Exploring how private equity firms target specific markets, employ roll-up strategies, and enforce antitrust laws to gain power and profits, potentially raising prices and compromising quality. The discussion emphasizes the challenges of regulating their tactics and enforcing accountability, despite their significant influence on portfolio companies and consumer welfare.
Private equity is a simple concept — a PE firm uses some combination of money and debt to buy a company, then makes a profit — but the reality of what happens to the companies that get acquired is anything but. It's everywhere, and it's not going away. In this summer remix, we're talking with Brendan Ballou, author of Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America, about how we got here and what happens next.
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Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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