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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMitt Romney, American Parasite
Yes it is old but just read it recently and love the article. Long read so I encourage to go straight to the link, will post 4 paragraphs from first page.
<snip>
His specialty was flipping companiesor what he often calls "creative destruction." It's the age-old theory that the new must constantly attack the old to bring efficiency to the economy, even if some companies are destroyed along the way. In other words, people like Romney are the wolves, culling the herd of the weak and infirm.
His formula was simple: Bain would purchase a firm with little money down, then begin extracting huge management fees and paying Romney and his investors enormous dividends.
The result was that previously profitable companies were now burdened with debt. But much like the Enron boys, Romney's battery of MBAs fancied themselves the smartest guys in the room. It didn't matter if a company manufactured bicycles or contact lenses; they were certain they could run it better than anyone else.
Bain would slash costs, jettison workers, reposition product lines, and merge its new companies with other firms. With luck, they'd be able to dump the firm in a few years for millions more than they'd paid for it.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-18/news/Mitt-Romney-american-parasite/
msongs
(67,420 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)long article.