Jesse Eisinger

Senior Editor and Reporter

Photo of Jesse Eisinger

Jesse Eisinger is a senior editor and reporter at ProPublica. He is the author of the “The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives.”

In April 2011, he and a colleague won 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. He was the lead reporter on the “Secret IRS Files” series that exposed the tax avoidance strategies of the ultrawealthy. The series won several prizes, including the Selden Ring in 2022. He also won the 2015 Gerald Loeb Award for commentary.

He was the editor on the “Friends of the Court” series, which revealed how a small group of politically influential billionaires wooed justices with lavish gifts and travel; it won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2024.

He serves on the advisory board of the University of California, Berkeley’s Financial Fraud Institute. And he was a consultant on season 3 of the HBO series “Succession.”

His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, NewYorker.com, The Washington Post, The Baffler and The American Prospect and on NPR and “This American Life.” Before joining ProPublica, he was the Wall Street editor of Conde Nast Portfolio and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, covering markets and finance.

He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, the journalist Sarah Ellison, and their daughters.

From Big State a Call for Small Banks

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas issues a blistering indictment of our financial system and calls for breaking up the Too Big To Fail banks.

Fannie and Freddie: Slashing Mortgages Is Good Business

Adding an explosive new dimension to a politically charged debate on how to solve the housing crisis, the mortgage giants say that reducing the amount of money troubled homeowners owe wouldn't just keep families in their homes, it would also save Freddie and Fannie money.

Congress's Genius Jobs Plan — for Fraudsters, Shills, and Wall St. Analysts

The so-called JOBS Act, which has support from the White House and Republicans, could help stock market scammers get their mojo back.

Fed Shrugged Off Warnings, Let Banks Pay Shareholders Billions

In late 2010, a major regulator warned the Federal Reserve: Banks are not healthy enough to increase dividends, and the economy could implode again. But in its biggest decision since the financial crisis, the Fed overrode that advice and let banks return more than $30 billion to shareholders. Here’s the inside story.

How to Kill the Volcker Rule: Just Add Fat

Bank lobbyists couldn't kill the Volcker Rule, intended to stop banks from risking taxpayer money on risky speculation. So they're getting Congress and regulators to render it morbidly obese and bedridden.

Senators Slam Freddie on Bets Against Homeowners

There is increasing scrutiny in Washington on Freddie's risky investments.

The SOX Win: How Financial Regulation Can Work

The Sarbanes Oxley law, also known as SOX, cleaned up corporate accounting. It provides hope for how the new financial regulatory law, Dodd-Frank, could work.

Senator Demands Answers from Freddie Mac’s Regulator

Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., today sent a series of questions to Freddie’s regulator, highlighting how much remains unknown about the mortgage giant’s controversial bets against American homeowners.

Freddie Mac’s Regulator Says Trades Were Shut Down Because They Were “Risky”

In aletter to Senator Robert Casey, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said ithalted mortgage giant Freddie Mac’s controversial trades because they required specializedrisk management.

Bets Against Homeowners Must Stop, Freddie Mac Was Told

After an examination by its regulator, Freddie agreed not to make new investments that profited from homeowners staying trapped in high interest-rate mortgages. But Freddie has kept billions worth of those investments.

Freddie Mac Bets Against American Homeowners

The taxpayer-owned mortgage giant made investments that profited if borrowers stayed stuck in high-interest loans while making it harder for them to get out of those loans.

From CEO to Candidate, Romney Flip-Flops on Debt

Under Romney, Bain Capital used debt liberally to generate high returns. Now, when the U.S. can borrow at low rates, his own leveraged buyout logic should dictate that the government borrow more -- not less.

Needed: A Cure for a Severe Case of Trialphobia

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been scared to bring big banks to trial for wrongdoing that helped cause the financial crisis. But that strategy fails to hold the big banks accountable and weakens the SEC's negotiating position.

Wall Street Is Already Occupied

A secret confederacy of Occupy Wall Street sympathizers is criticizing the financial industry for becoming a machine to enrich itself, fleecing customers and exacerbating inequality.

Crony Capitalism? Hank Paulson’s Extraordinary Meeting

Bloomberg story shows that while we still haven’t had a full accounting of the financial crisis, we did have a Treasury Secretary sharing what amounts to inside information with a few elite Wall Street traders. Here are some questions that demand answers.

Dodd-Frank’s Derivatives Reforms: Clear as Mud

The financial reform law’s fixes for the derivatives market may work. But they may not. Nobody really knows.

Why the SEC Won’t Hunt Big Dogs

After the CDO conflagration, the SEC has wrung measly settlements from banks and charged only two bankers, both low-level, while letting their bosses scamper away. That needs to change.

Did Citi Get a Sweet Deal? Bank Claims SEC Settlement on One CDO Clears It on All Others

A $285 million SEC settlement appears to wipe the slate clean on Citi's multi-billion-dollar CDO business.

Trust Bust: Why No One Believes the Banks

Morgan Stanley seems solid, but so did Dexia.

A Rogue to the Rescue: UBS Scandal Reinforces Need for Strict Volcker Rule

As a draft of the Volcker rule has made the rounds in the last several weeks, it has alternatively caused fits of despair and cries of exultation. And that’s just among the proponents of the regulation.

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