Leveraged Buyouts

It's worthwhile to have a further look at some of the players cited briefly in the Times article about the Simmons mattress company, so here is a bit more on the private equity kingpin Thomas H. Lee.

How many companies have been damaged in the name of maximizing shareholder value? How many unnecessary mergers, spin-offs and other dumb deals were spawned just to give the stock a jolt? How many jobs and benefits were cut because Wall Street said that was an easy path to operating "efficiencies" and greater short-term returns?