Romney in 1985: Bain's Goal to 'Harvest' Companies for Profit

[Lakhota]

By David Corn

This clip shows the young CEO focusing on businesses as targets for his investors, not as job creators or community stakeholders.

Campaigning for the presidency, Mitt Romney has pointed to his stint as the founder and manager of Bain Capital, a private equity firm, as proof he can rev up the US economy and create jobs at a faster clip than President Barack Obama. Last year, while stumping in Florida, Romney declared, "You'd have a president who has spent his life in business—small business, big business—and who knows something about how jobs are created and how we compete around the world." His campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, has said that Romney's Bain days afford him more expertise than Obama to "focus on job creation and turn around our nation's faltering economy." Romney has even claimed that during his tenure at Bain, "we were able to help create over 100,000 jobs." In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, Romney smacked Obama for having "almost no experience working in a business" and tied that to the sluggish recovery.

But at Bain, Romney's top priority wasn't to boost employment. As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, creating jobs "wasn't the aim of Bain or other private-equity firms, which measure success by returns produced for investors." And, the newspaper reported, Romney's 100,000-jobs claim is tough to evaluate.

Mother Jones has obtained a video from 1985 in which Romney, describing Bain's formation, showed how he viewed the firm's mission. He explained that its goal was to identify potential and hidden value in companies, buy significant stakes in these businesses, and then "harvest them at a significant profit" within five to eight years.

The video was included in a CD-ROM created in 1998 to mark the 25th anniversary of Bain & Company, the consulting firm that gave birth to Bain Capital. Here is the full clip, as it appeared on that CD-ROM (the editing occurred within the original):

Mitt Romney on Bain's plan to buy and "harvest" companies - YouTube

More: NEW ROMNEY VIDEO: In 1985, He Said Bain Would "Harvest" Companies for Profits | Mother Jones

 

[Lakhota]

Bye bye, Mitt...

 

[Political Junky]

Mother Jones is really giving Willard fits .... keep it up.

 

[tyroneweaver]

 

[Trajan]

Mother Jones is really giving Willard fits .... keep it up.

When you're a sheep who cannot think for himself, everything looks good

 

[candycorn]

Mother Jones for MVP!!!!



Romney in 1985: Bain's Goal to 'Harvest' Companies for Profit

Mitt Romney said that one of the goals of his private equity firm, Bain Capital, was to acquire companies and “harvest them at a significant profit,” according to a video from 1985 uncovered by Mother Jones magazine.

The video was part of a CD-ROM from 1998 that Bain used to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the firm.

“Bain Capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully, five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit,” he says in the video.


Mitt Romney on Bain's plan to buy and "harvest" companies - YouTube

The only one misrepresenting Bain's actual purpose are Romney and his supporters;
It is to make money for their unitholders. It isn't to create jobs...nor has it ever been. Bain will tell you that.

 

[jillian]

I'm not a Romney supporter, but I really didn't hear anything bad on video. Harvesting for profits could mean a lot of things.

Obviously, this contradicts Bishop Romney's repeated claims that they were buying companies to save them, and the jobs.

It also confirms why Bishop Romney cannot show the claimed number of American jobs saved.

no. it really can't.

 

[jillian]

mitt's had a bad couple of weeks.

 

[Trajan]

Mother Jones for MVP!!!!



Romney in 1985: Bain's Goal to 'Harvest' Companies for Profit

Mitt Romney said that one of the goals of his private equity firm, Bain Capital, was to acquire companies and “harvest them at a significant profit,” according to a video from 1985 uncovered by Mother Jones magazine.

The video was part of a CD-ROM from 1998 that Bain used to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the firm.

“Bain Capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully, five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit,” he says in the video.


Mitt Romney on Bain's plan to buy and "harvest" companies - YouTube

The only one misrepresenting Bain's actual purpose are Romney and his supporters;
It is to make money for their unitholders. It isn't to create jobs...nor has it ever been. Bain will tell you that.

So he didn't want to make money? Did he say that

 

[Conservative]

Mother Jones for MVP!!!!



