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NEWPORT – Do you know what ToysR’Us, Joanne Fabrics and Saks Fifth Avenue have in common? This is a question that doesn’t involve toys, crafts and fashion, it involves assets, cash flow and plunder. Each of these companies is now bankrupt and were taken there by private equity, according to Stacy Cossey, who is putting on a Powerpoint presentation, ‘Private Equity Plunder.’
The free event is Wednesday, April 1, from 6-7:30 p.m. at Create in Newport. The presentation is based upon an interview between Catherine Austin Fitts and Tiffany Cianci.
“Private equity firms buy and overhaul companies to earn a profit or break them up and sell off parts,” Cossey said in a news release announcing the event. “They are privately owned so they are not required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission and in recent years the number of private equity firms have increased significantly.”
Cossey says that along with the increase in private equity firms comes an increase in assets under management. Cossey said that with roughly a third of the assets of publicly traded companies, private equity firms had the dubious ‘honor’ of 70% of major bankruptcies in 2025. “Which begs the question, are they incompetent business owners, or is plunder-then-bankruptcy part of their business plan?” Cossey asks.
People are invited to come find out how private equity works, learn about the private equity plunder, and most importantly “what each of us can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones,” Cossey said in the news release.
Create is located at 900 West Fourth in Newport.
