Casey Michel is an author, journalist, and director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program with the Human Rights Foundation. He is the author of AMERICAN KLEPTOCRACY, named by The Economist as one of the "best books to read to understand financial crime"; described by The Atlantic as "brilliantly clear"; and called "masterful" by Financial Times.

He is also the author of FOREIGN AGENTS, which received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and was one of the “biggest foreign-policy book releases of 2024,” according to Foreign Policy.

His new book, THE UNITED STATES OF OLIGARCHY, will track the rise and reign of America's oligarchic class, and the damage done to America's democracy—as well as how America's wealthiest class has allied with dictators around the world.

THE UNITED STATES OF OLIGARCHY will be released in the summer of 2026. All of Michel's books are published by St. Martin's Press.

Michel's writing on offshoring, foreign lobbying, authoritarianism, and illicit wealth has appeared in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Post, among other outlets, and he has appeared on NPR, BBC, CNN, and MSNBC, among other stations. He has also testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the links between illicit financial networks and national security.

He received his Master’s degree in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies from Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Kazakhstan. He currently lives in New York, where he is insanely fortunate to be married to Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief Versha Sharma.