Romney in 1985: Bain's Goal to 'Harvest' Companies for Profit

Mitt Romney said that one of the goals of his private equity firm, Bain Capital, was to acquire companies and “harvest them at a significant profit,” according to a video from 1985 uncovered by Mother Jones magazine.

The video was part of a CD-ROM from 1998 that Bain used to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the firm.

“Bain Capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully, five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit,” he says in the video.


Mitt Romney on Bain's plan to buy and "harvest" companies - YouTube

you act like this is a bad thing, or illegal.

Venture capitalism.. look it up, dumb ass.

You buy into a company, build it into a stronger company, and sell at a profit when you've done so.

It's what makes America go.

No, I act like it's the opposite of what the Mittwit claims it was: a job creator.

Unless he meant overseas jobs.

so, buying a company, investing in it, making it grow profitable, and then selling it to make a profit somehow equals sending jobs overseas?

Are you on crack?

 

[Synthaholic]

Good god you people are painfully ignorant, capital investment companies buy and sell that's what they do,you can't sell a company for much of a profit if it is failing.

And please show how this proves anything but your willful dishonesty?

Says the poster who doesn't know how to spell 'chicken'. [/QUOTE

Bwaaa hahahaha That,s it that what you have ?

Is it or is it not what capital investment companies do??

Nope - I'll also point out that you don't know an apostrophe from a comma, and you can't figure out how to use the quote function.


Dumbass.

 

[Synthaholic]

There's not a single damning thing in that clip. I'm sure it sounds incomprehensible to the ignorant.

"Ohhhhh, he said 'harvest'. That's bad, right?"

.

Yes. It shows that he has no concern or intention of acquiring companies in order to grow them and make them more successful, thereby enabling their employees to have a better, more secure life, and making American society stronger.

His intention is to extract all worth and value from companies, piling debt on them, forcing them into bankruptcy and walking away with profits for himself and his partners, with no concern for his American employees.

 

[Synthaholic]

You have a business idea that I think is a good one, so I provide the capital you need to get off the ground.

Sure 'nuff, your idea is wildly successful and your business takes off.

Jobs have been created, the economy has grown, the world is a better place, and I make a tidy profit.

No wonder Mother Jones thinks that sucks!

So fuck yeah, let's hope Romney does that for the whole country.


.

That would be really nice if that's what they did. But they didn't.

You're confusing Bain Capital with the local bank that gives small business loans.

 

[Synthaholic]

Obviously, this contradicts Bishop Romney's repeated claims that they were buying companies to save them, and the jobs.

It also confirms why Bishop Romney cannot show the claimed number of American jobs saved.

How many employees do you think Staples has nation wide, plus all the people in their supply chain. That is just one of Bain's success stories.

So I go looking for anonymous Staples employees and what they have to say.

Check this one out:

Back in the "old" days at staples you were rewarded for talent, loyalty and willingness to work by more hours, higher pay, and bonuses. The bonuses were the first thing to go with ever changing goals. Then they put the squeeze to the stores on how many hours. Now you will never earn a pay increase on merit, and most of the over 5 year employees have been told they are no longer eligible for even a 2% raise because they "make too much". $9.00 an hour is too much for an employee who is the highest selling sales associate in the store? You start at basically minimum wage, maybe $.40 higher if you work in the high stress copy center. I've seen those employees in tears due to the way they are stressed out.

Staples News and Happenings. - Staples Jobs | Indeed.com

------------------------------------------------------------

American Sweatshops: Widespread and Thriving; Barely Surviving the Most Stressful, Lowest-Paying Job of My Life

Here is how it works. When I told the Staples store manager that I wanted a full-time job, he informed me that initially I would have to work on a temporary, part-time basis, without any benefits. I found out later that numerous other employees at the store who had worked there from two to seven years were still in "part-time," status.

This arrangement is highly advantageous for the retailers. They minimize or avoid paying fringe benefits such as life and health insurance, retirement benefits, overtime or differential pay for Sunday work. When I told the manager that I wanted to work as many hours as possible, he told me that every employee at the store asks for that. The maximum he ever allowed me to work was 31.5 hours a week. Most often it was in the 21 to 26 hour range.

