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The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself
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 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 private equity isn't just reshaping the economy—it's selling out the foundations of Western society.
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. 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 private equity isn't just reshaping the economy—it's selling out the foundations of Western society.
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Published June 23, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 22, 2026
In The Asset Class, journalist Hettie O’Brien provides a useful, condensed history of the private equity ‘industry’, followed by a number of damning case studies, which further fills out the picture of a very, very late capitalism which is most adept not at producing value, but cannibalizing it.
Both engagingly-written and well-researched, O'Brien turns out to be an adept and quietly impassioned cicerone/consociate on this not-so-Grand Tour through our crumbling neighbourhood, where she astutely draws our attention to what's happening behind the scenes to what we formerly took for granted as belonging to (or at least adjacent to) something called the ‘Public Good’—this (former) council estate, that vet practice, our nan's care home, our once-trustworthy water supply...
[n. b. I discovered this book by listening to the ever dependable Doug Henwood interview Ms O'Brien at length about her research, and I highly recommend that you begin by going to the link below... Doug is a veteran economic journalist and author, as well as long host of his own show on Berkeley Public Radio (also podcast), which focuses on interviewing leading thinkers and journalists in the fields of economics, culture, and politics about their books.
https://kpfa.org/episode/behind-the-n... ]
Both engagingly-written and well-researched, O'Brien turns out to be an adept and quietly impassioned cicerone/consociate on this not-so-Grand Tour through our crumbling neighbourhood, where she astutely draws our attention to what's happening behind the scenes to what we formerly took for granted as belonging to (or at least adjacent to) something called the ‘Public Good’—this (former) council estate, that vet practice, our nan's care home, our once-trustworthy water supply...
[n. b. I discovered this book by listening to the ever dependable Doug Henwood interview Ms O'Brien at length about her research, and I highly recommend that you begin by going to the link below... Doug is a veteran economic journalist and author, as well as long host of his own show on Berkeley Public Radio (also podcast), which focuses on interviewing leading thinkers and journalists in the fields of economics, culture, and politics about their books.
https://kpfa.org/episode/behind-the-n... ]
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.
July 21, 2026
This read like a newspaper editorial column (the opinion to facts ratio was roughly 1.5:1). It was very good at explaining the public debates around private equity. I would've liked to know more about the deals themselves, and would've liked a more comprehensive historical pov.
July 26, 2026
Umfassend, klug, perspektivenreich; besonders toll fand ich das Kapitel über den Widerstand gegen ein privatisiertes Abwasserunternehmen in Yorkshire und das Kapitel übers Wohnen in Kopenhagen. Aber bleibt gerade am Anfang oft auf so einer Meso-Ebene, die sehr unbefriedigend ist und die mir bei Guardian Long Reads schon öfter aufgefallen ist. Details mehr zum Ausschmücken als zum Erzählen vielleicht? Und das war bei den erwähnten Kapiteln anders. Aber liest sich flüssig, ist kurz, man ist danach deutlich klüger als vorher, zitiert Gabor, was will man mehr? (Antwort s.o.)
May 11, 2026
3.5⭐️
July 12, 2026
Everyone should read this book-I learnt a lot about private equity and much of it was very disturbing. Enlightening and horrifying.
June 26, 2026
PE is out of fucking control and we live in an oligarchy
August 16, 2026
The book is about stories that take place mainly in the UK and the US, with one story set in Africa. The stories are all built around essentially the same theme: a public service is taken over by private equity, prices increase, and the service deteriorates, at the expense of the public.
Unfortunately, the book executes this argument very poorly. It is an inch deep and a mile wide. It jumps from one case to another without ever really explaining the problem in depth. By the end, you have heard about many scandals but learned surprisingly little about the underlying issues.
Another major problem is the cherry-picking. The author consistently selects particularly egregious examples and presents them as evidence for a much broader argument. There is very little attempt to examine counterexamples, distinguish between different types of private equity ownership, or consider whether the same problems occur under public or traditional private ownership. The result feels less like an investigation and more like a case being built against a predetermined target.
The biggest flaw, however, is the author's lack of objectivity. It is painfully obvious that the book is written with the intention of portraying private equity as the villain. There is nothing inherently wrong with criticizing private equity, but if that is the argument, the author should at least make a serious effort to present the other side and let the evidence speak for itself. Instead, the book often feels activist in its approach.
