Private Equity: Apex Predator

An explanation of private equity, often called "the vampires of Wall Street," and how they are devouring the economy and impacting many parts of your life.
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Sources (titles shortened for character limit)
PE-Associated Lender Helped Precipitate Nursing-Home Implosion
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Blackstone CARD
www.nbcnews.com/health/health...
Sick profit: Investigating PE's takeover of health care
www.cbsnews.com/news/health-c...
Rising danger of PE in healthcare
lowninstitute.org/the-rising-...
Growth & Influence of PE in Health Care
nihcm.org/publications/unders...
Can Nonprofit Disrupt the Pricey Prison Phone Industry?
www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
When PE Acquire Nursing Homes
www.nber.org/digest/202104/ho...
PE Buyouts in Healthcare
www.cepr.net/wp-content/uploa...
The states with biggest PE influence
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...
McKinsey: Private Markets in Slower Era
www.mckinsey.com/industries/p...
PE explained
www.propublica.org/article/wh...
PE Owns Hawaii’s Hotels
www.hawaiibusiness.com/privat...
AIC - PE brands
www.investmentcouncil.org/bui...
Secretive Industry Devouring the U.S. Economy
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc...
Economic contribution of PE 2022
www.investmentcouncil.org/wp-...
PE: Future of Housing Security
urbandemos.nyu.edu/wp-content...
PE in Higher Education
www.nber.org/papers/w24976
PE Tries to Protect Profit Center
prospect.org/power/private-eq...
Blackwater in hands of PE
www.privateequityinternationa...
PE defense firms
responsiblestatecraft.org/202...
PE in Autism Services
cepr.net/report/pocketing-mon...
PE Vampires
www.thenation.com/article/arc...
Vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us
theweek.com/articles/761124/h...
PE home flippers
www.businessinsider.com/big-i...
State of housing 2022
www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/de...
PE in Higher Education
cepr.net/private-equity-in-hi...
What went wrong at Red Lobster
abc7ny.com/post/is-red-lobste...
Red Lobster endless shrimp
www.washingtonpost.com/nation...
The death of Red Lobster
www.businessinsider.com/red-l...
PE Pillage: Grocery Stores
prospect.org/power/private-eq...
PE’s Role in Health Care
www.commonwealthfund.org/publ...
Forecast, PE market size
www.statista.com/statistics/2...
Hospital Adverse Patient Outcomes, PE
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama...
Blackstone CARD
www.nbcnews.com/health/health...
Economic contribution of PE
www.investmentcouncil.org/wp-...
CARD bankruptcy
bankruptcy-proxy-api.dowjones...
Political donations
www.opensecrets.org/industrie...

[@declanmoran]

"The autism services industry, as it is coming to be called, is a hotspot for private equity investment". Given 100 years I couldn't come up with a more nightmarish sentence.

[@cyberninjazero5659]

But after hearing it, I can think of many more the easiest, starting with replacing autism with just "special needs"

[@htpkey]

This is the most evil thing ever. Even if I wanted to write a piece of fiction where the vulnerable are exploited, I wouldn't come up with this.

[@kitchensinkmuses4947]

@@htpkey everything in this video would work as a plot to a distopian horror INDIVIDUALLY, let alone all together

[@jenbadabam8801]

They made ABA even worse...

[@thomaseriksen6885]

There was a severely autistic lady in the ward, she got her own floor and pancakes for every meal

[@dyl9013]

I'm ignoring the grease fire in my kitchen to watch this

[@penelopegreene]

It's the grease fire in our collective kitchen.

[@Bambo699]

The grease fire in private equities' kitchen

[@JamieAlice92]

A true fan wouldn’t have even noticed the fire

[@penelopegreene]

@@JamieAlice92 😵‍💫

[@penelopegreene]

@@Bambo699 Don't worry, they'll make a mint out of it... 🤮

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

JORDAN BELFORT: I am the wolf of Wall Street PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS: We are the vampires

[@catriona_drummond]

In Germany we call them Locusts.

[@user-xv5gu7il1r]

oy vey, don't be so antisemitic!

[@1989eol]

Team Edward or Team Jacob?

