Mortimer and Randolph Duke are billionaires who own one of the largest commodities brokerages in the world.  Callous, competitive, and, above all, greedy, the Duke brothers are guilty of countless instances of unethical, disreputable, and illegal business practices.  They are constantly on the lookout for ways to increase their own wealth and power at the expense of others, and stop at nothing to achieve their ends.  Their most recent scheme involves using inside information gathered by their malevolent agent, Clarence Beeks, to corner the market in frozen concentrated orange juice.

As a pleasant diversion from their capitalist plotting, the Dukes often compete with each other by making cruel wagers involving the lives of their employees.  Unfortunately for Louis Winthorpe III, a particularly tempting bet presents itself one day. Winthorpe, the CEO of Duke and Duke, has had a black street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine arrested for stealing a briefcase containing the company payroll.  It’s an unfair charge, and Valentine is innocent of anything but having had the misfortune to bump into Winthorpe in front of a snobby club.  However, to Randolph Duke this is a golden opportunity to test his theory that environment counts for more than heredity.  He bets Mortimer that if Winthorpe and Valentine were to change places, the elitist Winthorpe would rapidly turn to a life of crime.  Alternatively, given the proper surroundings and encouragement,  Valentine would soon become just as successful in the commodities market as any Ivy League graduate.

The Dukes are rich, and money can make just about anything happen.  With the reluctant aid of Winthorpe’s butler, Coleman, they strip their wealthy CEO of everything;  his job, his home, his money, his limousine, even his fiancee and his self-respect; it isn't long before Winthorpe is threatening people with a gun and stealing the necessities of life.  Then they give Valentine everything they’ve taken from Winthorpe, The brothers are both amazed and dismayed when Valentine displays an extraordinary talent for commodities trading in spite of the fact he is, in their words, 'a “negro from a bad home” whom they would never allow to permanently run their company.

Valentine and Winthorpe eventually  discover both the Dukes' wager and the brothers' conspiracy to corner the frozen OJ market.  Plotting their revenge, Valentine notes that the "best way to hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people."  Ambushing Beeks, they replace the secret  report on the Orange crop the Dukes' agent has stolen with one of their own.

In this excerpt, Valentine and Winthorpe are headed to the floor of the Commodities Market at the Board of Trade in order to take advantage of the Dukes' confidence in the forged report, and extract a bit of payback.