KKR sinks its fangs in every part of the economy, thanks to the vast fortunes it amassed from its investors, ripped off from its customers, and fraudulently obtained from the public purse. After the pandemic, KKR scooped up hundreds of companies at firesale prices:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/30/medtronic-stole-your-ventilator/#blackstone-kkr
Ironically, the investors in KKR funds are also its victims - especially giant public pension funds, whom KKR has systematically defrauded for years:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/22/stimpank/#kentucky
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And now KKR has come for Simon & Schuster. The buyout was trumpeted to the press as a done deal, but it's far from a *fait accompli*. Before the deal can close, the #FTC will have to bless it. That blessing is far from a foregone conclusion. KKR also owns #Overdrive, the monopoly supplier of e-lending software to libraries.
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Overdrive has a host of predatory practices, loathed by both libraries and publishers (indeed, much of the publishing sector's outrage at library e-lending is really displaced anger at Overdrive). There's a plausible case that the merger of one of the Big Five publishers with the e-lending monopoly will present competition issues every bit as deal-breaking as the PRH/S&S merger posed.
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Image:
Sefa Tekin/Pexels (modified)
https://www.pexels.com/photo/hand-holding-burning-book-14649992/
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