Elizabeth Warren's latest Wall Street enemy: private equity Vox

"Warren also unveiled new legislation — the Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2019 — which takes aim at a very specific corner of the financial industry: private equity, firms and investment funds that make money by buying and selling companies. The bill would overhaul the way private equity is governed and require the industry to change some of its most lucrative business practices. It would also offer more protections for workers when their private equity-owned employers go south."

" The companies they (private equity firms) buy can also fail or go bankrupt — including, Warren and many others allege, because of private equity practices that strip the companies of their value.

"The retail graveyard is filled with private equity buys, including Toys R Us, Sears, KB Toys, and Payless Shoes. Private equity firms have enacted mass layoffs at local newspapers and shuttered some altogether. Casinos, grocery stores, and many other businesses have failed in the hands of private equity firms."

"The firms can use all sorts of tricks to get rich even if the companies they buy fail. Once they buy a company, they transfer the responsibility for repaying the debt they took on to the company that they just bought. Because they control the company, they can transfer money to themselves by charging high “management” and “consulting” fees, issuing generous dividends, and selling off assets like real estate for short-term gain. And they slash costs, fire workers, and gut long-term investments to free up more money to pay themselves.The bill moves certain parties — namely, workers and consumers — up the totem pole in bankruptcy proceedings. It prioritizes worker pay in bankruptcy proceedings and clarifies that gift cards count as consumer deposits, moving them up in line for payouts as well."