On October 21, 2020, the Department of Justice announced a settlement totaling more than $8 billion with Purdue Pharma—touted as the largest penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical manufacturer—yet the settlement allowed the Sackler family to keep the vast majority of billions extracted from …
U.S. Department of JusticePurdue PharmaSackler FamilyRichard SacklerDavid Sackler+4 moreopioid-crisiscorporate-crimeaccountability-failuredeferred-prosecutionwealth-extraction
Amazon announced on November 13, 2018 that it would split its HQ2 project between Long Island City in Queens, New York and Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia (rebranded as “National Landing”). While Amazon claimed the combined subsidies totaled approximately $2.8 billion, analysis by …
AmazonJeff BezosAndrew CuomoBill de BlasioGood Jobs Firstcorporate-welfareeconomic-extractionbillionaire-impunitywealth-extraction
Amazon paid zero federal income tax for the second consecutive year despite nearly doubling its U.S. profits to $11.2 billion in 2018. Beyond avoiding all federal taxes, Amazon actually received a $129 million tax rebate from the federal government—yielding a negative 1% effective tax rate. This …
AmazonJeff BezosInstitute on Taxation and Economic Policytax-avoidancecorporate-welfarewealth-extractionbillionaire-impunity
The Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers publishes landmark research ‘Labor Market Monopsony: Trends, Consequences, and Policy Responses’ documenting how employer market power (monopsony) and product market concentration (monopoly) systematically suppress American …
Council of Economic AdvisersWorkersDominant firmsmonopsonymonopolywage-suppressionmarket-powerwealth-extraction+1 more
Private equity firms Bain Capital, KKR, and Vornado Realty Trust acquire Toys ‘R’ Us for $6.6 billion in a leveraged buyout, with only 20% ($1.3 billion) from PE firms’ capital while 80% ($5.3 billion) is borrowed debt loaded onto Toys ‘R’ Us itself. This debt burden …
Bain CapitalKKRVornado Realty TrustToys R Usprivate-equityleveraged-buyoutdebt-loadingwealth-extractionretail
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) completes the largest leveraged buyout in history, acquiring RJR Nabisco for $25 billion in equity ($31.1 billion including assumed debt) at $109 per share, establishing the template for private equity wealth extraction that will be replicated thousands of times over …
Under Reagan administration SEC Chairman John Shad, former vice chairman of E.F. Hutton, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopts Rule 10b-18, creating a ‘safe harbor’ from manipulation liability for corporate stock repurchases. Prior to this rule, large-scale share repurchases were …
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)John ShadRonald Reaganseccorporate-powerwealth-extractionstock-buybacksderegulation+1 more
Jack Welch becomes CEO of General Electric at age 45 and delivers his landmark speech ‘Growing fast in a slow-growth economy’ in New York City, marking what is widely acknowledged as the ‘dawn of the shareholder value movement.’ Welch operationalizes Milton Friedman’s …
Jack WelchGeneral Electriccorporate-powerwealth-extractionlaborshareholder-primacymass-layoffs
Economist Milton Friedman publishes his landmark essay ‘A Friedman Doctrine: The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits’ in The New York Times Magazine, establishing the intellectual foundation for shareholder primacy and profit maximization as the sole corporate …
Milton FriedmanChicago School economistscorporate-powereconomic-policywealth-extractionideologyshareholder-primacy