The Big Short

by

Michael Lewis

Meredith Whitney Character Analysis

Meredith Whitney is a financial analyst who plays a key role in diagnosing the financial crisis by issuing a devastating report about the investment bank Citigroup in October 2007. She credits Steve Eisman for helping her career and inspires Michael Lewis to begin looking into the events that will eventually be covered in The Big Short, in part by giving him a list of people who correctly predicted and bet on the financial crisis.
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Meredith Whitney Character Timeline in The Big Short

The timeline below shows where the character Meredith Whitney appears in The Big Short. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
Outsiders vs. Conformists  Theme Icon
Wall Street’s Culture of Overconfidence Theme Icon
The Problems with Capitalism  Theme Icon
Pessimism vs. Optimism Theme Icon
On October 31, 2007, a financial analyst named Meredith Whitney gave such a devastating report on the investment bank Citigroup that it caused the company’s... (full context)
Outsiders vs. Conformists  Theme Icon
...to the financial meltdown if he’d stuck around on Wall Street. He remembers calling Meredith Whitney to hear her story firsthand. She mentioned to Lewis that her career—as well as her... (full context)
Outsiders vs. Conformists  Theme Icon
The Problems with Capitalism  Theme Icon
Pessimism vs. Optimism Theme Icon
Needless Complexity Theme Icon
After talking with Whitney, Lewis read in the news about a man named John Paulson, who made phenomenal amounts... (full context)
Outsiders vs. Conformists  Theme Icon
Pessimism vs. Optimism Theme Icon
...claimed to have seen it coming, but few of them actually did anything about it. Whitney gave Lewis a list of about six people who saw what was coming and were... (full context)