[@danwatkins9526]

Nice timing. Just this week, my employer announced that PE is moving in on our company.

[@shesh2265]

1/3 chance you get fired

[@tomlewis4205]

Jump before you get pushed, if you can.

[@tribes2archivist]

Agree with the "start jumping" guy

[@camelopardalis84]

@@tribes2archivist Maxbe it's better he doesn't risk his unemployment benefits by quitting. If that is even something that could happen.

[@GabrielPettier]

I wonder how a company could protect itself against that, it might be too late if they are already moving in, but i guess a company could have in all its contracts, something to the tune of "it cannot be bought with its own money", i.e, it cannot be responsible for debt taken in order to buy itself. Of course, that would require management to want hard enough that not to happen. Ideally it would be possible to make them back off by ensuring the company *immediately* fails (e.g from general strike) if such a move happens, but I'm french, and I'm not optimistic about the success of such social movements, especially in the US. Aside that, the best time to look for a job, is when you already have one, as negotiation is always easier when you have the time to look for other options.

[@bmangrem]

blackstone sounds like the name of a corrupt company in a silly 90's movie. can't believe they actually named their company that

[@thesahel7218]

I'm gonna guess that the executives on both sides of private equity are walking away with millions, meanwhile the workers are left unemployed and screwed. It's literally a money glitch but only for the rich.

[@Tofu_va_Bien]

@@stipebalenovic6497 Idk if souls exist but you definitely don't have one.

[@philipglasgow3307]

@@stipebalenovic6497 Jesus, it sounds like you are shit at running a business.

[@darkchild130]

@@stipebalenovic6497a lot of people act horrified upon discovering these schemes, when in reality they are just horrified they can't do it themselves.

[@user-xv5gu7il1r]

@@stipebalenovic6497 hey, then learn program yourself and do all the jobs you don't want to pay, see how easy it is. you are belittling professionals so i assume you are a supergenius that can do it all

[@Tofu_va_Bien]

@@stipebalenovic6497 Join a union then instead exploiting others for own personal gain.

[@PorcoWest]

This was an amazing piece as ever but I must say this to me is the most bleak episode you have ever produced the world is slowly being murdered and most people dont seem to care. Keep up the great work as ever.

[@IllusionSector]

My introduction to the subject matter was a 1999 Adam Curtis BBC documentary called *The Mayfair Set.* I'm beginning to think that the subject matter may also have inspired a Deep Purple song called *Fingers to the Bone.*

[@radiofreeacab]

Communism started to look pretty good at some point, huh? 😮❤🎉

[@IllusionSector]

@@radiofreeacab Inequality tends to reassert itself one way or another - regardless of the system.

[@radiofreeacab]

@@IllusionSector regardless, there's something to be said for the fact that Cuba is fully self-sufficient in terms of basic needs, enjoys universal healthcare and exports more doctors than any country on the planet despite being embargoed by the Empire ┐⁠(⁠ ⁠∵⁠ ⁠)⁠┌

[@IllusionSector]

@@radiofreeacab It's not that cut and dry but that topic probably deserves better than a keyboard exchange in the KZbin comment section.

[@PXAbstraction]

Private Equity: Among the most awful word pairings in the English language. You hear it, you automatically know evil is involved.

[@ATMOSK1234]

They used to be much worse in the 80s when we called them corporate raiders.

[@Fx_-]

@@ATMOSK1234there are worse now. They were just uncovered and not hiding as much as they do now.

[@VulpesHilarianus]

@@ATMOSK1234 Corporate raiders were a similar evil, but not the same. Their intent was to take successful giants and parasitize them. Private equity isn't a parasite, it's a carrion scavenger. Strip the weak and dying of nutrients and leave the bones, providing nothing to the surroundings once the thing dies.

[@Ken-no5ip]

lol cry about it.

[@PXAbstraction]

@@Ken-no5ip Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[@robloggia]

Personally I'd use the term parasite because at least predators are part of the food chain.

[@nescius2]

parasite are part of the food chain

[@milliman4]

Fire line

[@nescius2]

the system is all parasites where poor work for the rich, but this one actually kills its _victims_ quite quickly in biology parasites usually tend not to kill their victims and are usually a bit smaller than their victims.

