About the Book
A definitive, headline-making exposé of how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has carried out the largest-scale theft of intellectual property, technology, and data in history—reshaping the global balance of power and redrawing the geopolitical map for decades to come
The Great Heist exposes China's unprecedented state-orchestrated espionage campaign to strip the United States and its allies of their economic, technological, and military edge. Through a coordinated “whole-of-society” strategy, the Chinese Communist Party has dramatically expanded its covert operations to acquire America’s most valuable innovations—stealing defense secrets and proprietary technology from companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Google, T-Mobile, and Tesla. By exploiting both human and cyber vulnerabilities, China has quietly looted the crown jewels of Western technology, saving itself trillions in R&D costs since the 1990s—with an ongoing brazenness fueled by decades of Western inaction.
Drawing on exclusive investigations and interviews with intelligence officers, corporate security teams, senior policymakers, and espionage victims, David R. Shedd and Andrew Badger reveal how industrial theft has fueled China’s meteoric rise from Third World backwater to global superpower—and present a bold strategic playbook to turn the tide in the greatest economic contest of our time.
About the Author :
David R. Shedd is the former deputy director and acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He also served as chief of staff for the director of national intelligence and National Security Council senior director and as special assistant to the president for intelligence under George W. Bush. He began his intelligence career in 1982 immediately after his studies at Geneva College and Georgetown University, and served nearly thirty-three years in a wide variety of positions both inside and outside of the CIA during his career.
Andrew Badger is a former DIA case officer and graduate of the CIA’s elite training program, The Farm. He served on the front lines of human intelligence operations, including a 2014 deployment to Afghanistan in support of US military operations. In the private sector, Badger has advised global firms such as McKinsey & Company and Deutsche Bank on geopolitical risk. He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard and a master’s in diplomatic studies from the University of Oxford, where he is a research associate and lectures on state sponsored espionage.
Review :
“In The Great Heist, David Shedd and Andrew Badger show us why every citizen should care deeply about the People's Republic of China's sustained campaign of industrial espionage against America. In this riveting and astounding story of duplicity and complacency, the authors have done their part to defend the United States from a hostile, ruthless rival. Read this book and demand that leaders in government, the private sector, and academia do their part to stop the Chinese Communist Party from stealing our future.” — H.R. McMaster, bestselling author of Dereliction of Duty, Battlegrounds, and At War with Ourselves
“The Great Heist is an alarming exposé of China's relentless campaign to steal America's intellectual property and data. However bad you think the problem is, the truth is far worse. David Shedd and Andrew Badger use their expertise as seasoned former intelligence officers to explain how China's systematic theft of our secrets puts every American at risk. This is a must-read for anyone concerned about our greatest national security threat.” — Senator Tom Cotton, bestselling author of Seven Things You Can't Say About China
“The Great Heist exposes the sweeping infiltration of Chinese espionage across America’s technology and economy. Through gripping, well-documented cases of high-stakes industrial theft, this book lays bare the methods, motives, and scope of a covert campaign targeting the heart of U.S. innovation. Meticulously researched, The Great Heist reveals the true scale of the hidden battle for economic supremacy.” — Michael Pillsbury, author of The Hundred Year Marathon
“This is the most comprehensive and gripping account yet of how the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated, exploited, and hollowed out America’s technological edge. The Great Heist reads like a thriller, but its facts are chillingly real. Every policymaker and CEO should read this book.” — Brigadier General Rob Spalding (USAF, Retired), author of Stealth War: How China Took Over While America’s Elite Slept
“America and China are locked in a technological arms race that may be determined by our ability to protect our own IP. The Great Heist is mandatory reading for anyone looking to understand how stolen American IP helped underwrite China’s economic rise and why we must learn from these mistakes to ensure that American leadership in advanced technologies like AI and quantum doesn’t power China’s techno-totalitarian state.” — Mike Gallagher, Head of Defense at Palantir and former U.S. Representative
“The Great Heist takes us on a tour of Beijing’s successful criminal conspiracy to strip Americans of their most valuable intellectual property — a conspiracy that has yet to be seriously addressed by U.S. universities, companies, and policymakers.” — Matt Pottinger, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor and CEO of Garnaut Global LLC
"A must-read for anyone concerned about national security and American competitiveness. Superbly written. Engagingly enjoyable and deeply sobering in equal measure, The Great Heist is a masterful telling of why, and how, for two decades, the PRC exploited the weaknesses inherent in our open society to perpetrate the most successful campaign of industrial espionage in history, and emerge today as the greatest threat to that very way of life. Read the book, but buckle up. It's a frightening ride." — Neil R. Wiley, former Chair, National Intelligence Council, and former Principal Executive, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
“The Great Heist is a wake-up call that cannot be ignored. Drawing on firsthand intelligence experience and deep strategic insight, the authors deliver a stark account of how the CCP’s decades-long, state-sponsored campaign of industrial espionage has accelerated China’s status as a global power and steadily eroded U.S. economic strength, military advantage, and strategic freedom. Their message is urgent and unmistakable: only through the collective strength of government, industry, academia, and citizens can we build the resilience needed to meet this challenge and secure a stronger, more stable international order.” — Greg Levesque, CEO & Co-Founder at Strider Technologies
