Executive Suite revolves around the power struggle between Don Walling (Mitchell Ryan), the board chairman of the company, and Howell Rutledge (Stephen Elliott), his chief rival and the company's hard-nosed senior vice president.
Don is supported by his wife Helen (Sharon Acker), prodigal son Brian (Leigh McCloskey), who has recently returned from Europe, and daughter Stacey (Wendy Phillips), who is often involved in radical politics, to her family's dismay.
Other major characters include Hilary Madison (Madlyn Rhue), Cardway's only female board member and vice president of advertising, Mark Desmond (Richard Cox), head of consumer relations, members of the board Pearce Newberry (Byron Morrow), Malcolm Gibson (Percy Rodriguez) and Anderson Galt (William Smithers), Tom Dalessio (Paul Lambert), Brian's boss at the chemical plant, his daughter Glory (Joan Prather), who is having an affair with Andy Galt, Glory's black roommate Summer (Brenda Sykes), who becomes involved in an interracial romance with Brian, Mark's lover and former porn star Yvonne (Trisha Noble) and union rep Harry Ragin (Carl Weintraub).
Recurring characters include Yvonne's husband and porn producer Burt Holland (Lloyd Bochner), Cardway's business rival Sharon Coby (Joanna Barnes), her spy Nick Koslo (Scott Marlowe), who becomes involved with Hilary, Nick's son B.J.
(Moosie Drier), lumber company owner Paul Duquesne (James Luisi), Sy Bookerman (John Randolph), Summer's brother Walter (Nat Jones), who disapproves of her relationship with Brian, Galt's wife Leona (Patricia Smith), who has a lesbian affair with Julie (Geraldine Brooks) that ends in tragedy, and theatre director David Valerio (Ricardo Montalbán), who becomes involved with Helen.