[@shoggosh]

Parasites are actually a very important part of the food chain. Parasite biodiversity is enormous and is a big driver of evolutionary adaptation in their hosts. Parasite is wayyyy to big a compliment for these people.

[@shoggosh]

*too

[@jmaster2855]

I just wanted to say, as someone whose been a fan since the day where you mostly focused on film/tv criticism and analysis, I've been loving seeing your coverage of real-world issues. I feel like- more than most media critics who throw their hat in the ring of serious video essays- your presentation, writing and cynical sense of humor fit in perfectly with this subject matter. Always happy to see one of these from you.

[@regularbeaneater]

Given that corporations are people, doesn't that make this kidnapping, slavery, torture, and murder?

[@picahudsoniaunflocked5426]

Extortion...

[@hermask815]

Sooo? A conviction for those crimes would warrant a death sentence, since full reparation is not a concept in our current society. From top down until what level?

[@stevenhines5550]

Corporations are not people. They have the rights of people but none of the responsibilities and definitely none of the legal exposure.

[@Supermasterchief]

Yeah I'm your 100 like 😢

[@freshbornmute2752]

You and what law?

[@MechMK1]

If things seem bleak, I want you to remember that there are more of us than there are of them.

[@nineteenfortyeight6762]

The Hamptons is not a defensible position

[@LINDA-de-J0NG]

Do you realise how many people among the us love the them? Have you not seen the effect of other people's money on most people?

[@camelopardalis84]

@@LINDA-de-J0NG These people tend to be inactive, though. The good enough people could remove the not good enough people from power and those who could be made to at least act good enough could be made to do so by the actually good enough people.

[@bensmith8682]

And you aren’t going to do shit about it

[@Nek-my8jq]

Germany realized this in the 1930s

[@geoffhoutman1557]

These PE folks stoke the right vs left narrative when it’s what it’s always been- rich vs poor. Great video Georg.

[@waterbloom1213]

Kinda. The underlying principle is a "use debt enabled by the banking system which is allied with the State" thing. As it so happens, the thing that enables this are people against free markets when it comes to monetary and banking systems, both from the right and left, because they love the leverage of debt. This is an outcome of politics and regulation in these specific areas.

[@MrBobthened]

The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle.

[@gabrielmarciu69]

​@@waterbloom1213corporate welfare and what you mentioned are indeed a problem that led to this but having an actual free market would enable way worse things to happen and way faster. This is not about economical/political ideology anyway, it's about what enables the people on top to keep being on top or rise even more.

[@waterbloom1213]

@@gabrielmarciu69 I disagree. This is very much an ideological issue because deciding whether your banking system should be supervised by the state or be free and the degrees of extent to which either is allowed is at its core a question of how much someone believes authority and power should be granted to States, politicans and bureaucrats. Take abortion for example. I personally believe it is the murder of an innocent but under certain instances it can be justified. Meanwhile, there are those that believe that there is no problem regardless of circumstances and those that believe that it is never justified. But on top of this dimension there is another which is whether you believe that the State should actively fight for your particular position against the others or not. You end up in a scenario in which for example one Christian conservative believes that there should be a criminal law as punishment and another that believes that no matter their own view it should not be persecuted, distasteful as they may find it. As for the claim of free markets making the monetary or banking system worse, I am not a free market proponent due to economic things like asymmetry of information and other types of negative or potentially negative externalities. That said not all industries or markets are the same, and in the case of finance Central Banks and the Interbanking system are built to punish savings and benefit reckless spending financied via credit rather than via robust fundamentals. So to me the idea that letting individuals have more control over the money they use or how they can use as something bad seems to me extremely misguided. If there is a class of people that are lately able to stay on top, which in itself is arguable if you take statistics like GINI or the fact that most modern billionaires come from a middle class background, the culprit most likely are the artificial privileges and legal rules that allow them to, not a voluntary free market where individuals are not forced to play by an arbitrary set of rules they don't have control over.

[@seemoretoys5944]

I'd buy you two beers, but I'd borrow the money to do it, and then rent you the beer since you only rent beer anyway.

