** A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF 2025 ** 'Silverman's sharp and ominous account delves
into the radicalizing worldviews of Silicon Valley billionaires in the lead-up to Donald
Trump's reelection [...] It's an essential unmasking of the growing extremism among America's
wealthy.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY What happens if the world's richest and most powerful men decide
to dismantle democracy? In Gilded Rage New York Times bestselling author Jacob Silverman
takes us inside the surreal high-stakes world of Silicon Valley. This is the story of the
political awakening and radicalization of a cabal of tech billionaires and their descent into
ideological extremism. Flush with cash from the zero-interest era addicted to their own
mythology these men have began reshaping the world in their image -- and it should terrify us
all. At the center is Elon Musk the mogul whose obsession with the "woke mind virus" has
turned him from a tech innovator to an ideological crusader. But Musk is just the beginning.
Silverman maps a sprawling network of radicalized elites - from Peter Thiel and JD Vance to the
financiers bankrolling Donald Trump's return - who are using their platforms and their money to
ensure a political revolution that's already underway. This is not just a book about tech.
It's about power. We meet the billionaires funding life-extension labs and embracing
apocalyptic visions of AI. We examine the populist rhetoric that is leading to the ruthless
dismantling of democratic norms. And we enter the strange darkly comic world of the
tech-oligarchy where libertarian dreams meet authoritarian impulses and where the people with
the most influence over our lives are the least accountable. Silverman travels from San
Francisco to Miami New York to DC following a movement that's rewriting the rules and
oftentimes fighting a war against reality itself. With sharp reporting and a cast of
extraordinary characters Gilded Rage is a gripping essential dispatch from the front lines of
the billionaire revolution. If you want to understand who is trying to control the future and
why then this is the book you need to read.
