Sales For 'Billion Dollar Whale' Skyrocket After Bill Gates Recommended It On CNN
The Microsoft founder completed the book in two days.
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 19 Feb 2019, 12:33 PM
When he made an appearance on CNN's current affair talk show 'Fareed Zakaria Global Public Square (GPS)', Microsoft founder Bill Gates had 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in mind
Aside from interviewing Gates about inequality, his charity, and global warming, CNN host Fareed Zakaria asked the business magnate for a book recommendation.
"My book would be 'Billion Dollar Whale,'" Gates answered during the segment on 17 February, according to Malay Mail.
"It's a sad story of corruption in international finance but fascinating," Gates said of the book chronicling the 1MDB scandal by Wall Street Journal's Tom Wright and Bradley Hope.
"A wonderful read. Very quick and thrilling," he said, before comparing it to 'Bad Blood', a book by John Carreyrou about multibillion-dollar biotech startup Theranos.
According to the philanthropist's Goodreads profile, he started reading Billion Dollar Whale on 26 January and completed it in two days.
Soon after, Wright posted a video of the interview with Gates on Instagram and thanked the Microsoft founder for his support.
According to Wright, Gates' recommendation single-handedly caused sales of the book to skyrocket in a day
The book details the role and exploits of Penang-born businessperson Low Taek Jho, who allegedly siphoned billions from the 1MDB state fund along with other key figures, Malaysiakini reported.