Andrew Ross Sorkin

{{short description|American journalist and author}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Andrew Ross Sorkin

| image = Andrew Ross Sorkin, 2012.jpg

| caption = Sorkin in 2012

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|2|19}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| occupation = {{Flatlist|

| years_active = 1996–present

| alma_mater = Cornell University (BS)

| known_for = Too Big to Fail

| spouse = {{marriage|Pilar Jenny Queen|2007}}

| children = 3

}}

Andrew Ross Sorkin (born February 19, 1977) is an American journalist and author. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times. He wrote the bestselling book Too Big to Fail and co-produced a movie adaptation of the book for HBO Films. He is also a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions.{{Cite web |title=Andrew Ross Sorkin |url=https://www.cnbc.com/andrew-ross-sorkin/ |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=CNBC |date=August 2011 }}{{Cite news |last1=Sorkin |first1=Andrew Ross |last2=Mattu |first2=Ravi |last3=Warner |first3=Bernhard |last4=Kessler |first4=Sarah |last5=de la Merced |first5=Michael J. |last6=Hirsch |first6=Lauren |last7=Livni |first7=Ephrat |date=2023-07-24 |title=Why Elon Musk Bid Twitter Goodbye |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/business/dealbook/twitter-x-musk.html |access-date=2023-07-24 |issn=0362-4331}}

Early life and education

Sorkin was born in New York City, the son of Joan Ross Sorkin, a playwright, and Laurence T. Sorkin, a partner at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/fashion/weddings/10Queen.html | work=The New York Times | title=Pilar Queen, Andrew Sorkin | date=June 10, 2007 | access-date=February 21, 2017 | archive-date=January 18, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118084912/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/fashion/weddings/10Queen.html | url-status=live }} Sorkin graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1995 and earned a Bachelor of Science in communication from Cornell University in 1999 where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity, Mu Chapter.{{cite web|url=https://sigmapi.org/notable-alumni|title=Notable Alumni|publisher=Sigma Pi Fraternity, International|access-date=June 16, 2017|archive-date=July 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705205528/https://sigmapi.org/notable-alumni/|url-status=live}} He is not related to writer Aaron Sorkin, who also grew up in Scarsdale.{{cite tweet | user=andrewrsorkin | number=2484841901 | date=July 5, 2009 | author= Andrew Ross Sorkin | title=since i keep getting asked all weekend, i'm not related to aaron sorkin nor am i related to ira lee sorkin. sorry to disappoint.}} He is of Jewish descent.{{cite news |last=Pking |first=Almaz W. |title=40 Under 40 List Includes PR Agency CEO and Andrew Ross Sorkin|url=http://everything-pr.com/40-under-40-list/41903/|agency=EverythingPR|publisher=PRUSA|date=April 10, 2013|access-date=October 12, 2015|archive-date=October 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012005313/http://everything-pr.com/40-under-40-list/41903/ }}{{Cite web|first=Andrew Ross |last=Sorkin |author-link= |title=Andrew Ross Sorkin tweet |website=Twitter|date= December 25, 2016|url=https://twitter.com/andrewrsorkin/status/813010608987770880?lang=en |access-date=October 6, 2021|quote=I am! A Christmas loving Jew! We did Chanukah last night and we will again tonight and the night after...}}

Career

= Journalist =

Sorkin first joined The New York Times as a student intern during his senior year in high school. He also worked for the paper while he was in college, with 71 articles published before he graduated. He began by writing media and technology articles while assisting the advertising columnist, Stuart Elliott. Sorkin spent the summer of 1996 working for Businessweek, before returning to The New York Times. He moved to London for part of 1998. While there, he wrote about European business and technology for The New York Times and then returned to Cornell to complete his studies. At Cornell, he was vice president of the Sigma Pi fraternity.

