Stevenson became a millionaire in the wake of the great recession by betting on a large increase in economic inequality, and that growing poverty would cause interest rates to stay low.

[5] As a child, Stevenson worked as a paperboy, and attended Ilford County High School until 2003 when he was expelled at age 16 due to a "drug-related transgression".

[13] Stevenson began his career as an interest rate trader in 2008 at age 21 after winning a "card game" based on trading,[5][14] initially being hired by Citibank as an intern and then as a full employee.

[16] Stevenson states that he generated this profit by trading based on the prediction that interest rates would not rise due to the impact of wealth inequality upon demand.

[7] Stevenson enrolled at Keble College, Oxford[3] to study for a Master of Philosophy in economics,[18] writing a thesis titled "The Impact of Inequality on Asset Prices When Households Care About Wealth".

[3][14] "Depressed and disillusioned" with the education he was receiving,[3] and annoyed that "change isn't going to come from there,"[15] he involved himself in the work of Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, Atif Mian, Amir Sufi, and Ludwig Straub.

[22] In 2023, he featured in Steffan Roe Griffiths' short film, Gary Stevenson - Life Out of Balance,[23] and appeared on BBC Politics Live.

[13] Joris Luyendijk of The Guardian wrote that it was "a well written and often darkly funny book that makes a convincing case that high finance is as toxic, reckless and deeply cynical as ever.