Mitt Romney’s candidacy has pushed the private equity industry to the fore of the political campaign. Romney isn’t basing his candidacy on his technocratic tenure as the governor of Massachusetts. No, he’s fleeing from it the way Captain Schettino fled the stricken Cost Concordia. Rather, Romney is banking on his tenure at the private equity firm Bain Capital — experience that his given him the knowledge to fix the ailing U.S. economy. What the country really needs right now, he argues, is a p.e. guy in the White House.
Detractors and supporters of both Romney and the private equity industry have tossed out a range of arguments, rhetoric and data to support their contentions. And if Romney becomes the nominee, as seems likely, it’s also likely that private equity terms of art such as “carried interest,” “dividend recapitalizations,” and “Further Lane” will fall into common usage. As the debate heats up, here are a few things worth keeping in mind.
Private Equity Pros are People. Private equity executives are not soulless, rapacious monsters who have no concept of how most Americans live. Well, not all of them. In twenty years working in New York, I’ve gotten to know a bunch of
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