Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America
Title: Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America
Author(s): Brendan Ballou
Year: 2023
Publisher: PublicAffairs (an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
ISBN: 978-1-54170-211-0
Description:
An investigative exposé of the private equity industry, Plunder explains how firms like Blackstone, Carlyle, and KKR buy companies, load them with debt, cut costs and jobs, and extract value—often leaving businesses and communities worse off. Drawing on his experience as a federal prosecutor and special counsel for private equity at the U.S.
Department of Justice, Brendan Ballou traces these tactics across sectors such as housing, healthcare, retail, nursing homes, and utilities, and argues that government policies have enabled the industry’s rise. The book concludes with proposals for regulatory and policy reforms to curb private equity’s excesses and protect workers, consumers, and the broader economy.
