What do you think?
Rate this book
The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself
'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 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 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
'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 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 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
248 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 9, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 17, 2026
Brilliant work by Hettie O’Brien. Well researched and well written, the book focuses on private equity’s encroachment into social infrastructure and how this exploits the very people most dependent on these essential services. It was difficult not to feel infuriated throughout the book.
April 14, 2026
Everyone needs to read this, but it will make you very angry.
May 11, 2026
3.5⭐️
May 7, 2026
A dive into the stories behind private equity focusing on the big asset classes you'll likely have heard about.
Written in journalistic style it's a rather pedestrian tour into the world of PE. It's interesting but somewhat muddled explanation of PE and sometimes mixes it with other classes such as asset management in general .
Nevertheless a worthy read if you're at all interested in how predominantly in the West financiers have bought into the fabric of life and profited immensely from doing so. The only other thing to note is the author's political bias is quite obvious in some parts of the book
Written in journalistic style it's a rather pedestrian tour into the world of PE. It's interesting but somewhat muddled explanation of PE and sometimes mixes it with other classes such as asset management in general .
Nevertheless a worthy read if you're at all interested in how predominantly in the West financiers have bought into the fabric of life and profited immensely from doing so. The only other thing to note is the author's political bias is quite obvious in some parts of the book
May 31, 2026
This is a brilliant read but also helps to fill all the gaps in your knowledge. This confirms things I already know but explains the why and provides empirical evidence with interesting insights.
Another great pro is partly what allows the super rich to grow and seem unreachable is through use of terms like neoliberalism, leveraged buy outs and private equity. This books provides definitions to these complex terms.
Another great pro is partly what allows the super rich to grow and seem unreachable is through use of terms like neoliberalism, leveraged buy outs and private equity. This books provides definitions to these complex terms.
May 28, 2026
Groundbreaking work. A real eye opener to anyone looking at the state of the UK/US economies right now as well as the scandal that’s absorbed them in the last 40 years.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Very good. Detailed, damning, well-written. Recommended.
(Took a while only because I was travelling and didn't have time to read.)
(Took a while only because I was travelling and didn't have time to read.)
June 26, 2026
PE is out of fucking control and we live in an oligarchy
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews