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Jake Bernstein

Jake Bernstein
Read Jake Bernstein's e-book, The Wall Street Money Machine, on your Kindle or mobile device.

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Jake Bernstein is a business and financial reporter for ProPublica.


In April 2011, Bernstein and colleague Jesse Eisinger were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series of stories on questionable Wall Street practices that helped make the financial crisis the worst since the Great Depression.


Prior to joining ProPublica, Bernstein worked at The Texas Observer, an investigative biweekly, for six years, and as its executive editor from 2004 to 2008. Bernstein began his career in Central America, where for several years he reported on efforts to end longstanding civil conflicts. He served as a staff writer for the Pasadena [Texas] Citizen and then for the Miami New Times. His work has received numerous state-level and national journalism awards, and The Texas Observer, under his leadership, was named Best Political Magazine of 2005 by Utne Reader. Bernstein is co-author of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency (2006).

Articles (page 2 of 5)

The ‘Subsidy’: How a Handful of Merrill Lynch Bankers Helped Blow Up Their Own Firm

Dec. 22, 2010, 3:37 p.m.

The builders of mortgage securities at industry giant Merrill Lynch couldn’t find buyers for their wares. So they paid another group at Merrill to take billions of dollars of the unwanted assets.

SEC Investigating Citigroup Mortgage Deal

Nov. 18, 2010, 8 a.m.

The SEC is investigating whether in the run-up to the financial crisis Citi acted improperly as it created and marketed a $1 billion CDO.

SEC Investigating Deal Between JPMorgan and Hedge Fund Magnetar

Nov. 1, 2010, 1:20 p.m.

The SEC is investigating whether JPMorgan adequately disclosed to investors that the hedge fund Magnetar influenced a deal it was also betting against. 

Magnetar Responds to Our April Story—And Our Response

Oct. 29, 2010, 4:06 p.m.

Magnetar Deals at Center of New Lawsuit

Oct. 25, 2010, 4:29 p.m.

A European-based investment fund and a French bank are battling it out in New York state court over complex securities created at the behest of the hedge fund Magnetar

Which CDOs and Banks Had Deals With the Most Cross-ownership?

Sept. 22, 2010, 11:09 a.m.

See which CDOs exchanged pieces with other CDOs through our interactive feature that reveals the incestuous nature of Wall Street’s CDO business.

A Bank’s Best Customer: Its Own CDOs

Aug. 26, 2010, 9:10 p.m.

About Our Data

Aug. 26, 2010, 9:10 p.m.

Chart: A Bank’s Best Customers

Aug. 26, 2010, 9:10 p.m.

In the last two years of the boom, CDOs created by one bank commonly purchased slices of other CDOs created by the same bank.

Banks’ Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis

Aug. 26, 2010, 9:09 p.m.

As investors left the market in the run-up to the meltdown, Wall Street created fake demand, increasing their bonuses — and ultimately making the crisis worse.

The Madoff Circle: Who Knew What?

June 2, 2010, 1:40 p.m.

Civil suits and court motions that have been filed in the Madoff case hint that a small circle of men played knowing, integral roles in the scheme, in some cases benefiting more from it than even Madoff himself. So far the evidence is mostly circumstantial.

Additional Detail from Magnetar Response

April 9, 2010, 4:01 p.m.

Graphic: The Timeline of Magnetar’s Deals

April 9, 2010, 1:49 p.m.

How did Magnetar’s deals in subprime mortgage securities compare to the overall market’s?

Magnetar Gets Started

April 9, 2010, 1 p.m.

E-mails Give Glimpse of How Magnetar Worked

April 9, 2010, 1 p.m.

E-mails with business partners suggest Magnetar's clout: The firm was involved at the start of deals and pushed for riskier bonds to be included in CDOs. One deal fell apart partly because of Ischus Capital Management's unease with pressure from Magnetar.

The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going

April 9, 2010, 1 p.m.

The hedge fund Magnetar helped create mortgage-based securities, pushed for risky things to go inside them and then bet against the investments, resulting in billions in losses for investors and ultimately making the financial crisis worse. It’s a story of the perverse incentives and reckless behavior that characterized the last days of the boom.

Magnetar’s (Nearly) Perpetual Money Machine

April 9, 2010, 1 p.m.

A Lawsuit Suggests Merrill Lynch’s Role

April 9, 2010, 1 p.m.

Magnetar’s Exit: A Deal So Bad Even a Credit-Rating Agency Balked

April 9, 2010, 1 p.m.

JPMorgan Gets Into the Game—And Loses

April 9, 2010, 12:59 p.m.

Jake Bernstein
Read Jake Bernstein's e-book, The Wall Street Money Machine, on your Kindle or mobile device.

Contact Info

Get Updates

Stay on top of what we’re working on by subscribing to our email digest.

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