[@ClayScarlett]

I like the way you edit your videos - it's simple, but suits the tone and message. Kudos for your efforts, great video as always 👏🏻

[@nobody8717]

in 2023, private equity firms purchased 46% of all single-family housing available on the market in the US. around 20% of these purchases were direct transactions, without loans.

[@JimTheCurator]

Do you have a source for this? I don't doubt you, I just want a source that verifies it, and search engines suck so I don't know if I can even google one.

[@coltonc7832]

@@JimTheCurator He's almost right, it's actually 44% of flipped single family homes: "A previous version of this report incorrectly reported the nature of private equity firms’ involvement in the purchases of single-family houses. They were purchasers of 44% of flipped homes, according to the Business Insider study." Just look it up, this took me 30 seconds to find with startpage as the first result from the Washington Times.

[@BronnyJames2025MVP]

They literally have trillions of dollars. How? They have never paid taxes before. If the wealthy paid their 37% tax rate we’d have an extra 3 trillion dollars per year to help us pleebs

[@robertrada4783]

There’s nothing I despise more than private equity. You’ve touched on the tip of the iceberg. Thank you.

[@stringfellowbalk2654]

Realize there are multiple swamps. Not just D.C..

[@cmajaa1]

And they enable each other.

[@boslyporshy6553]

Drain Swamp. It fills back up. Now what?

[@ScowlieMeerkat]

Thorough and depressing. Great work.

[@TomisaLami]

No one not one single person ever in the past present or future will need a billionaire none but every single billionaire that’s ever existed needs us. These are just people and there are things we can do to them

[@LINDA-de-J0NG]

No. No there aren't. Really. There are not.

[@djamilggmail]

They have blackwater and politicians in their pockets, what do you have?

[@camelopardalis84]

@@LINDA-de-J0NG Biden and Netanyahu will meet on July 24th, I think. There will be a lot of security for a reason. Security that isn't perfect. Of course things could be done.

[@coltonc7832]

@@LINDA-de-J0NG There are things we can do... in minecraft!

[@jasondaveries9716]

Smaller capitalists are a curse too. I work in a restaurant. I see the owner once in a while coming in to pick up raw steak and chicken to feed to his dog. Other than that he does fuck all. We do the work, he collects the profits. No less parasitic than private equity if you ask me.

[@willwalshe]

Long time listener, first time caller. Have followed you for years, and have loved your ongoing deep dive from pop culture into these real world issues, it's fantastic and forensic work. But dear god, this one was like a slow motion gut punch. "The autism services industry....is a hotspot for private equity investment." Dear lord, we really are doomed as a species aren't we..

[@Armisaeru]

A remixed version of Koyaanisqatsi was the perfect choice for this video. As usual, a lucid and compelling summary. Thanks Georg

[@DefamedRice]

I always believed "real" capitalism was essentially over a few decades ago when big tech appeared, and we basically entered corporate feudalism, but yeah, this is worse. Noblesse oblige doesn't exist here.

[@phaedrussmith1949]

But it appears to. Haven't you seen those huge (in physical size, I mean) checks for one or two thousand dollars displayed prominently on the wall in your local Sam's Club, made out to some local non profit?

[@DefamedRice]

That's a good point, I generally just treat charitable instances as more existing for tax purposes, but they can easily be construed as "investing in the community" while avoiding paying taxes that would "invest in the community" probably more consistently. Grants and endowments I do view a bit differently, since I worked in the performing arts for many years and as much as I dislike Chevron, they partly allowed for my organization to exist, but they still have that cynical edge to them. I think fairly paying a corporate tax rate of 50% (an eisenhower era rate), would be more beneficial in the long term, after all raising the quality of people raises the quality of the economy, and more they can buy, but we know these people don't care about the economy.

[@MrBobthened]

This is real capitalism. What we’re seeing today is just the inevitable result of the capitalist mode of production.

[@MoneyshotLincoln]

Apex predator sure, but more like antibiotic resistant tuberculosis than tigers or orcas.

[@simon_jakobsson]

Great (and disturbing) video. Thanks for making these.

