Having survived his rise to Chairman of Everest Capital, the world's largest private equity firm, and the ferocious attempts on his life that ensued, Christian Gillette finally seems safely perched atop the financial industry.

He's just accepted Everest's largest private investment, he's poised to takeover his ex-rival's sinking firm, and he's just embarked on his firm's most exciting venture to date, buying the NFL's newest team -- the Las Vegas Twenty-Ones. Plus, one of his young employees -- an ambitious deal maker named David Wright -- has caught his eye. Wright reminds Gillette of himself just a few years back, and he's drawn to the thought of teaching the wunderkind everything the ups and downs of the industry. But everything comes to a screeching halt when a shadowy man calls him to a meeting, requesting a favor and offering in return new information about Gillette's father and his still mysterious death.

Christian Gillette can't stand to be controlled, but he also can't afford to lose a chance at finally learning something substantive about his father's death. And as he becames more entangled with the strange deal, and the frantic pace of business continues without his full attention, he feels his grip on Everest weakening -- and soon realizes his life is once more in desperate jeopardy. When all signs begin to point to David Wright, Gillette realizes that his toughest decision as Chairman lies directly ahead...

From the Hardcover edition.

Christian Gillette strode purposefully down the long main corridor of Everest Capital, the Manhattan-based investment firm he ran.

"Christian."

Gillette ignored the voice calling him from behind.

"Christian!"

Louder this time, but Gillette still didn't stop. He glanced over at his assistant, Debbie, pen and pad in hand. She was struggling to keep up.

"Mr. Chairman!" Faraday huffed, finally catching up with Gillette, and grabbing him by the back of the arm. Faraday was second in command at Everest. A talented money raiser from Great Britain who had an Outlook full of high-level connections in the Wall Street world. His accent was heavy, though he'd been in the States for fifteen years. "Wait a minute."

"Morning, Nigel," Gillette said politely.

"A fucking magnificent pleasure to see you, too," Faraday muttered, breathing hard. He inhaled ice cream constantly--to fight stress, he claimed--but he'd been thirty pounds overweight since graduating from Eton. Long before he'd ever dealt with the pressures of a private equity investment firm. "I sent you three e-mails this morning," he grumbled. "You haven't replied to any of them."

"No time."

"One of them was extremely important."

"I'll get to it when I can."

Faraday scowled. "I'm the number two person here, Christian. I need access to you."

Gillette jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I've got three conference rooms waiting for me. A guy representing the Wallace Family in One, one of our accounting firms in Two, and--"

"The Chicago Wallaces?"

"Yeah."

"Jesus, they're worth like twenty double-large."

Following Gillette's lead, people at Everest sometimes referred to a million as "large" and a billion as "double-large."

"More than that."

"But they keep to themselves," Faraday continued. "They don't talk to other investors. I've been trying to get to them for years, to have them invest with us. But nothing, not even a return phone call. They're very secretive."

"I know."

Faraday hesitated, waiting for an explanation that didn't come. "Well, what do they want?"

"To hire you."

"Really?" Faraday leaned back, putting a chubby, pale hand on his chest.

"No, not really," Gillette answered, grinning.

Faraday sighed. "Well, what do they want?"

"I'll tell you this afternoon at three, when we're scheduled to meet."

"But I have to talk to you now."

"All right," Gillette said, giving in. "Talk."

"Hey, it's fucking good news. I thought you'd want to hear right away."

Good news was always a welcome interruption. "What you got?"

"Two more commitments to the new fund," Faraday explained. "I got an e-mail late last night from the California Teachers Pension. They're in for six hundred large. And North America Guaranty agreed to invest one double-large five minutes ago." Faraday broke into a proud smile. "We're done, Christian. Everest Eight now has fifteen billion dollars of commitments. I'm happy to report to you that we've raised the largest private equity fund in history."

Incredible, Gillette thought. And fifteen billion of equity could be leveraged with at least sixty billion of debt from the banks and insurance companies that were constantly begging to partner with them. Which meant he had seventy-five billion dollars of fresh money to buy more companies with. To add to the thirty Everest already owned.

"What do you think?" Faraday asked. "Great, right?"

"It took a...

 

STEPHEN FREY is a principal at a nothern Virginia private equity firm. He previously worked in mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan and as a vice president of corporate finance at an international bank in Midtown Manhattan. Frey is also the bestselling author of Shadow Account, Silent Partner, The Day Trader, Trust Fund, The Insider, The Legacy, The Inner Sanctum, The Vulture Fund, and The Takeover.


From the Hardcover edition.

 

The Protégé by Stephen Frey
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