How a Republican
vulture capitalist killed a Nebraska town:
Major Republican donor Paul Singer has very few fans in
this town of 6,300 people, where 80 percent of voters backed Donald Trump in
2016.
“I hope Paul Singer is proud of what he did,” Tim O’Connell, a local lumberyard owner, told Tucker Carlson Tonight. “I don’t know how he sleeps at night.”
O’Connell and many other residents are still suffering from the loss of sporting goods retailer Cabela’s, which kept its headquarters in Sidney until it merged with Bass Pro Shops in 2017.
The town’s mayor, Roger Galloway, told Tucker Carlson Tonight that the merger cost Sidney 2,000 jobs.
The sale of Cabela's to Bass Pro Shops was announced in 2016, a year after Singer’s Elliot Management disclosed an 11 percent stake, and said Cabela’s should explore a possible sale. Singer has earned the title of the “world’s most feared investor” and became a billionaire through tactics described as “vulture capitalism."
After the sale announcement, the stock price surged and Singer’s hedge fund cashed out within a week. Elliott Management reportedly made at least $90 million.
“They got in there to get the business sold and the business was sold, so they took it and ran,” Damien Park, managing partner at consulting firm Hedge Fund Solutions, told the Omaha World-Herald in October 2016. “They made a fortune, so they’re happy.”
The residents of Sidney, however, were left without the town’s major employer.
“I hope Paul Singer is proud of what he did,” Tim O’Connell, a local lumberyard owner, told Tucker Carlson Tonight. “I don’t know how he sleeps at night.”
O’Connell and many other residents are still suffering from the loss of sporting goods retailer Cabela’s, which kept its headquarters in Sidney until it merged with Bass Pro Shops in 2017.
The town’s mayor, Roger Galloway, told Tucker Carlson Tonight that the merger cost Sidney 2,000 jobs.
The sale of Cabela's to Bass Pro Shops was announced in 2016, a year after Singer’s Elliot Management disclosed an 11 percent stake, and said Cabela’s should explore a possible sale. Singer has earned the title of the “world’s most feared investor” and became a billionaire through tactics described as “vulture capitalism."
After the sale announcement, the stock price surged and Singer’s hedge fund cashed out within a week. Elliott Management reportedly made at least $90 million.
“They got in there to get the business sold and the business was sold, so they took it and ran,” Damien Park, managing partner at consulting firm Hedge Fund Solutions, told the Omaha World-Herald in October 2016. “They made a fortune, so they’re happy.”
The residents of Sidney, however, were left without the town’s major employer.
It's
important to remember that the financial benefits of capitalism come with
certain costs, and the rewards are not always net beneficial to society. One
should always recall that the preamble to the U.S. Constitution does not
indicate that its purpose is to maximize gross national product or the sum
total of societal wealth.