[@ConfusedApe]

How is anything Georg ever talks about legal?

[@LINDA-de-J0NG]

Because what and who he talks about is of zero threat to them.

[@alun7006]

Because the people doing this shit are the same ones who write the rules.

[@runningcommentary2125]

America.

[@willfully_jess]

As a 4 year employee of the Autism INDUSTRY, this is a hundred percent true. Since this past year, my company has increased hours for our clients. These children are in the center M-F , sometimes from 8 am to 5 pm, and our company is now adding Saturday sessions. As a 4 day work week advocate, I will never volunteer for working on a Saturday as I believe that it shouldn't be normalized. This new policy is strictly profit focused. 22:22

[@XenonJohnD]

Good job you don't work in a hospital. People get sick at the weekends and even after 5pm too.

[@brandonburns5365]

​@@XenonJohnDyour comment is irrelevant

[@TheReal_FishFins]

This late stage global capitalism needs to go. The fact you can take out a loan and have the thing you buy pay it is insane. Serious bullies and comic book level mind fuckery of how that's even allowed.

[@kingcosworth2643]

When capitalism and government control occur, it's never good.

[@benjones1717]

People on the left assume those on the right don't get this. People on the right assume those on the left don't get this. Both sides take the bait and chase the red cape, even though they know the matador is there.

[@mattposky2892]

Bingo.

[@eatmanyzoos]

one side hires people like Lina kahn who are actually doing something about predatory wealthy scum. the other side hires uneducated unqualified saboteurs so idk. not the same bro. I'm sure the right gets it. but doesn't really care. what do they actually care about besides destroying any regulatory ability the government has?

[@fuzzy7644]

Sometimes I wish they would stop point at the other side and realise that it's almost always the bullshit artist behide the curtain selling everything they have for themselves.

[@shandaughter]

Wasn't Patrick Batemen in hedge funds? This makes so much more sense now

[@mattgilbert7347]

Mergers and Acquisitions. Yes, he was a looter.

[@no-one-in-particular]

@@mattgilbert7347 In the film their business cards all misspell it as aquisitions

[@shandaughter]

@@mattgilbert7347you mean 'Murders and Executions' ?

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@shandaughter Most of my friends in Murders and Executions just hate it!

[@waterbloom1213]

He was an investment banker I believe. Hedge funds are about trading and investing using financial derivate instrument's to lower risk.

[@jpotter2086]

An "industry" he says. Didn't mention driving up home prices drives up property taxes. A rapacious windfall for local gov'ts, a burden for individual homeowners. If they sell, more for private quity to buy. If they tap into their ephemeral increased equity, the resulting debt will almost certainly be held by Big Finance. Systems of interlocking feedback loops, hoovering up and centralizing wealth.

[@xtiphuny89]

Exactly! Thank you for adding this.

[@MsDragonbal776]

THIS!! And America is incredibly vicious with property taxes. There are areas in suburban towns where property taxes are more than years salary of minimum wage.

[@Mossmyr]

What are you talking about? Yes he said all this. Did you watch the video?

[@Spudcore]

He did say that.

[@methanedirigible]

Jerry Potter _and the video he didn’t bother to actually watch_ 🧙 Favourite book

[@adashofbitter]

I’m adding Bane Capital alongside “Dominion Voting Systems” to ridiculously sinister sounding business names.

[@MrBobthened]

How about Palantir Technologies (literally named after the orb Saruman uses to spy on the Fellowship in Lord of the Rings)?!

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

Sell your buildings and then renting them back, that's pretty much how V&D went bankrupt. Their buildings are still ghosthouses in the middle of the city.

[@GeorgRockallSchmidt]

Looks like they were sold to private equity in 2007, bankrupt in 2015.

[@KapiteinKrentebol]

@@GeorgRockallSchmidt Yes, bought and stripped of assets by Sun Capital and cost 10,000 people their jobs.

[@seanfogarty5559]

Terrific timing. A fund (can't recall the name) bought up my parents mortgage, which has been struggling since my father became sick many years ago and had to limit his repayments. We're not even American, but they're an American company. Evil.

