John Brooks is a financial journalist and staff writer for The New Yorker who reconstructs major corporate events. He investigates the human decisions, institutional pressures, and unexpected circumstances that shape business outcomes. His approach focuses on character-driven stories rather than dense economic jargon, bringing a literary style to financial reporting.

Clarence Saunders is a self-made inventor from Tennessee who revolutionizes the grocery business by introducing the self-service supermarket. When Wall Street speculators attack his company's stock, he orchestrates a massive buying campaign to corner the market. He treats the financial battle as a personal moral crusade against slick city manipulators, borrowing heavily to fund his defense.

Ralph J. Cordiner is the top executive at General Electric and a vocal champion of free-market principles. He strongly advocates for the company's official anti-collusion policy, requiring executives to sign Directive 20.5. However, a massive price-fixing conspiracy flourishes under his leadership, raising questions about internal corporate communication and executive accountability.

David E. Lilienthal is the former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Atomic Energy Commission. After resigning from government service, he transitions into the private sector, eventually co-founding the Development & Resources Corporation. He successfully applies his public administration skills to international private enterprise, challenging assumptions that government experience is incompatible with business leadership.

Richard Krafve is the Ford Motor Company executive tasked with leading the development of a new medium-priced automobile, the Edsel. He oversees a quarter-billion-dollar budget and relies heavily on extensive market research to plan the launch. Despite his methodical management, he faces shifting consumer tastes, manufacturing defects, and corporate interference.

Joseph C. Wilson is the executive who leads his small photographic paper company through an immense financial gamble to commercialize xerography. He borrows heavily to fund research and development, eventually transforming the business into the Xerox Corporation. As the company rapidly expands, he attempts to maintain its informal culture and commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Donald W. Wohlgemuth is an engineer whose specialized knowledge of spacesuit manufacturing makes him highly valuable. When he accepts a higher-paying position with International Latex, he triggers a major legal dispute over trade secrets. His cynical remark that loyalty has a price hardens his former employer's resolve to sue him.

William S. Ginn is a vice president at General Electric who becomes entangled in a massive price-fixing scandal. He ignores the company's official anti-collusion policies, choosing instead to follow the implicit, unwritten instructions of his superiors. He claims he needs "air cover" from higher-ups to justify his actions.

Alfred Hayes is a central banker who orchestrates a historic international rescue to defend the British pound sterling in 1964. Under severe time pressure, he coordinates with global financial institutions to assemble a multi-billion-dollar credit package. He balances immense professional responsibilities as speculative attacks threaten global markets.

G. Keith Funston is the President of the New York Stock Exchange during the Allied Crude Vegetable Oil fraud crisis. To prevent a widespread market panic following the assassination of President Kennedy, he proposes a nearly unprecedented bailout using the Exchange's treasury. He negotiates frantically over a tense weekend to make affected customers whole.

Chester F. Carlson is an inventor and former patent department employee who creates electrophotography, later known as xerography. After facing rejection from major corporations, he partners with a research institute and eventually the Haloid Company to commercialize his dry-copying process.

Ernest R. Breech is the company chairman at Ford Motor Company during the development of the Edsel. He exercises the power of corporate hierarchy by discarding extensive, data-driven naming research and unilaterally deciding to name the car Edsel.

David Wallace is Ford's market research director during the 1950s. He aims to scientifically engineer an ideal "personality" for the company's new vehicle, targeting young executives on their way up, though his research fails to prevent the car's commercial disaster.

Wilma Soss is a vocal "professional stockholder" who regularly attends corporate annual meetings to challenge executives. While she provides genuine dissent regarding corporate governance, her confrontational tactics frequently anger local, pro-management crowds.

George M. L. La Branche Jr. is a floor specialist responsible for maintaining an orderly market in AT&T stock. During a massive market downturn, he manages the stock supply at a key psychological price point, helping to spark a buying panic that reverses the crash.

Wayne Galloway is an executive at the B. F. Goodrich Company. He aggressively questions a departing spacesuit engineer about corporate loyalty and the protection of trade secrets, precipitating a major legal battle.

Charles Coombs is the vice-president for foreign operations at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He works tirelessly, even sleeping at the bank, to help assemble a massive credit package to defend the British pound from speculative attacks.

Gustave L. Levy is a Governor of the New York Stock Exchange and a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Relying on his personal connections, he travels to London to persuade British banks to join a complex bailout agreement.