As the author of Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, Steve Coll examines the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States and reveals the true extent of its power. Prior to writing this book, Coll was a reporter, foreign correspondent and senior editor at the Washington Post. He continues to be a staff writer at The New Yorker, the author of seven books of nonfiction, and a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Over the years, Coll has won the Gerald R. Loeb Award for his business coverage, the Livingston Award for his work from India and Pakistan, and the Robert F. Kennedy Award for his coverage of the civil war in Sierra Leone.