== Mergers and acquisitions reporter ==

Sorkin joined The New York Times full-time in 1999 as the newspaper's European mergers and acquisitions reporter, and was based in London. In 2000, Sorkin became the paper's chief mergers and acquisitions reporter, based in New York, a position he still holds. In 2001, Sorkin founded "DealBook," an online daily financial report published by the Times. As Editor-at-Large of "DealBook," Sorkin writes a weekly column of the same name. Sorkin is also an assistant editor of business and finance news for the paper.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/by/andrew-ross-sorkin|title=Andrew Ross Sorkin|website=The New York Times |access-date=April 15, 2017|archive-date=April 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412062450/https://www.nytimes.com/by/andrew-ross-sorkin|url-status=live}}

Sorkin has broken news of major mergers and acquisitions, including Chase's acquisition of J.P. Morgan and Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Compaq. He also led The New York Times' coverage of the largest takeover in history, Vodafone's $183 billion hostile bid for Mannesmann. Additionally, he broke the news of IBM's sale of its PC business to Lenovo, Boston Scientific's $25 billion acquisition of Guidant and Symantec's $13 billion deal for Veritas Software, and reported on News Corp.'s acquisition of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. Sorkin has reported on the Wall Street financial crisis, including the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and the government bailout of other major investment banks and AIG. He has also written about the troubled American auto industry.

In 2007, Sorkin was one of the first journalists to identify and criticize "carried interest," a tax loophole for private equity firms and hedge funds.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/business/18sorkin.html |title=Bobbing as the Tax Man Weaves |date=May 17, 2010 |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=May 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523181841/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/business/18sorkin.html |url-status=live }} He first wrote about the topic in a column in March 2007, calling the tax treatment a "charade",{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/business/yourmoney/11deal.html|title=Of Private Equity, Politics and Income Taxes|date=March 11, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810014352/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/business/yourmoney/11deal.html|url-status=live}} and later wrote about it on the front page of The New York Times.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/business/21tax.html|title=Congress Weighs End to Private Equity Tax Break|date=June 21, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810014315/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/business/21tax.html|url-status=live}} He has written at least a half dozen articles critiquing the tax practice by private equity firms and advocated for the government to end the loophole.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/business/10sorkin.html|title=Putting a Bull's-Eye on a Tax Loophole|date=March 10, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810013952/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/business/10sorkin.html|url-status=live}}

In 2014, Sorkin wrote a series of columns criticizing American corporations for trying to lower their US tax bill by merging with smaller foreign companies in a transaction known as an "inversion".{{cite news|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/a-deal-to-dodge-the-tax-man-in-america/|title=A Deal to Dodge the Tax Man in America|work=The New York Times|date=May 13, 2014 |access-date=March 5, 2017|archive-date=December 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202153847/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/a-deal-to-dodge-the-tax-man-in-america/|url-status=live}} He also criticized the Wall Street banks that advised US companies to pursue such deals, describing the banks as "corporate co-conspirators".{{cite news|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/banks-cash-in-on-mergers-intended-to-elude-taxes/|title=Banks Cash in on Mergers Intended to Elude Taxes|work=The New York Times|date=July 29, 2014 |access-date=March 5, 2017|archive-date=August 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816032529/https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/banks-cash-in-on-mergers-intended-to-elude-taxes/|url-status=live}} Sorkin called on the government to end the practice. On September 22, 2014, the Obama administration changed the tax laws to make it more difficult for US companies to merge to avoid taxes.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/09/22/presidents-statement-todays-treasury-department-action-inversions|title=The President's Statement on Today's Treasury Department Action on Inversions|access-date=September 6, 2015|archive-date=January 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121032641/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/09/22/presidents-statement-todays-treasury-department-action-inversions|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|date=September 22, 2014 |url-status=live}}

On the PRISM surveillance program and Edward Snowden situation, Sorkin said, "I would arrest him and now I'd almost arrest Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who seems to be out there, he wants to help him get to Ecuador."[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/06/24/greenwald-beltway-media-types-are-courtiers-to-power/ Greenwald: Beltway media types are 'courtiers to power'] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130629085516/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/06/24/greenwald-beltway-media-types-are-courtiers-to-power/ |date=June 29, 2013 }}, Washington Post, By Erik Wemple, Published: June 24, 2013, retrieved from washingtonpost.com on June 24, 2013 The next day, Sorkin apologized for the comment; Greenwald accepted, tweeting "Thank you: accepted & appreciated".{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/349536779558338560|title=Glenn Greenwald on Twitter|work=Twitter|access-date=September 6, 2015|archive-date=January 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126015153/https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/349536779558338560|url-status=live}}

