`The Bond King' traces the arc of Bill Gross
Icon helped found and lead OC investment giant Pimco
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. ElErian 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 last week (“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 What were the challenges of writing about Gross?
A There were a lot of different understandings of Bill. There was definitely some hero worship. There were definitely some people who viewed him as this legend, a deity almost.
The real challenge was, I thought when I started this book that it would end neatly in 2014 with his departure from Pimco and arriving at Janus. But he just kept doing stuff. And he kept making headlines and making more news. So I had to rewrite the ending many times and just keep being like, “Oh, OK, a new one.”
Q What's your response to him putting out his own book?
A (Laughter.) My fact checker checked facts with him. So he had some idea of what was in the book. And I suspect that it didn't totally stack up in a way that pleased him.
Q
When you first started covering Gross and Pimco, what were your impressions of them?
AI knew how influential they were. I knew that the way that my sources talked about Pimco was indicative that this is a force to be reckoned with.
QOne thing I found fascinating was just how hard-nosed Pimco and Gross were, how they fought so hard to get a little extra money from a trade and didn't care if the people on the other side hated them for it.
AQ