East Bay Times

`The Bond King' traces the arc of Bill Gross

Icon helped found and lead investment giant Pimco

- By Michael J. de la Merced

For decades, one of the financial world's best-known investors and market commentato­rs could be found not on Wall Street but in sun-drenched Newport Beach.

Bill Gross, who helped found and lead the investment company Pimco, earned the nickname The Bond King for helping to revolution­ize the once-sleepy world of bond investing — and earning a fortune along the way.

But behind the aw-shucks, folksy demeanor that Gross, an Ohio native, presented in public was a hard-nosed trader who fought to squeeze every dollar out of his trades and ruled Pimco with awe and fear. Gross frequently clashed with his own colleagues, notably Mohamed ElErian, the urbane economist he helped hire to be Pimco's CEO and co-chief of investment. El-Erian quit in 2014, and Gross was pushed out months afterward, resurfacin­g at a smaller rival, Janus.

Gross retired in 2019, unable to repeat the success he found at Pimco. But he remained in the headlines, thanks to a dispute with a neighbor over his $1 million Dale Chihuly glass sculpture. During the feud, Gross blared the theme to “Gilligan's Island” on repeat, which eventually

earned him a suspended sentence for harassment last year.

All of this is vividly chronicled in “The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All,” by NPR “Planet Money” host Mary Childs, a book seven years in the making. Childs spent hours talking with Gross — who self-published a memoir in March (“I'm Still Standing: Bond King Bill Gross and the Pimco Express”) — and numerous current and former Pimco colleagues. (El-Erian participat­ed only via lengthy notes from his lawyer.)

I spoke with Childs about tracing the

arc of the pioneering investor, whose career helped shape a crucial part of finance but whose personalit­y alienated colleagues and neighbors alike. The conversati­on has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Q

A

There were a lot of different understand­ings of Bill. There was definitely some hero worship. There were definitely some people who viewed him

What were the challenges of writing about Gross?

 ?? ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ARCHIVES ?? Bill Gross, who helped found and lead the investment company Pimco, earned the nickname The Bond King for helping to revolution­ize the once-sleepy world of bond investing — and earning a fortune along the way.
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ARCHIVES Bill Gross, who helped found and lead the investment company Pimco, earned the nickname The Bond King for helping to revolution­ize the once-sleepy world of bond investing — and earning a fortune along the way.
 ?? H. LORREN AU JR. — ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ARCHIVES ?? Pimco’s Newport Beach headquarte­rs. Founder Bill Gross is the subject of the book “The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All,” by Mary Childs.
H. LORREN AU JR. — ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ARCHIVES Pimco’s Newport Beach headquarte­rs. Founder Bill Gross is the subject of the book “The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All,” by Mary Childs.

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