-------------------------------------------------------

MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT, HOWEVER, IS THAT STAPLES PARTICIPATES IN THE ILLEGAL PRACTICE OF KEEPING FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES ON THE PAYROLL AS "PART-TIME" IN ORDER TO AVOID BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS. Fuck you Staples.

Staples opinion - I worked at Staples and it was the worst job

------------------------------------------------------

Romney’s Retail Jobs Offer More Low Wages Than Middle Income

And here we go again:



September 25, 2012, 8:49 AM

Staples Plans Restructuring and Store Closings, But No Word of Sale

Great job, Mittens! You left them strong and profitable!

 

[Synthaholic]

you have to feel sorry for the op..not the sharpest knife in a drawer

Says the retarded hag.

Fuck off, bitch.

 

[Synthaholic]

Okay, I don't get it.

This proves that Mitt was lying when he said that most companies were saved and only a few could not be saved.

This is huge. It proves that the purpose of Bain was vulture capitalism - from the start.

No one cares about that?

It's vampire capitalism.

Don't disparage vultures - at least they serve a useful purpose.

 

[Synthaholic]

the ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT :

Bain Capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully, five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit…The fund was formed on September 30th of last year.

It's been about 10 months then. It was formed with $37 million in invested cash. An additional $50 million or so of what I'll call a call pool, which is money that we can call upon if the deals are large enough that they require more than a $2 or $3 million dollar initial investment. Why in the world did Bain and Company get involved in this kind of a business? We're not particularly noted for having years and years of experience in financing. Three reasons. We recognized that we had the potential to develop a significant and proprietary flow of business opportunities. Secondly, we had concepts and experience which would allow us to identify potential value and hidden value in a particular investment candidate. And third, we had the consulting resources and management skills and management resources to become actively involved in the companies we invested in to help them realize their potential value.


and whats wrong with this? oh, fixated on the shiny object that Mother Jones told you to focus on?


they are NOT a financial company, thats right, they are a MANAGEMENT co. that there after buying a company and either successfully or not returning them to, or making them profitable, SELL them.

See, thats how they make their money you tool.... oh wait, they don't sell them, they Harvest them...

inane imbeciles, the lot of you.







here, you want to see some out year harvesting IPAB- Independent Payment Advisory Board style?



IT'S PEOPLE! - YouTube

hows that for mouth breathing idiocy that makes as little sense as Mother Jones eh?

Name ONE company that Bain harvested in which the U.S. workers ended up better off, with better wages and more job security.

And when you can't find one, come back here, man the fuck up, and admit it.

Don't hold your breath.

The rw's are so desperate, they can twist themselves around anything Mitt says.

I'm not holding my breath. Trajan will only run from this and prove that he's just a little bitch with a big fucking mouth.

 

[Sarah G]

So, they view people's livelihoods as just organs, to be harvested and sold off.

That's just....awesome!

I think the word would be creepy.. Good grief. Does the Republican mindset naturally go from there to running for the presidency?

For beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain..

 

[Synthaholic]

you act like this is a bad thing, or illegal.

Venture capitalism.. look it up, dumb ass.

You buy into a company, build it into a stronger company, and sell at a profit when you've done so.

It's what makes America go.

No, I act like it's the opposite of what the Mittwit claims it was: a job creator.

Unless he meant overseas jobs.

so, buying a company, investing in it, making it grow profitable, and then selling it to make a profit somehow equals sending jobs overseas?

Are you on crack?

If you want to continue proving yourself a moron, go right ahead.

Loading companies up with debt, extracting their assets, and forcing them into bankruptcy isn't growing them, dope.

 

[Synthaholic]

So, they view people's livelihoods as just organs, to be harvested and sold off.

That's just....awesome!

I think the word would be creepy.. Good grief. Does the Republican mindset naturally go from there to running for the presidency?

For beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain..

To Mittwit, that's just a popular song that he can buy the company who owns the copyright, then maybe sell it to a foreign interest if the profit is large enough.

He doesn't give a shit about economic patriotism.