Financial "Master of the Universe" Sherman McCoy sees his life unravel when his mistress Maria Ruskin hits a Black boy with his car. When journalist Peter Fallow enflames public opinion with a series of distorted tabloid articles on the accident, the case is seized upon by opportunists like Reverend Bacon and mayoral candidate D.A. Abe Weiss.
After his mistress runs over a young teen, a Wall Street hotshot sees his life unravel in the spotlight and attracts the interest of a down-and-out reporter.
