As shorthand for the crazy unfairness of financialized modern capitalism, more accurate than Wall Street or hedge fund is private equity—the state-of-the-art corporate-takeover mode that has brought predatory greed and ruthlessness to new levels, wrecking companies and workers’ lives as a matter of course. Plunder is the right word, as Brendan Ballou lucidly explains in his infuriating, illuminating, essential book. And his practical plan for reining in this monstrous new centerpiece of our system makes total sense.”—Kurt Andersen, author of Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America
“As private equity has risen to seize everything from nursing homes to clothing retailers to private prisons to our retirement savings, Ballou has written a cogent and indispensable book on this strange financial world. Ballou shows how these modern-day robber barons not only target the poor and serve themselves, but also bore into the foundations of our economy and society, weakening it for everyone. He ends with a stirring roadmap for reform.”
—Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica, author of The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives
“Private equity might be the biggest economic story of the century, and yet, so few people understand what it is or how it’s crippling our economy and our democracy. In Plunder, Ballou tells a complicated story clearly and explains how private equity shapes your life and importantly, how it can be stopped. For anyone who wants to understand why our economy has become so broken and so unjust—and for anyone who wants to fix it—Plunder is required reading.”—Zephyr Teachout, professor of law, Fordham Law School, and author of Break 'em Up: Recovering our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money
“Plunder offers a clear and critical analysis of the private-equity industry. Ballou shows how some private-equity firms have ruined retail businesses, made housing more expensive, reduced the quality of health care and nursing homes, and wreaked havoc on families. If you’re interested in understanding the hidden sources of our economic problems—and in fixing them—read this book.”—Ganesh Sitaraman, professor of law, Vanderbilt University, and author of The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution
“Private-equity firms don’t just transform our economy: they co-opt and compromise our government and our democracy. As few other people can, Ballou has shown how private equity has been so phenomenally successful in advancing its agenda at every level of government, and how government has been so tremendously solicitous of private equity. For anyone who wants to understand what’s happening in our economy and our democracy, Plunder is required reading.”
—Russ Feingold, former senator, president of the American Constitution Society, and author of The Constitution in Jeopardy: An Unprecedented Effort to Rewrite Our Fundamental Law and What We Can Do About It
“Despite owning companies with tens of millions of workers and impacting the lives of tens of millions more by buying up hospitals, nursing homes, housing, and other services we depend on, giant private-equity firms still largely operate in the shadows—and prefer it that way. Ballou’s Plunder shines an important light on these finance giants that have reshaped the global economy to their advantage, connecting private-equity firms’ actions directly to the lives of people who are impacted, from workers, to patients, to students, and many more. Ballou reminds us that in nearly all these cases, private-equity firms have not acted alone—instead they have been aided and abetted by, and profit massively from, the willing assistance of government. Perhaps most importantly, Plunder points us toward solutions—the concrete actions we can take to halt the doom loop of private-equity-driven inequality and press for a more just economy.”—Jim Baker, executive director, Private Equity Stakeholder Project
“The mysterious private-equity industry is one of the most destructive forces in American society—and one that too-few people truly understand. Ballou’s Plunder promises to change that. At a time when private equity has never been more powerful, his book shines a floodlight on the corporate raiders ravaging our economy and lays out a comprehensive roadmap for policymakers willing to take them on. For people who want to understand why America suffers from enormous disparities in wealth and power—and what we can do to change it—Plunder is essential reading.”
—Sarah Miller, executive director, American Economic Liberties Project
“Crisp prosecutorial delivery…Ballou also does an admirably clear job detailing how private equity firms use legal wrangling to their advantage.”—The New York Times
“Private equity firms must be reined in, argues federal prosecutor Ballou in his fiery debut . . . . This must-read exposé shocks and unsettles.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A powerful, maddening account of some of the chief drivers of inequality and immiseration in the world's richest economy.” —Kirkus
★ 03/27/2023
Private equity firms must be reined in, argues federal prosecutor Ballou in his fiery debut. He explains that the business model of such firms relies on using borrowed money to purchase companies and then making extreme demands of acquisitions to repay investors and turn a profit, often at the expense of the company’s long-term viability. Detailing the strategies private equity uses to swiftly extract money from businesses, Ballou describes how Sun Capital bought Marsh Supermarkets in 2006, sold the properties the stores stood on, and then pushed the supermarket chain into bankruptcy to avoid having to pay employee pensions. The author highlights the human toll of corporate wrongdoing and tells the story of a woman who had to move out of the home she rented from a private equity firm after her young son was hospitalized for exposure to toxic mold that the company refused to acknowledge or treat. Hair-raising tales of cruel neglect in nursing homes, exploitative hikes in healthcare costs, and underwriting prisons for profit will turn stomachs, and Ballou’s reform agenda is well considered and convincing, including recommendations to cap how much compensation executives can receive after layoffs and to ban the practice of forcing companies to pay dividends by taking on exorbitant debt. This must-read exposé shocks and unsettles. (May)
2023-03-25
An examination of the role of private equity companies in gutting large segments of the American economy.
It’s no small irony that the typeface in which federal antitrust investigator and prosecutor Ballou’s book is set is “owned and licensed by a private equity portfolio company.” So is much of the retail and service sector. In one case, the Carlyle Group bought the ManorCare company for $6 billion, which, by the magic of creative accounting, ManorCare had to pay back. Carlyle then sold much of ManorCare’s real estate and forced it to pay rent. In the end, Ballou writes, the resulting insolvency spoke to three facts: Private equity buys for the short term, piles up debt and fees on its acquisitions, and walks away from the wreckage thanks to elaborate protections assured by Congress, which are ensured by endless lobbying. Citing a litany of failures wrought by equity firms—Sears, Radio Shack, Toys “R” Us, Rockport, Neiman Marcus, and more—Ballou notes that the owners make their fortunes on the backs of workers deprived of pension funds and jobs. In 2021, the CEO of one equity firm made more than 10 times the CEO of JP Morgan Chase. The power of equity firms is only growing, in large measure because many municipalities are turning to them to provide and maintain infrastructure as well as “services once provided primarily by the government, including ambulance companies and firefighting departments, 911 dispatch services, and technical colleges”—all funded by taxpayers and ratepayers with no say in the matter. Ballou concludes with a program keyed to federal agencies and departments—e.g., “investigate rollups,” the practice of procuring small firms such as dental practices and merging them into larger companies; and contain the usurious practices of payday lenders, once controlled but then unleashed by Trump-era deregulation.
A powerful, maddening account of some of the chief drivers of inequality and immiseration in the world's richest economy.
