Briefing | Private equity

The uneasy crown

The buy-out business is booming, but capitalism's new kings are attracting growing criticism

|davos, london and new york

HEROD was not the monarch this newspaper had in mind when in 2004 it proclaimed the leaders of the private-equity industry the “new kings of capitalism”. It was Louis XIV perhaps—the sort of ruler whose kingdom grew rapidly in size, power and reputation, just as private-equity firms have done.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “The uneasy crown”

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