The Firms

Controls 90,000+ locations across Subway, Dunkin', Arby's, and a dozen more brands — the restaurant empire you didn't know existed.

Over $1 trillion under their control. Hotels, hospitals, housing — if it's essential, Blackstone has probably bought it and found a way to charge you more for it.

The firm that saddled Toys R Us with $5 billion in debt — and wrote the playbook every other PE firm copied.

From steakhouses to radio empires, Bain's “turnarounds” occasionally turn around — and occasionally turn into $20 billion bankruptcies.

Your dental chain, your gym, your craft store, and your car wash — all connected by one firm you've never heard of.

Terminix, Safelite, David's Bridal — one of the oldest PE firms in the game, with decades of practice buying the services you depend on.

Staples, Walgreens, Hot Topic — collecting struggling retailers like they're going out of style. Because they are.

Named after the three-headed dog guarding hell — which tracks, given what they did to your grocery prices at Safeway.

Small firm, big appetite for restaurant chains that end up in bankruptcy court.

Saddled PetSmart with billions in debt, spun off Chewy to pay for it, and spent a decade looking for the exit.

A $150 billion Swiss investment firm that turned American daycare into just another investment to squeeze.

Three bankruptcies for Rue21, revolving-door childcare ownership — Apax's consumer track record reads like a warning label.

From Charlotte Russe to ATI Physical Therapy — the companies Advent buys have a habit of ending up bankrupt or kicked off the stock market.

When PepsiCo decided Tropicana wasn't profitable enough and sold it to PE, that was probably the last good glass of OJ.

A hedge fund that buys newspapers and fires the journalists — their own papers call them 'vulture capitalists.'