=DealBook=

In October 2001, while a journalist at The New York Times, Sorkin started DealBook, a newsletter about deal-making and Wall Street.{{Cite web|title = Andrew Ross Sorkin: The man behind Dealbook|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8113789/Andrew-Ross-Sorkin-The-man-behind-Dealbook.html|website = The Telegraph| date=November 6, 2010 |access-date = January 21, 2016|archive-date = January 26, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160126015153/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8113789/Andrew-Ross-Sorkin-The-man-behind-Dealbook.html|url-status = live}} DealBook was one of the first financial news aggregation services on the Internet. In March 2006, Sorkin introduced a companion website published on The New York Times, with updated news and original analysis throughout the day.{{cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/more-about-dealbook/ |title=More About DealBook |publisher=Dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com |date=March 1, 2006 |access-date=May 22, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100509040820/http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/more-about-dealbook/| archive-date= May 9, 2010 | url-status= live}} In 2007, DealBook won a Webby Award for Best Business Blog{{cite web|url=http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=11 |title=Webby Nominees & Winners |publisher=Webbyawards.com |access-date=May 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520212927/http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=11 |archive-date=May 20, 2010 |url-status=dead }} and it won a SABEW award for overall excellence.[http://www.sabew.com/contest/2007-2008/winners/onlinewin.htm Sabew.Com]{{dead link|date=May 2010}} In 2008, the site won an EPpy Award for Best Business Blog.[http://royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2008.html Royal.Reliaserve.Com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130044424/http://royal.reliaserve.com/eppy/winners2008.html |date=January 30, 2009 }}

Television

In July 2011, Sorkin became a co-anchor on CNBC's Squawk Box in addition to his duties at The New York Times. Sorkin has appeared on NBC's Today show, Charlie Rose and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, MSNBC's Hardball and Morning Joe, ABC's Good Morning America, The Chris Matthews Show, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, the BBC World Service, Comedy Central's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and was a frequent guest host of CNBC's Squawk Box before joining the ensemble. Sorkin also hosted a weekly seven-part, half-hour PBS talk-show series called It's the Economy, NY, which focused on how the evolving economic crisis was affecting New Yorkers.{{cite web |url=http://www.thirteen.org/itstheeconomyny/ |title=It's The Economy, NY |publisher=Thirteen |access-date=May 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709222120/http://www.thirteen.org/itstheeconomyny/ |archive-date=July 9, 2010 |url-status=dead }}

Along with Brian Koppelman and David Levien, Sorkin is a co-creator of the Showtime series Billions, an American television drama series starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis.{{Cite news |title = Billions Co-Creator Andrew Ross Sorkin Reveals How He Brought Wall Street Drama to TV |url = http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/billions-showtime-andrew-ross-sorkin-brings-wall-street-drama-to-tv |magazine = Vanity Fair |access-date = February 22, 2016 |first = Jon |last = Kelly |archive-date = February 21, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160221182700/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/billions-showtime-andrew-ross-sorkin-brings-wall-street-drama-to-tv |url-status = live }} The series is loosely based on crusading federal prosecutor of financial crimes, Preet Bharara, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.{{Cite news|title = Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's Office Gets Hollywood Treatment in Showtime Series|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/manhattan-u-s-attorney-preet-bhararas-office-gets-hollywood-treatment-in-showtime-series-1451947972|newspaper = Wall Street Journal|access-date = February 22, 2016|issn = 0099-9660|first = Erica|last = Orden|archive-date = February 4, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160204040630/http://www.wsj.com/articles/manhattan-u-s-attorney-preet-bhararas-office-gets-hollywood-treatment-in-showtime-series-1451947972|url-status = live}} The show premiered in January 2016.

Sorkin appeared in a cameo on the 35th season of The Simpsons in a parody on Silicon Valley where Sorkin interviews Mr. Burns and Persephone in an episode first aired on 29 October 2023.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-27 |title="The Simpsons" will parody Silicon Valley with new star-studded episode |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/simpsons-parody-silicon-valley-star-130000045.html |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}}

''Too Big to Fail''

