Leo Melamed: Escape to the Futures

A Holocaust survivor, Leo Melamed had barely begun the first grade in 1939 when his parents and he fled their native Poland one step ahead of the oncoming Nazi juggernaut. Crossing Siberia en route to a brief stay in Japan- just months before Pearl Harbor -the family arrived in the United States to begin life anew. They settled in Chicago, where young Leo became a product of the inner city, embracing his new country and its culture. Seeking part-time employment while attending law school, Leo Melamed answered a classified ad that would change his life. Hired by what he presumed was a law firm named Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Bean, he found himself on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. From modest beginnings as a pork belly trader, he led the Chicago Merc for the next quarter century, introducing finance to an industry that was the exclusive domain of agriculture. He is one of the most influential figures in the world of finance- a visionary who pioneered the modern financial futures industry and launched the International Monetary Market (IMM). As his reputation as a financial genius grew, so did the tales of his larger-than-life personality. In Escape to the Futures, you'll meet the man behind the legend.

The New York Times Book Review

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