Private Equity

A Memoir

By: Carrie Sun

Narrated by: Carrie Sun

One of TIME Magazine's Must-Read Books of the Year

"The joys of Sun’s memoir lie in the absurdity of her tasks: coaxing a famous athlete to a company party, sourcing Mitt Romney’s phone number on a deadline, coordinating private-jet departures… It’s [Sun’s] personal revelations that elevate the book above a typical tell-all.” —TIME Magazine
A gripping memoir of one woman’s self-discovery inside a top Wall Street firm, and an urgent indictment of privilege, extreme wealth, and work culture

Carrie Sun can’t shake the feeling that she’s wasting her life. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Carrie excelled in school, graduated early from MIT, and climbed the corporate ladder, all in pursuit of the American dream. But at twenty-nine, she feels unmoored from her career path and is trapped in an unhappy engagement. So when she gets the rare opportunity to work at one of the most prestigious hedge funds in the world, she knows she can’t say no. Fourteen interviews later, she’s in.

Carrie is the sole assistant to the firm’s billionaire founder. She manages his work life, becoming the right hand to an investor who can move mountains and markets with a single phone call. Eager to impress, she soon finds her identity swallowed whole as she plays the game at the highest levels. With her physical and mental health deteriorating, Carrie begins to rethink what it means to be consumed by this world of extremes. A searing examination of our relationship to work, Private Equity is a universal tale of self-invention from a dazzling new voice, daring to ask what we’re willing to sacrifice to get to the top—and what it might take to break free and leave it all behind.

Great story albeit don't agree with the politics

I have spent 15-20 years at a hedge fund and loved all the anecdotes in this story. As such, I do think billionaires, including Chase/Boone, do often serve a valid purpose of efficient capital allocation which improves GDP and innovation, thus contributing substantially to society through their "invisible hand." This aspect of fund management/billionaire-ism was not explored, despite many stanzas questioning if billionaires "can" be good, if they are societally necessary, etc. That said, the author "came to play" and shared ultra-raw and intense chunks of her life both during and before working at the hedge fund. That's incredibly rare in a memoir these days, especially by someone in a semi-"notable" position writing about notable people and institutions. As such, the book really has to earn an A+ despite my lack of political alignment with the author.

Truth = Great Story Telling

Loved, love, loved this book! It was a window into a family dynamic and arduous work experience I have no frame of reference. I abandoned all my podcasts for the past week and couldn’t stop listening to this book. Bonus: the author did the audio book & has a great voice!

Promising Writer

Private equity provides an insider’s view of the people behind the scenes. Basically a portrait of the servants of the masters of the universe. It also gives an interesting insight into a woman’s struggle with imposters syndrome.

Look Into The inside

I liked how she made it interesting so that I would look deeper into the financial world. Also how she discovered why her attitude was the way that it was based on childhood upbringing and expediences.

Her tone was flat which does match how she described herself but may be if other people read for the other characters it would have been better.

Worth reading

This isn't what I expected but it was still a decent book. I didn't love the narration. If you've ever been a salve to your job or measured your self-worth by career success, you will find the story interesting and well-told. If not, skip it.