Michael Lewis was born in 1960 in New Orleans. His father worked as a corporate lawyer and his mother was a community activist. He attended Princeton University, where he studied art history. At first, Lewis went on to pursue a career in art. He worked for a New York art dealer after graduating from college, but quit when he realized that very few opportunities existed for an art history graduate working in the arts.
Disillusioned with his original chosen field, Lewis went on to attend the London School of Economics in 1985. He pivoted toward a focus in economics and a career in finance, believing this was one of the few ways to make enough money to get by. After graduating from the...