You’ve been playing the game all wrong. You thought competence mattered, that hard work was the key to success, that consequences were a universal concept. Adorable. Meanwhile, the rich and powerful have been failing their way to the top for generations. This book is your crash course in the fine art of screwing up and somehow winning anyway. Because in the right circles, failure isn’t the end—it’s a golden ticket.

Tank a billion-dollar company? That’s a “bold leadership move.” Blow investor money on nonsense? That’s “disruption.” Get caught in a massive political scandal? That’s just “a learning experience.” Ruin lives, wreck economies, dodge accountability? That’s just another Tuesday on Wall Street.

The secret isn’t avoiding disaster—it’s turning it into a branding opportunity. Because when you’re at the top, rules are just suggestions, mistakes are just stepping stones, and the only people who pay for failure are the ones who can’t afford to buy their way out. If you’ve ever watched a CEO run a company into the ground and leave with a $200 million severance package, or seen a politician fumble their way through a scandal only to come back even stronger, and thought, “HOW DO THEY KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS?!”—this is for you. Because in the world of power, weakness isn’t a flaw—it’s a feature. And failure? Failure is platinum.