Penguin division wins auction for FT reporter McCrum’s Wirecard book

Transworld, a division of Penguin Books, has won the auction to publish the book by Financial Times reporter Dan McCrum about German tech company Wirecard, reports Mark Chandler of The Bookseller.

Chandler reports, “The publisher said: ‘Over the course of six years of reporting for the Financial Times, McCrum helped bring to light a $2bn accounting hole in one of Europe’s biggest tech darlings, once valued at over $20bn. The company is now the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in Germany. The book will tell the full story of Wirecard for the first time, in a riveting business narrative that will appeal to lovers of Bad Blood and The Billion Dollar Whale.’

“McCrum’s reporting on Wirecard has since been recognised with the Impact Award for distinguished financial journalism from the New York Financial Writers’ Association, as well as the Ludwig Erhard Prize for economic journalism, a Reporters Forum Reporterpreis and a special award by the Helmut Schmidt Prize jury for investigative journalism. He has this week been named Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards.

“Christofi said: ‘I can’t think of anyone better to write the story of Wirecard. Not only has Dan been investigating this story for years – he has done so in the face of considerable resistance and attacks on his character. The full story of what happened is so much stranger than I could have guessed, and a book is the only way to do it justice.’

“A publication date has not yet been finalised.”

Read more here.