Michael Mackenzie Thomas (April 18, 1936 – August 7, 2021)[1] was an American author of nine bestselling novels and a partner at Lehman Brothers.

[7] Thomas was raised on the Upper East Side and attended the Buckley School,[7] where he served as an editor of its literary magazine,[8] before graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy.

[8] He became head of mergers and acquisitions in 1971,[7] but ultimately quit Lehman Brothers that same year after feeling "betrayed" by the firm.

[8] Thomas once detailed his subject matter to the New York Times as "social climbers, stock market papermongers, real estate shills and assorted other virtuosos of hype and blather.

"[9] Charlotte Curtis described his early works in The New York Times as "extremely unkind to the rich and fashionable", adding that his magazine articles "are said to have indulged in gratuitously cruel people-bashing".

[7] Approximately 25 publishing houses rejected his eighth novel, Love & Money (2009), and it eventually took him over a decade to secure one.