{{main|Too Big to Fail (book)}}

Sorkin's book on the Wall Street banking crisis, Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves, was published by Viking on October 20, 2009.{{cite web |url=http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780670021253,00.html?Too_Big_to_Fail_Andrew_Ross_Sorkin |title=Too Big to Fail, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Penguin Group (USA) |publisher=Us.penguingroup.com |access-date=May 22, 2010 |archive-date=July 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727201636/http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780670021253,00.html?Too_Big_to_Fail_Andrew_Ross_Sorkin |url-status=live }}. {{ISBN|978-0-670-02125-3}} It won the 2010 Gerald Loeb Award for best business book of the year,{{Cite web |url=https://talkingbiznews.com/1/first-loeb-winner-nyts-sorkin/ |title=Early Loeb winners: NYT's Sorkin and Pogue |date=June 29, 2010 |website=Talking Biz News |access-date=February 3, 2019 |archive-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204072944/https://talkingbiznews.com/1/first-loeb-winner-nyts-sorkin/ |url-status=live }} was on the shortlist for the 2010 Samuel Johnson Prize, shortlisted for the 2010 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and was on The New York Times Best Seller list (non-fiction hardcover and paperback) for six months.

The book was adapted as a movie by HBO Films and premiered on HBO on May 23, 2011. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson and the screenplay was written by Peter Gould. The cast included William Hurt as Hank Paulson, the Treasury Secretary; Paul Giamatti as Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve; Billy Crudup as Timothy Geithner, the then-president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank; James Woods as Richard Fuld, the CEO of Lehman Brothers; Edward Asner as Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; Cynthia Nixon as Michele Davis, assistant secretary for public affairs at Treasury; Bill Pullman as Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase; as well as Topher Grace as Jim Wilkinson, Chief of Staff to the Treasury Secretary. Sorkin was a co-producer of the film and had a cameo appearance as a reporter.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1746260/ |title=Too Big to Fail (2012) |website=IMDb |access-date=July 1, 2018 |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126113327/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1746260/ |url-status=live }}

Awards

Sorkin shared the Gerald Loeb Award in 2005 for Deadline Writing{{cite web|url=http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x8826.xml |title=2005 Winners|website=UCLA Anderson School of Management|access-date=May 22, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051216115915/http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/x8826.xml|archive-date=December 16, 2005|via=Internet Archive}} and earned another for Business Book in 2010 for his book Too Big to Fail. He also won a Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award for breaking news in 2005 and again in 2006. In 2007, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.{{cite web|url=http://www.weforum.org/en/Communities/Young%20Global%20Leaders/Whoweare/Search/index.htm?Keywords=sorkin&isSearch=true |title=World Economic Forum - Search tool |publisher=Weforum.org |access-date=May 22, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Also in 2007, SiliconAlleyInsider.com named Sorkin one of New York's "most influential scribes."{{cite web |author=Silicon Alley Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/sa100/andrew-ross-sorkin |title=23. Andrew Ross Sorkin |publisher=Businessinsider.com |date=November 8, 2007 |access-date=May 22, 2010 |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723142014/http://www.businessinsider.com/sa100/andrew-ross-sorkin |url-status=live }} In 2008, Vanity Fair magazine named Sorkin as one of 40 new members of the "Next Establishment,"[http://www.vanityfair.com/online/newestablishment/2008/09/the-next-establishment-2008.html Vanity Fair.Com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830185420/http://www.vanityfair.com/online/newestablishment/2008/09/the-next-establishment-2008.html |date=August 30, 2009 }} and he appeared on the UJA Federation's 2013 list of 40 under 40 top "movers and shakers" in the Jewish community. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2022, Sorkin won an Emmy Award for his New York Times interview with WeWork founder Adam Neumann.{{cite news |title=The New York Times Wins 5 Emmy Awards |url=https://www.nytco.com/press/the-new-york-times-wins-5-emmy-awards/ |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=30 September 2022}}

Personal life

Sorkin married Pilar Jenny Queen on June 9, 2007.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/fashion/weddings/10Queen.html |date=June 10, 2007 |work=The New York Times |title=Pilar Queen, Andrew Sorkin |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118084912/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/fashion/weddings/10Queen.html |url-status=live }}

Sorkin has a coloboma in his left eye that sometimes makes it appear as if he has two different colored eyes.{{cite web |last=Clarendon |first=Dan |url=https://marketrealist.com/p/andrew-ross-sorkin-eye-condition/ |title=CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin Explains His Eye Condition |website=Market Realist |date=2021-07-06 |access-date=2021-07-22 }}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}