[@Iruparazzo]

goddam I miss Fresh n' Easy. The only place I've ever seen that would sell me a single-person's portion of food without charging me the same price as a 'family pack'

[@Hoots_Maguire]

I've got a boss fight for you: Grace Blakeley vs Blackstone. Grace's book Vulture Capitalism is the most important non-fiction book of our time. Big words for a small book, but it's potent stuff.

[@PlatonsArm]

Wooow, best video yet! Absolutely brilliant. THANK YOU.

[@sistergoodstuff]

my brain kept exploding through this. just.... HOW?!?!?!!

[@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962]

As soon as he mentioned about Toys R Us I thought about Romney and his ventures into vulture capitalism.

[@scottmccaffrey6155]

It seems like private equity really likes industries where people can’t or usually don’t shop around like medical and the autism services they mention, but in the past, those services in turn were not supposed to be all about profit, and there were some expectations those businesses wouldn’t squeeze out every dime they could. Private equity has no such hesitations.

[@KarmaSpaz12]

Toys R Us sued Aussie bricks and mortar stores for using the R Us line despite existing before the company got here. I wonder if this was around the time the brand got brought out and the investors thought it'd be an easy punch down pay day? Ancient history, cold comforts, yadda yadda.

[@Punisher9419]

I don't understand how you can buy a company with a loan that the company is responsible for? That doesn't sound like something the company owner would ever do unless they where brain dead. Maybe I should buy a house and expect the owner of the house to pay for the loan for it.

[@frequentfrenzied]

Buying a home you don't plan on living in and making the person who actually lives there pay the loan on it is exactly what landlords and real estate companies do. Let's say a person is struggling to pay their mortgage every month, so they decide to get rid of their mortgage by selling their home. A private equity firm comes along and buys the home from them. The private equity firm then sells the home to a real estate agency that they also own, and recoups all of the costs of the initial investment when they bought the home. Their real estate agency now rents the home out at twice the monthly rate that the owner was originally paying in a mortgage payment every month. Now the new tenant living in the home must begin taking on debt to pay the higher rent unless they can find some way to increase the amount of money that they are bringing in every month. Eventually their debt burden gets too high and no lenders will be willing to lend them any more money, and they will be forced to declare bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the real estate agency will not do any kind of upkeep or maintenance on the property and it will degrade into a squalid hovel. Once this has fully played out, the real estate agency will sell the property off to whoever will buy it (like a government sponsored HUD project) and pocket whatever profits they've made in the mean time. You say someone would have to be brain-dead to do this, and the fact of the matter is that many people are. Some are also very desperate. Some only plan to stick around for the initial payday when their property is first acquired, and they make sure to vacate the premises before things really get bad. Nobody ever said that the tenant that eventually declares bankruptcy and loses everything needs to be the same person that initially owned the house to begin with.

[@NyanyiC]

Thank you for making things clearer

[@milliman4]

How does this channel not get a million views a video, this is all very important information!?

[@thebobyable]

When he said "here's an ad for some poison" i get one for Botox 😂

[@justiniadonisi9290]

Yo. Im an Atlantan, though I live in “metro Atlanta.” I recently had to move, and was *very* fortunate to find a place owned by a family in the area that owns a lot of property that theyve purchased and improved over decades. Had I not luckily encountered this family, Im not sure what I would have done, because everything else in my area fits the description you provided.

[@shoddyworkmanship4934]

Thanks for sharing all this info. For anyone in a first world country this is essential information, and yet it's shrouded in mystery to most of us despite it's importance to every aspect of our lives. Kind of like the government.

[@noeldivad]

exceptional work georg! things have only gotten worse since 2008. i will never afford my own home.

[@VaughnJogVlog]

You’re doing the lord’s work, sir.

[@ImpalerVladTepes]

I worked for a booming company a while back where the CEO sold it to a PE and ran. At the time I didn't know what PEs were about so I asked a friend of mine who had worked in finance. His response, and I still remember it clearly, was "run".

[@Riple101]

This makes me mad. Mad, I tell you.

