Private Equity and the Future of American Capitalism

Join the Corporations and Society Initiative (CASI) for a conversation with Megan Greenwell, author of Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, on how the private equity model operates in practice and what its growth means for businesses, workers, and communities. 

Private equity plays a central role in shaping the structure of the U.S. economy and is a common destination for business school graduates. Greenwell's narrative nonfiction approach spotlights the people whose lives are affected by private equity ownership.

This discussion will explore what's at stake in private equity deals, where it may harm customers, patients, and communities, and what those trade-offs imply for governance and accountability. It will also invite students to reflect on their own future roles as investors, operators, and decision-makers in systems with trade-offs between financial success and social responsibility.

In person and via Zoom.  

 Megan Greenwell is a magazine journalist who writes features and books about how systems affect people. She writes regularly for Bloomberg Businessweek and other outlets. Her bestselling book, Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream, was published by HarperCollins in 2025. She also hosts the Columbia Journalism Review’s flagship podcast, The Kicker. Megan has held staff jobs writing, editing, or managing teams for publications including The Washington Post, New York Magazine, ESPN, and WIRED. She serves as deputy director and a board member of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, a workshop and college access initiative for low-income high school students, and chairs the board of trustees of the Columbia Daily Spectator. A California native, she lives in Brooklyn. 

Student Lead: Helen Cashman, MBA ’26