One competitive advantage of these companies is their political connections. Private equity and investment firms have contributed something like $900 million to federal candidates since 1990. The power that these companies and their private equity owners had in the process was just extraordinary.
If you want to maximize the value of your home for decades, you might update the kitchen. But if your time frame is one week, then you might burn down the house. Brendan Ballou is a federal prosecutor and special counsel at the Department of Justice, where he led the antitrust division’s work on private equity. He's also authored a new book, “Plunder, Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America.” Ricky Mulvey caught up with him to talk about: - The techniques many private equity companies use to generate short-term returns - A key misunderstanding about the fall of in-person retailers - Private equity’s impact on medical billing, bakeries, and insurance Companies discussed: CG, KKR, BX Host: Ricky Mulvey Guest: Brendan Ballou Engineer: Tim Sparks
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