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

When we meet Carrie Sun, she 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’s left her analyst job, dropped out of an MBA program, 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 dives headfirst into the firm’s culture, which values return on time above all else. A luxury-laden world opens up for her, and Carrie learns that money can solve nearly everything.

Playing the game at the highest levels, amid the ultimate winners in our winner-take-all economy, Carrie soon finds her identity swallowed whole by work. With her physical and mental health deteriorating, she begins to rethink what it actually means to waste one’s life. A searing examination of our relationship to work, Carrie’s story illuminates the struggle for balance in a world of extremes: efficiency and excess, status and aspiration, power and fortune. 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.

©2024 Carrie Sun (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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, The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

“[Sun is] a keen observer of [wealth’s] subtleties and signifiers . . . The first chapters of the book engage in a form of concealment and restraint—the sort of writing that seems fitting for someone who succeeds in a job that demands compartmentalization and competence . . . As Sun starts to come apart under the pressure of her job, the writing gets more fragmented, and more experimental . . . There is a beautifully written section, catalyzed by a weeklong vacation to China, in which Sun offers a portrait of her parents during and after the Cultural Revolution, and tries to make sense of the volatile home she was raised in . . . It’s a smart structure, and well-executed: just as Sun’s self-abnegation becomes unsustainable, her writing breaks loose. The maneuver is unusually stylish for a memoir.”—Anna Wiener, The New Yorker

“Sun writes clearly about the demands and privileges of the job, though this isn’t a tell-all about abuses in the industry but rather a more probing inquiry into what we deem success and the values underpinning it.”—Vogue,

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.

This reads more like a novel than a memoir.

This reads more like a novel than a memoir. Whats most enjoyable, is it is presented in a way for the reader to make their own view of the events, and come to their own enlightenment on how they feel about it. Is it really worth it to make large amounts of money at being the whim or cog for a billionaire? Each individual will answer this question differently and theres no right or wrong answer. But i think this book also answers the after: though Carrie has left, she has now written something of beauty. And thus life can, and has continued on.

A rare view into the word of private equities told through a remarkable woman’s career and personal journey

Private Equity is a page-turning account of a young woman’s journey working at one of the world’s most prestigious financial firms. It highlights the complex dynamics of power and money in modern society across gender, race, culture, and value systems.

Sun’s book is a rare view into the private world of alternative assets. It’s a must read for professionals looking to understand career, identity, and the nuance of defining one’s own measure of success.

Ultimately I found it to be a beautiful and empowering story of what it means to find freedom.

Private Equity is not about the markets

Beautifully written and read by the author. A story of finding oneself after giving so much to others. So much of each of us and lessons to ponder. I look forward to reading Carrie’s third book.

Not what I was expecting

I was expecting a look into the world of private equity on an investment level. What I got was just as valuable. A look into the psychology of the upper crust of society.

Cerebral prose

Pivotal, honest, and sublimely written— can’t say enough about it. This book broadened my horizon on so many unexpected levels.