Bad Company

”[An] indictment of an industry that has cannily tilted the playing field in its favor. Bad Company details how cliché abstractions like ‘consolidation’ and ‘efficiency have given cover to real betrayals.” – New York Times

“Greenwell gets at the heart of the industry’s inherently predatory business model. It’s a harrowing, vital, and timely depiction of late-stage capitalism.” – AV Club

“One of the more devastating indictments of the business in recent memory” – Bloomberg Businessweek

”[A] deeply reported, briskly paced and highly disturbing account…Greenwell has written an essential guide to an industry that operates largely in the shadows” – Associated Press

”[Greenwell] helps readers understand this perplexing topic by sharing relatable stories. This book will appeal to those who are interested in business, economics and finance.” – Booklist

“Greenwell’s debut does important work, scrutinizing a poorly understood sector of the economy that makes life more precarious for many Americans…An effective, humane look at financial practices hobbling venerable institutions.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A scathing indictment of private equity…[The] stories outrage, but Greenwell finds reason for hope in ordinary people pushing back against private equity’s worst abuses…Greenwell also provides sound suggestions for reining in private equity…The result is a stark reminder of the human toll of corporate penny pinching.” – Publishers Weekly

“An absolutely riveting tour of the American economic system, told through the lives of four people whose jobs were swallowed by the beast we call private equity. Greenwell has single-handedly exposed the hidden economic machine that increasingly runs–and ruins–our lives. This bombshell of a book is indispensable to understand the economic forces running roughshod over America today.” – Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of Kochland and The Lords of Easy Money

“In Bad Company, one of our finest journalists embarks on a harrowing, humane inquiry into the state of American business and comes away with a classic statement on 21st century culture. It’s wonderful.” – Zachary D. Carter, New York Times bestselling author of The Price of Peace

“A hard and eloquent look at players who have far too long escaped public scrutiny.” – Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Amity and Prosperity and Circle of Hope

“With clear-eyed writing and honed investigative chops, Greenwell lays bare the private equity industry’s utter contempt for the rest of us. This is a book for this moment, a kind of cri de coeur. Reading these deeply reported tales left me shaking with anger.” – Alex Kotlowitz, award-winning author of There Are No Children Here and An American Summer

“Urgent and revelatory, Megan Greenwell leads us deep into the opaque world of private equity, where billion-dollar firms quietly seize control of the institutions and services we rely on. With wit, ferocity, and razor-sharp insight, Greenwell transforms what could be a dry financial story into a gripping mystery: how do these firms generate massive returns even as the businesses they buy collapse? Who, exactly, is cashing in on the wreckage? The result is both infuriating and galvanizing, a tour de force of investigative journalism that makes the harms of private equity not just legible but visceral.” – Brian Goldstone, author of There Is No Place for Us

“A beautifully written debut that takes a mostly abstract concept–private equity–and drills down to the human level, showing how a hyper-focus on profit is making life harder for everyone and destroying wide swaths of American life. The result is a crucial read that you won’t want to put down.” – Roxanna Asgarian, award-winning author of We Were Once a Family

Megan Greenwell is a journalist who has written or edited for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, WIRED, and ESPN. She is also the deputy director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, a workshop and college access initiative for students from low-income backgrounds. A California native, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their pug.