[@kitchensinkmuses4947]

All this reminds me of the grapes of wrath, where one of the characters asks to the men who are seizing his home (to paraphrase) "who can I fight to keep my home, who can I kill." and they answer "it's the banks" and he says "who's in charge of them", and they answer "it's the inverstor companies" and he asks....

[@chilldude30]

This was a hard hitter. Thanks Georg

[@mattgilbert7347]

The writer and Lacanian Fabio Vighi argues that the profit motive has become so dangerous it must be regarded as a kind of existential threat, and that financialised capital is engaged in de facto eugenics.

[@SuperDoNotWant]

I don't see how it's legal for a company to incur debt to buy another company, and then transfer that debt over. The original purchasing company should have to keep the debt on their own books.

[@kingcosworth2643]

These investment companies are who is running the country, they own the politicians and thus the lawmakers. There is a reason why all career politicians are worth tens of millions as a bare minimum. Biden is worth about $100mill and his salary for his career averages around $200k. The laws for procurement are written specifically for these investment firms to make money. It's no coincidence the police have essentially been shutdown in major city's and crime is out of control, the middle class are leaving in droves and the real estate is being bought up by these investment firms. It's nothing new, Rockefeller, Carnegie, JP Morgan and others 120years ago rigged the election to make sure Roosevelt became vice president as he was pushing for the anti monopoly laws. Vice President is powerless, what they didn't bank on was the President getting assassinated.

[@benthiele]

That also blew me away. Seems like someone bribed someone to legalize that at some point

[@kitchensinkmuses4947]

this is exactly what happened to Manchester United when Glazer bought them

[@cloudycolacorp]

Driving up rent to the point where everyone is destitute is like speedrunning getting subjected to cannibalism

[@TheMushilau]

Eat the rich? Good lick getting past the PMCs, armed guards and actually getting to their luxurious highly protected private islands. Fuck you and fuck me, we are poor, back to the plantation.

[@thomasbroadbent9518]

Got an ad in this video for a private investment fund. Thank you corporate overlords!

[@DCM68W]

the bailout prediction was very grim and that's how I know you're right

[@adashofbitter]

You’re like John Oliver if you replace the jokes with bitter, deadpan statements of horror and doom… Guess which one makes me laugh and brings joy to my day, though?

[@icemachine79]

Nice, the Pop Group! Perfect choice of song for the opener.

[@juliustodd1025]

Private Equity is the Doomsday Machine.

[@010101110100]

I gotta admit, it’s a heck of a set of exploits. Milton Friedman is surely smiling up at us all from his hole in the 17th level of hell

[@laffy4584]

Thank yall for the work you do. Enjoy the podcast as well. Thank you.

[@Infinilectics]

isn't the American deficit a sort of milking of value from USA by the feds?

[@TheMurphman1989]

Loved the Ad.

[@ryanlund5303]

Keep up the good work big dog ❤

[@catriona_drummond]

In Germany we call them Locusts.

[@The1Green4Man]

I thought you called them Juden?

[@dantrice78]

Hell yeah! Mark Stewart/Pop Group! Best of the best, mate

[@krunkle5136]

Better trade policy is needed. Limit imports with tariffs. Instead of importing people, invest and train your people to create an export economy. Improve infrastructure to encourage local community and third places. Create a culture of loyalty and not selling out. Restrict companies from getting too big, going multinational, and being owned by absentees. All these things, they hate. These people only favor what maximum profit they could get with as little involvement as possible. Accountability isn't in their formula.

[@hanumaniam]

The lava lamp entices me once more

[@Petch85]

Here we go again... The most depressing videos on the internet here to enjoy doing your weekend.😅

[@DJBritt]

Thanks for covering this

[@Hulkpoolza]

Man we are really in a worse gilded age

[@TroubleToby3040]

Allison: I suppose you aren't going to do this as your WHOLE channel, but this is, by far, my favorite thing you do so... 👍👍👍

[@CrookedSkew]

Great way to spend my Friday evening, thanks Georg.

[@omegaman4153]

Checkout the book titled -"Plunder"

[@adamgarrick8335]

Something doesn’t make sense though. How can private equity keep getting huge loans when they always end up bankrupting the companies they purchase? Surely the banks wouldn’t want to give loans to any businesses purchased by private equity because they would expect an eventual default?

