'Bang on the money' Guardian'Reads like a financial thriller' New Statesman'Astonishing' Irish Times'Read this if you want to know who precisely is to blame for, well, everything' Oliver BulloughA thrilling, eye-opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could have been created to undermine our way of life You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back. Business is a contest - and they say their people are built to win. But when does competition become a struggle to the death?For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the 'creative destruction' essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work.In The Asset Class, reporter Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society.The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back.'Financial journalism at its best . . . utterly terrifying' Peter Oborne 'Rollicking' Nicholas Shaxson'Dazzling' Ha-Joon Chang'Essential' Grace Blakeley'Powerful and necessary' Mariana Mazzucato'Deftly lifts the curtain on a murky world of greed and destruction' Danny Dorling

'Bang on the money' Guardian'Reads like a financial thriller' New Statesman'Astonishing' Irish Times'Read this if you want to know who precisely is to blame for, well, everything' Oliver BulloughA thrilling, eye-opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could have been created to undermine our way of life You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back. Business is a contest - and they say their people are built to win. But when does competition become a struggle to the death?For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the 'creative destruction' essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work.In The Asset Class, reporter Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society.The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back.'Financial journalism at its best . . . utterly terrifying' Peter Oborne 'Rollicking' Nicholas Shaxson'Dazzling' Ha-Joon Chang'Essential' Grace Blakeley'Powerful and necessary' Mariana Mazzucato'Deftly lifts the curtain on a murky world of greed and destruction' Danny Dorling

'FINANCIAL JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST . . . UTTERLY TERRIFYING' PETER OBORNE 'PART WAKE-UP CALL, PART FINANCIAL THRILLER' SHAMI CHAKRABARTI A thrilling, eye-opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could have been created to undermine our way of life You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back. Business is a contest - and they say their people are built to win. But when does competition become a struggle to the death?For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the 'creative destruction' essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work.In The Asset Class, reporter Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society.The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back. 'DEFTLY LIFTS THE CURTAIN ON A MURKY WORLD OF GREED AND DESTRUCTION' DANNY DORLING 'DAZZLING' HA-JOON CHANG'ESSENTIAL' GRACE BLAKELEY'WILD' JOLYON MAUGHAM

A thrilling, eye opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could potentially undermine our way of life. For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the "creative destruction" essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work. The name itself, "private equity," is its own kind of camouflage, giving no suggestion of the debt involved in its deals, nor of the controversial techniques it uses to generate profits.  The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back. In The Asset Class, Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follow the money, the trail of destruction, and the industry’s murky ideological roots from 1970s trips to Moscow to the present day.  What she find is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy—it's selling out the foundations of Western society.

'Bang on the money' Guardian'Reads like a financial thriller' New Statesman'Astonishing' Irish Times'Read this if you want to know who precisely is to blame for, well, everything' Oliver BulloughA thrilling, eye-opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could have been created to undermine our way of life You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back. Business is a contest - and they say their people are built to win. But when does competition become a struggle to the death?For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the 'creative destruction' essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work.In The Asset Class, reporter Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society.The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back.'Financial journalism at its best . . . utterly terrifying' Peter Oborne 'Rollicking' Nicholas Shaxson'Dazzling' Ha-Joon Chang'Essential' Grace Blakeley'Powerful and necessary' Mariana Mazzucato'Deftly lifts the curtain on a murky world of greed and destruction' Danny Dorling

'Bang on the money' Guardian'Reads like a financial thriller' New Statesman'Astonishing' Irish Times'Read this if you want to know who precisely is to blame for, well, everything' Oliver BulloughA thrilling, eye-opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could have been created to undermine our way of life You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back. Business is a contest - and they say their people are built to win. But when does competition become a struggle to the death?For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the 'creative destruction' essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work.In The Asset Class, reporter Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society.The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back.'Financial journalism at its best . . . utterly terrifying' Peter Oborne 'Rollicking' Nicholas Shaxson'Dazzling' Ha-Joon Chang'Essential' Grace Blakeley'Powerful and necessary' Mariana Mazzucato'Deftly lifts the curtain on a murky world of greed and destruction' Danny Dorling

'FINANCIAL JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST . . . UTTERLY TERRIFYING' PETER OBORNE 'PART WAKE-UP CALL, PART FINANCIAL THRILLER' SHAMI CHAKRABARTI A thrilling, eye-opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could have been created to undermine our way of life You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back. Business is a contest - and they say their people are built to win. But when does competition become a struggle to the death?For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the 'creative destruction' essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work.In The Asset Class, reporter Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society.The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back. 'DEFTLY LIFTS THE CURTAIN ON A MURKY WORLD OF GREED AND DESTRUCTION' DANNY DORLING 'DAZZLING' HA-JOON CHANG'ESSENTIAL' GRACE BLAKELEY'WILD' JOLYON MAUGHAM

A thrilling, eye opening investigation into private equity, a secretive wing of the finance industry that is so relentlessly destructive, it could potentially undermine our way of life. For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis. Their cover story: that this is merely the "creative destruction" essential to growth. Old-school capitalists say they're dismantling everything that made our economies work. The name itself, "private equity," is its own kind of camouflage, giving no suggestion of the debt involved in its deals, nor of the controversial techniques it uses to generate profits.  The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back. In The Asset Class, Hettie O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follow the money, the trail of destruction, and the industry’s murky ideological roots from 1970s trips to Moscow to the present day.  What she find is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy—it's selling out the foundations of Western society.