest and most diverse exchange came to be, how the creation of CME Group forever altered the landscape of the financial services industry, and what it all means for the global economy . . . and you.