Los Angeles Times

Commentary: Wall Street predators destroyed Toys ‘R’ Us. Now they’re coming for Simon & Schuster

When new owners drove Toys‘ R’ Us into bankruptcy for a quick profit, they cost 33,000 workers their jobs.

The venerable publishing house Simon & Schuster will soon be owned by one of the nation’s biggest private equity firms, KKR. For a glimpse of their future — and tips on how to fight back — Simon & Schuster authors and employees might want to chat with the former workers of Toys ‘R’ Us. There are 33,000 of them, and their company was driven into bankruptcy five years ago by a clutch of Wall Street firms led by KKR.

That’s a common script. Private equity is

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