[@YFNA1978]

It's not that they don't pay back the loan.

[@adamgarrick8335]

@@YFNA1978 Then who are they in debt to by the time they have to go bankrupt?

[@YFNA1978]

@@adamgarrick8335 It isn't the private equity firm that goes bankrupt..

[@Lilybun]

i thought those initial loans were covered by selling the land and assets of the company. what baffles me is how it's even possible to take a loan to purchase yourself on behalf of some other entity. its comical.

[@GeorgRockallSchmidt]

@lilybun This. From what I can tell, when they go bankrupt one of the biggest debts is for long term rent agreements with the company they sold the land to. If they go bankrupt, that company still keeps the land and can rent it to someone else.

[@razk8756]

Robotnik metal cover intro is fire 🔥 .... Also... Toilet-chef podcast!!!

[@kitano47]

some of the best content on youtube

[@nameblocked]

F I N A L L Y ‼️ Call them for what they are unlike the cuddly descriptions in the media and by politicians.

[@x--.]

I really don't know how we're going to escape this cycle of corruption. Is it impossible?

[@capsjukebox]

PE is more like a car loan service that takes out loans on the value of your car to ‘fix’ it only to pay themselves for repairs they’re not doing and leaving your car on blocks in your yard. On fire.

[@flywheelshyster]

Algorithm comment. Georg on point per usage. Listening on the commute home, thanks

[@NickFierro]

Thank you for your work. I hope eventually the many will open their eyes and drive the money corruption out of this country

[@BUMPER_DUMP]

I am starting to believe Georg is sending us these cautionary recordings from 20 years into the future, safely from a cabin nestled in a sub-tropical Arctic zone.

[@razzle8140]

Whoa, has this been the room the whole time??? This is what it looks like with the lights on? It's amazing how you got it so dark and well lit with the lava lamp and whatever else you used. Why the change? Why the lights on?

[@kingcosworth2643]

3:53 This scene gave me a Syndicate flashback. Good game that game

[@Hoots_Maguire]

I still love the name Cerberus Management - they simply don't give a shit about hiding their evil nature, and proudly take a hell hound as their corporate identity.

[@ArcanePath360]

One thing I've learned about civilisation is that there will always be those who build, and those who tear it down. The world is full of leeches who make life damn hard for those who contribute.

[@southerndandy4910]

And they say crime doesn’t pay.

[@botulin1443]

one lava lamp turned the true detective aesthetic into fallout

[@GoDoYourOwnResearch]

Great topic. I just started a channel and my research into VCs is they doing the same. They openly admit it !

[@do00]

I maintain, finance and marketing are two amongst the most nefarious ailments that plague our society, and neither ever actually contributed anything to human advancement or well-being.

[@TheAstroTaco13]

Decided to eat some lunch whilst watching. Felt sick to my stomach when we reached the segment about Nursing Homes and the Autism Support sector

[@jeffreywenger281]

This dosn't quite make sense to me. Who are the suckers providing all the loans to make this happen who cannot possibly get paid back after the company has been stripped. Why would anyone fund this sort of thing. And if they do get paid back at the expense of equity owners, who are all these boards of directors not doing their fiduciary duty to the firm? I'd like to know more details about how this works.

[@orsonbradford3457]

My impression is that the creditors get paid, it’s just the business is gutted and destroyed in the process.

[@Lilybun]

the company is stripped to pay off the loans it took to purchase itself for the equity firm. the equity firm and the creditors skim off the top and leave the company to sink.

[@antonyjh1234]

Great topic.

[@richteffekt]

Thank you for reassuring us that the system is indeed working and we're well on track. Oh- o- oligarchy!

[@noplace4akitty047]

I’m still waiting for my damn jar of HIPTANG

[@Mrspeedwell]

That's right, rinse and repeat for eternity, and they know it. I'm glad I worked it out around 30yrs ago and played my own game, tried to 'wake people up' but covid showed me that was all waste of time and energy. Enjoy what you can.

[@robertshonbrun8753]

I liked the Soylent Green opening theme playing in the background.