The Chairman by Stephen Frey

After the suspicious death of a powerful financial mogul, Christian Gillette is elected as the new head of Everest Capital, a massive private equity firm. The narrative follows Gillette as he navigates a landscape of corporate betrayal and lethal conspiracies, including an explosion and multiple assassination attempts. He quickly discovers that his colleagues and competitors, such as the vengeful Troy Mason and the rival Paul Strazzi, are entangled in schemes to seize control of the firm's billions. As Gillette manages high-stakes deals like the Dominion Savings & Loan IPO and the Laurel Energy sale, he must utilize a private security team to survive. The plot reveals a complex web of extortion and fraud involving prominent politicians and deceptive business partners. Ultimately, Gillette uncovers that the chaos was orchestrated by Miles Whitman, a desperate investor seeking to manipulate the firm to cover his own financial failures.