This is particularly disappointing because the author is a journalist. You would at least expect the writing to be engaging and compelling. It isn't. The book is boring. Reading it often felt like a chore rather than an interesting investigation.
The chapter about sewage is probably the best example. It spends around 25 pages essentially repeating that companies are releasing sewage into the water, that local residents are unhappy about it, and that they are fighting the companies. This could have been explained in a couple of pages. Instead, the same basic point is repeated over and over without providing much additional information or meaningful analysis. And yes, the book really does spend a significant amount of time talking about sewage.
Overall, I found the book shallow, repetitive, one-sided, and poorly written. It raises some potentially interesting questions about private equity and the privatization of public services, but does very little to explore them in any depth.
There are much better books on private equity that I would recommend reading instead.
Unfortunately, the book executes this argument very poorly. It is an inch deep and a mile wide. It jumps from one case to another without ever really explaining the problem in depth. By the end, you have heard about many scandals but learned surprisingly little about the underlying issues.
Another major problem is the cherry-picking. The author consistently selects particularly egregious examples and presents them as evidence for a much broader argument. There is very little attempt to examine counterexamples, distinguish between different types of private equity ownership, or consider whether the same problems occur under public or traditional private ownership. The result feels less like an investigation and more like a case being built against a predetermined target.
The biggest flaw, however, is the author's lack of objectivity. It is painfully obvious that the book is written with the intention of portraying private equity as the villain. There is nothing inherently wrong with criticizing private equity, but if that is the argument, the author should at least make a serious effort to present the other side and let the evidence speak for itself. Instead, the book often feels activist in its approach.
This is particularly disappointing because the author is a journalist. You would at least expect the writing to be engaging and compelling. It isn't. The book is boring. Reading it often felt like a chore rather than an interesting investigation.
The chapter about sewage is probably the best example. It spends around 25 pages essentially repeating that companies are releasing sewage into the water, that local residents are unhappy about it, and that they are fighting the companies. This could have been explained in a couple of pages. Instead, the same basic point is repeated over and over without providing much additional information or meaningful analysis. And yes, the book really does spend a significant amount of time talking about sewage.
Overall, I found the book shallow, repetitive, one-sided, and poorly written. It raises some potentially interesting questions about private equity and the privatization of public services, but does very little to explore them in any depth.
There are much better books on private equity that I would recommend reading instead.
July 26, 2026
I'm a glutton for insightful books about industries, and have been longing for someone to do a good treatment of Private Equity for years. As such, this was a welcome find and a well-executed answer to my craving. The author does an excellent job explaining how private equity deals work, including leverage and fee structures, and - perhaps more importantly - the carried interest loophole and excruciatingly ill-advised idea that is allowing retail investors in PE funds. I fear her book will not change the status quo or help us avert the inevitable consequences, but I applaud her for spelling it out with such articulation and fairness.
It is, perhaps, a bit biased against private equity, but in a way that feels come-to-honesty, and not nearly so much as other attempts, like BAD COMPANY.
It is, perhaps, a bit biased against private equity, but in a way that feels come-to-honesty, and not nearly so much as other attempts, like BAD COMPANY.
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.
July 24, 2026
I bloody loved it! She’s a queen! So well written, well narrativised and well exposed. Yes the extent of the political bias renders almost every person she interviews a 2 dimensional goodie or baddie but who cares - she’s a slay and I look forward to what she writes next
August 9, 2026
Reads like a thriller, but it’s our real world. There are many better, more in-depth books on the subject, but this one managed to be a page turner and explain in simple terms, the complex beast that Private Equity is. Prepare to get angry during and after reading.
August 18, 2026
I really enjoyed this book - got to the end and wanted to start again. It's one I expect I'll read again in the future, and has a really interesting framework for viewing Private Equity within larger global forces at play.
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 28, 2026
3.5 stars. Solidly researched and relativrlt neutral but feels substantively thin at times
July 18, 2026
Very well written history with excellent easy to follow illustrative stories. This is the continuation of the greed is good 90s that is hollowing out our country.
August 5, 2026
An excellent read about how private equity short circuits free market capitalism.
August 9, 2026
"The notion, prized since the Cold War, that deregulated markets inevitably promoted democracy, wasn't going to survive much longer."
pg. 227
pg. 227
August 18, 2026
This was another audiobook listen over a couple of weekends mowing the grass. I know I've got the liberal/woke mind virus, but it continues to astonish me that private equity is allowed to exist in its current form.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews