The Millionaires' Factory

The extraordinary and revealing story of the Australian bank that took on the world, and the culture that lies behind its entrepreneurial approach.


Finalist in the General Business Book of the Year category of the 2023 Australian Business Book Awards


Macquarie is everywhere. As an investment bank, a commodities player and an international leader in infrastructure fund management, Macquarie has inserted itself into your life somehow, no matter where in the world you're reading this book.


The Millionaires' Factory lifts the lid on this unique banking success story, from its origins in Australia in 1969 to its presence in 33 markets today. It identifies the big decisions that have allowed the bank to thrive where others have floundered, and the unique Macquarie ability to spot a niche few others can see. It also uncovers the dramas, the turf fights, the scandals and the failures, as well as the supercharged salaries and bonuses that earned them the nickname 'the millionaires' factory'.


Drawing on their interviews with Macquarie CEOs and senior managers past and present, journalists Joyce Moullakis and Chris Wright explain the culture that drives Macquarie: its unique 'loose-tight' approach to risk, its empowerment of individual staff to try new things, and its knack for turning market calamities into opportunities. Markets move and Macquarie has reinvented itself time and again as they do so, but one thing never changes: it's seldom on the wrong side of a deal.


'For readers who want to understand a fascinating financial institution and how it succeeds where so many rivals falter, The Millionaires' Factory comes recommended.' - The Financial Times


'The Millionaires' Factory lays bare the good and bad about Australia's millionaire manufacturer.' The Conversation


'A fascinating account of how a successful financial institution with a global footprint can grow through good and bad times, because of the quality of its people.' -Don Argus AC, Member of the Australian Advisory Council of Bank of America


'Joyce and Chris have brilliantly captured and woven together an exceptional account of an Australian and global financial success story.' -Steve Harker AM, former CEO of Morgan Stanley Australia