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In sector after sector, the extractive PE playbook is the same: Buy up assets, load them with debt, strip them of assets, squeeze workers, customers, and patients, and sell them off after a few years. Learn more about how this destructive business model is hurting people, and how we’re fighting back!

Explore the growing body of evidence, including personal stories, analysis from economists, and academic research that show the depth and depravity of private equity greed.

AllClimate/EnvironmentHealthcareHousingJobs/RetailRacial Injustice/EqualityWealth/income Inequality

Private equity firms have boosted their investments in energy, with over $1 trillion invested in the sector since 2010. The lion’s share of these energy investments have been in conventional forms like oil, gas, and coal – and in many cases, dirty assets that public companies have offloaded.

PE-owned healthcare companies are not only terrible for healthcare workers, they are also dangerous for patients and community health. PE-owned healthcare companies have been linked with the closure of safety net hospitals, extortionary surprise billing, and higher death rates in nursing homes.

Private equity-owned housing companies are some of the worst landlords in the country, driving up rents and fees while skimping on maintenance and being unresponsive to tenant complaints. They also drive up the cost of buying a home by snatching up large numbers of houses with all cash offers, othen pushing out potential first time homebuyers.

PE-owned companies are terrible employers. They squeeze worker pay and benefits, slash jobs, and even drive retail stores into bankruptcy. In fact, more than half (55.4 percent) of retail bankruptcies between 2015 and 2020 were at private equity chains.

Private equity firms contribute to income and wealth inequality and exacerbate the racial wealth gap. Private equity executives are overwhelmingly white and male, even by Wall Street standards. And the workers and communities they exploit are often largely Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.

Private equity firms contribute to income and wealth inequality and exacerbate the racial wealth gap. Private equity executives are overwhelmingly white and male, even by Wall Street standards. And the workers and communities they exploit are often largely Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.

BLOG POST: Private Equity Set to Loot Albertsons Ahead of Proposed Merger With Rival Kroger
Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity owner of Albertsons grocery stores, is quickly moving to extract an unusually large amount of money from the grocer that would leave Albertsons in a much worse position to repay the massive debt load put on by its private equity owners. This move puts many of Albertsons’ workers and their pensions at risk. Read More
BLOG POST: Wall Street’s Secret Pet Profiteering
Americans spent about $115 billion on pets in 2018 (more than we spent on cell phones). And Wall Street private equity firms have been steadily gobbling up all sorts of businesses to capitalize on pet profits. Today, private equity (PE) firms own major pet retailers (PetSmart and Petco), thousands of veterinary clinics, pet insurance companies, and pet product manufacturers.View Link about BLOG POST: Wall Street’s Secret Pet Profiteering
FACT SHEET: J. Crew Succumbs to Bankruptcy after Private Equity Debt, Financial Looting
Although the Coronavirus economic downturn exacerbated the company’s struggles, the private equity-imposed debt loads and financial engineering made J. Crew’s bankruptcy almost inevitable — putting J. Crew’s more than 14,000 workers at risk of losing their jobs.View Link about FACT SHEET: J. Crew Succumbs to Bankruptcy after Private Equity Debt, Financial Looting
REPORT: Public Money For Private Equity: Pandemic Relief Went To Companies Backed By Private Equity Titans
This study estimates that at least $5.3 billion in CARES Act money went to 611 portfolio companies owned or backed by private equity firms that held $908 billion in cash reserves.View Link about REPORT: Public Money For Private Equity: Pandemic Relief Went To Companies Backed By Private Equity Titans
REPORT: Public Money For Private Equity: Pandemic Relief Went To Companies Backed By Private Equity Titans
This study estimates that at least $5.3 billion in CARES Act money went to 611 portfolio companies owned or backed by private equity firms that held $908 billion in cash reserves.View Link about REPORT: Public Money For Private Equity: Pandemic Relief Went To Companies Backed By Private Equity Titans
FACT SHEET: Stop Private Equity from Driving Retailers into Bankruptcy, Destroying Jobs and Livelihoods
Private equity has had a disastrous impact on the retail industry, driving dozens of firms into bankruptcy, shutting down tens of thousands of stores, and costing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide.View Link about FACT SHEET: Stop Private Equity from Driving Retailers into Bankruptcy, Destroying Jobs and Livelihoods