Many Americans were shocked when popular toy retailer Toys R Us shuttered its 800 American stores in 2018 and put roughly 33,000 employees out of work. Although the store had declined in popularity, it had reported annual sales of $11.5 billion in the year prior. So, how could this retailer just disappear overnight?

The answer is private equity firms. These firms are bottom-feeders that invest in struggling companies like Toys R Us and grow cash flow to benefit themselves and their shareholders – only to intentionally bankrupt the company, default on their loans, dismantle and sell the company for scrap, and put employees out of work. At the end, they pocket millions – even billions – of dollars in profit but leave economic destruction in their wake.

That’s why Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced the Stop Wall Street Looting Act – and she needs your help to stop these bottom-feeders from hurting our economy. Please, John, will you tell Congress to stop Wall Street looting?

In theory, there's nothing wrong with investors purchasing a struggling business in the hopes of eventually turning a profit. Why would they invest if they couldn't eventually make money? It becomes a problem when private equity firms purposefully invest in struggling companies only to totally bankrupt them – all to make a quick buck while harming up to hundreds of thousands of employees.

According to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project’s 2019 report, "a staggering 597,000 people working at retail companies owned by private equity firms and hedge funds" lost their jobs in the decade prior. By contrast, the report estimates that private equity-owned retail firms only added around 76,000 jobs in that time – despite the fact that the retail sector as a whole was thriving and added over a million jobs.

The Stop Wall Street Looting Act would require private equity firms to own a share of a company's losses and would put an end to the wholesale extraction of profits. If it passes, investors could be rewarded for innovating and reinvigorating struggling industries – not for killing jobs, manipulating debt, and selling still-profitable brands for scrap.

Please, will you sign our petition now to demand that Congress pass the Stop Wall Street Looting Act?

Thanks for reading,

Paul Constant
Civic Action