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Matt Taibbi On HuffPost Live: 'Private Equity Companies Do Not Exist To Turn Around Companies'

WATCH: Taibbi Slams Private Equity
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Economics writer

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Private equity firms just don't care about the success of the companies they take over, according to Matt Taibbi.

"What people have to understand is that private equity companies do not exist to turn around companies. That is not their function," Taibbi, contributing editor for Rolling Stone, told HuffPost Live on Thursday. "Their function is to make a profit for their investors and for the private equity firm, and these things are at cross-purposes."

Taibbi said though private equity firms have spawned some success stories, the industry's fundamental business model promotes layoffs and even company failure. The industry's proponents argue that private equity firms make companies more efficient.

"When you take over these companies, you have all these tools at your disposal that allow you to extract value from the company without the company succeeding," Taibbi said, expanding on his recent Rolling Stone article bashing Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his roots in private equity. "You can force them to take out a bank loan and pay you a dividend. There's all these different things you can do. You can succeed in a private equity deal without turning a company around."

Taibbi said that private equity deals saddle companies with crippling debt and management fees, which buy only "the privilege" of having "Mitt Romney tell you where the costs have to be cut and whom you have to fire."

Taibbi said that Mitt Romney's fundamental pitch to voters is misleading. "He's pitched himself as a guy who is going to turn around America because that's what he does, is turn around companies. But that's not really true," Taibbi said.

Ultimately, Taibbi said, Romney's latest takeover bid will fail. "I think people are going to have a hard time getting around someone who fires people for a living and wants to get rid of Medicare," Taibbi said. "I don't think it's going to carry them to victory."

Watch the full segment below:

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Before You Go

Romney's Bain Claims Don't Hold Up
SEC Filings List Romney As 'Chief Executive Officer'(01 of11)
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According to the Boston Globe, Securites and Exchange Commission documents filed by Bain Capital after February 1999 list Romney as the private equity firm's "stole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president." (credit:AP)
$100,000+ Salary(02 of11)
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The Globe also found financial disclosure forms filed by Romney that indicate he still owned 100 percent of Bain in 2002, and earned at least $100,000 as an "executive" for the firm in 2001 and 2002. (credit:AP)
2002 Testimony(03 of11)
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As The Huffington Post reported, sworn testimony given by Romney in 2002 undermined his claims that he left Bain in 1999. In that testimony, given as part of a hearing to determine if he had sufficient Massachusetts residency to run for governor, Romney said that he "remained on the board" of the LifeLike Co., which Bain held a stake in at the time.LifeLike's 2000 corporate filing, filed with the state of Colorado, lists Romney as a director. (credit:AP)
More SEC Filings(04 of11)
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HuffPost's Jason Cherkis and Ryan Grim identified at least six documents filed by Bain Capital with the SEC from 1999 to 2001 that were signed by Mitt Romney. Most of the documents refer to Romney as the "reporting person." (credit:AP)
'Managing Member' In 2002(05 of11)
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HuffPost reported on a 2002 corporate document filed with the state of Massachusetts that shows Romney listed as one of two managing members of Bain Capital Investors, an entity of the private equity firm. (credit:AP)
Signed Documents After 1999(06 of11)
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Romney signed an SEC filing in November 1999 pursuant to Bain's partial acquisition of medical-waste firm Stericycle, Mother Jones reported. The filing noted that he was the "sole shareholder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President" of the Bain entities involved in the $75 million deal. (credit:AP)
2001 & 2002 SEC Filings(07 of11)
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Talking Points Memo uncovered two SEC filings from July 2000 and February 2001. In both, Romney lists his "principal occupation" as "Managing Director of Bain Capital, Inc." (credit:AP)
1999 News Reports(08 of11)
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As Slate's Dave Weigel pointed out, Romney's campaign has cited news reports from 1999 that clearly state that Romney left Bain in 1999. However, those same news reports state that Romney would still be involved with the company. "Romney said he will stay on as a part-timer with Bain, providing input on investment and key personnel decisions," read one such report from the Boston Herald (credit:AP)
Former Partner Speaks Out(09 of11)
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A former Bain Capital partner, Ed Conard, said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Up W/Chris Hayes" that Romney was "legally" the CEO and sole owner of Bain Capital until 2002, as an ownership battle dragged on after Romney left to take over the Salt Lake City Olympics."We had a very complicated set of negotiations that took us about two years for us to unwind. During that time a management committee ran the firm, and we could hardly get Mitt to come back to negotiate the terms of his departure because he was working so hard on the Olympics," Conard said. (credit:AP)
Relationships With Problematic Companies(10 of11)
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HuffPost's Sam Stein reported that SEC filings link Romney to politically problematic companies after his alleged 1999 departure from Bain:
A Huffington Post review of SEC files unearthed six separate occasions in which Romney was listed as a member of "the Management Committee" of both Bain Capital Investment Partners and BCIP Trust, "deemed to share voting and dispositive power with respect to" shares held of DDi. In one of those filings, Romney is listed as president and managing director of Bain Capital, Inc.The dates of those filings range from April 14, 2000 to May 10, 2001 -- all after Romney had left for Salt Lake City. In one March 2001 filing, Romney signed the document as the "reporting person."
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'General Partner'(11 of11)
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According at a document filed with the California Secretary of State's office in July 1999, Romney was listed as a "general partner" at Bain Capital Partners. Romney's signature appears on the document. Romney remained on record as a general partner until California was notified of his resignation in June 2003. (credit:AP)
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