Is there a word for when someone uses a relationship to get an advantage / promoted?

I'm thinking of a verb, or maybe a saying, to be used in the following manner: He'd cheated, lied, and (question word) to get to the top.

Preferably, the word or phrase would have something to do with manipulation, because he intentionally created these relationships to exploit them for his personal benefit.

Admittedly, the sentence could be reworded as "He'd cheated, lied, created and then destroyed relationships to get to the top," but that feels a little clunky.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Solution 1:

In this context most English speakers would understand "use" as what you describe.

"Their relationship wasn't true, he used her to get promotions."

"He was just using her"

If the speaker was the "she" in question, she could say, "He used me."

While not strictly literal, it is common to say such a phrase and if I had to define "use" in this context I would describe it as "befriending someone into a relationship (any level of relationship, could be friendship, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse) only for personal gain, not because of true feelings."

So, your description of

he intentionally created these relationships to exploit them for his personal benefit.

would perfectly align with "use." The sentence you provided could be reworded as: "He'd used [them] to get to the top."

Solution 2:

Nepotism

I have to add 30 more characters for this to be considered an answer.......