The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Keep Their Money

A reporter at Munich's S%C3%BCddeutsche Zeitung newspaper gets an anonymous text message that asks, "Interested in data?" So begins the saga of the Panama Papers, the largest leak of information to journalists in history. Obermayer encourages his contact, "John Doe," whose disclosures pull back the curtain on the dealings of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which, over several decades, helped set up hundreds of thousands of shell companies for a global array of famous%E2%80%94and infamous%E2%80%94clients. The resulting investigation into 11.5 million documents, assisted by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists, topples multiple political figures, including Iceland's prime minister, and implicates public figures and major companies from around the world. Despite the challenge of summing up the work of over 320 reporters from over 70 countries, the coauthors, both S%C3%BCddeutsche Zeitung reporters, present a straightforward account that involves German banks, soccer superstar Lionel Messi, African dictators, China's new elite, and Vladimir Putin's inner circle. This book is a fascinating first look at a scandal that may be the beginning of the end of the opaque and dodgy offshore finance industry. (July)