Romney's Net Worth? $250 million? What?

[kpete]

When Romney ran Bain Capital, his word was not his bond

Make no mistake: Under Romney’s leadership in the 1980s and 1990s, Bain was a top-performing private-equity fund. According to an internal 2000estimate, the fund achieved annualized returns of an astounding 88 percent from 1984 to 1999 for its institutional investors, including state and corporate pension funds that invest the savings of millions of American workers. It also made a fortune for Romney, whose net wealth reportedly exceeds $250 million.

.............................

........ — Bain would seek to be the highest bidder at the end of the formal process in order to be the firm selected to negotiate alone with the seller, putting itself in the exclusive, competition-free zone. Then, when all other competitors had been essentially vanquished and the purchase contract was under negotiation, Bain would suddenly begin finding all sorts of warts, bruises and faults with the company being sold. Soon enough, that near-final Bain bid — the one that got the firm into its exclusive negotiating position — would begin to fall, often significantly.

Of course, some haggling over price is typical in any sale, and not everything represented by sellers and their bankers is found to be accurate under close examination. But Bain Capital took the art of negotiation over price into the scientific realm. Once the competitive dynamics had shifted definitively in its favor, the firm’s genuine views about what it was willing to pay — often far lower than first indicated — would be revealed.

At such a late date, of course, the seller is more than a little pregnant with the buyer. Attempting to pivot and find a new buyer — which knew it had not been selected in the first place, but was now being called back — would be devastating to the carefully constructed process designed to generate the highest price. Once Bain’s real thoughts about the price were revealed, the seller either had to suck it up and accept the lower price, or negotiate with a new buyer, but with far less leverage.


..............



MORE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-romney-ran-bain-capital-his-word-was-not-his-bond/2012/01/12/gIQACvQxwP_story_1.html

[dawg]

1. He was the real life Gordon Gekko.

All those PE guys are like that. That's how they roll.

[WingDinger]

2. His efforts would strip the last flash from our bones. Should he or any rethug win, it is ON.

[RevStPatrick]

3. He could be worth much more.

I've read up to $650 million.
$250m may be the low estimate of his net worth.
He won't release his taxes, so we may never know for sure...

[subterranean]

4. Even his tax returns wouldn't show his net worth

because you pay taxes on income, not assets.

I suspect (but have no proof) that the reason he won't release his return is that it would show how low his real tax rate is. That could be a problem when he tries to make the case that the wealthy need even more tax cuts.

[Crankie Avalon]

5. Maybe someone out there would give $250,000,000 for him...

...but he seems like nothing but a worthless, parasitic, bottom-feeding lowlife to me.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. Good thing he destroyed hundreds of families to make an extra million here and there

How would he have ever done without them?

[ibegurpard]

7. I don't believe that's all he's worth

[deacon]

8. K + R