Hank Rearden is a genius who has invented a metal alloy that can change the world - but nobody is buying it. Dagny Taggart is an uncompromising railroad executive working hard to keep the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad alive - but she's losing this battle. Francisco d'Anconia is a multi-billionaire playboy splurging his family wealth - incomprehensible, as he is the rare polymath genius.

Meanwhile, the world around them is falling apart. The smartest people in any and every profession are disappearing. The rules and regulations are becoming stifling as the 'looters' have taken over the world.

And, all of this is somehow linked to John Galt. Who is John Galt?