why private equity draws criticism
private equity firms have pushed back against the stereotype depicting them as strip miners of corporate assets stressing their management expertise and examples of successful transformations of portfolio companies 2124many are touting their commitment to environmental social and governance esg standards directing companies to mind the interests of stakeholders other than their owners 25still rapid changes that often follow a private equity buyout can often be difficult for a company s employees and the communities where it has operations 26another frequent focus of controversy is the carried interest provision allowing private equity managers to be taxed at the lower capital gains tax rate on the bulk of their compensation legislative attempts to tax that compensation as income have met with repeated defeat notably when this change was dropped from the inflation reduction act of 2022 27