Supply side economics has won.
It took six presidents, four boom-and-bust cycles and trillions of dollars of “easy money” to get here, but here we are. The economy is now completely in thrall to the wealthy investors and financial elites who’ve repeatedly used their exclusive access to government sponsored liquidity to capitalize on the aftermath of the speculative bubbles they’ve blown. Each successive boom, bust and bailout has redistributed more and more wealth into the hands of the few at the expense of the many.
Nothing epitomizes the triumph of supply side economics better than the steroidal growth of private equity in the wake of the Crash of 2008. While suddenly bereft homeowners had their houses robo-signed away, the Fed’s easy money whetted the appetites of firms like Blackstone, KKR and Goldman Sachs Alternatives, and they feasted on the smorgasbord of discounted assets served up the the subprime scam that was the housing bubble.
Not coincidentally, those three US-based firms currently sit atop the PEI Group’s just-released ranking of the world’s top 100 firms. Based on annual funds raised, Blackstone is the world’s leading firm with $356.7 raised. Next is KKR with $302.2 raised and then comes Goldman Sachs Alternatives with $215.3 raised. But the real measure of their impact is found in the mindboggling growth in their assets under management (AUM) since 2010.
Goldman Sachs Alternatives has grown from $148.0 billion in 2010 to $215.3 billion in mid-2026.
KKR’s AUM rocketed from $61.0 billion in 2010 to $796 billion in mid-2026.
Blackstone’s AUM has exploded from $131.1 billion in 2010 to $1.35 trillion in mid-2026.
Flush with capital, these firms, along with the 97 other firms on PEI’s list, have been gobbling up anything and everything they can get their hands on—car washes, laundromats, HVAC businesses, trailer parks, bowling alleys … you name it and private equity is probably buying. That’s particularly true of small businesses and “mom and pop” shops of all kinds.
Let’s face it, they have more capital than they know what to do with. It’s probably why the stock market keeps on defying economic gravity … the people on the arm of the K-shaped economy can afford to keep pouring money into the speculative bubble of artificial intelligence, price-to-earnings ratios be damned.
In many ways, they’ve exited the atmosphere and escaped the gravity of the economic situation facing the people on the leg of the K-shaped economy. In fact, there has been such a meteoric rise in the wealth of the top 0.1%, they are now said to be parting company with the top 1%, per Fortune:
The K-shaped split that let high earners pull away from low earners now cuts through the top 1% too, with the ultra-rich far ahead of the rest.
The average household in the top 0.1% is now worth about $204 million, or 7.7 times as much as one in the rest of the top 1%, according to a Fortune analysis of Federal Reserve data. That ratio is the highest in the Fed’s quarterly series going back to 1989, up from 6.2 times at the end of 2019. Currently, the Fed counts 136,779 households in the top 0.1%
The top 0.1%’s wealth has more than doubled since the end of 2019, from $13.4 trillion to nearly $28 trillion in the second quarter of 2026. Over the same period, the rest of the top 1% saw its wealth grow 68%, from $19.3 trillion to $32.5 trillion. The top 0.1% now holds 15% of the nation’s household wealth, up 0.5 percentage point since the first quarter.
“We are talking about continued redistribution upward and further concentration of wealth at the top,” Markus Schneider, an associate professor of economics at the University of Denver, told Fortune.
At least we can see the K-shape of things to come.
Private Equity Has a Problem. Uncle Sam Says Your Wallet Can Fix It. https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/private-equity-has-a-problem-uncle-sam-says-your-wallet-can-fix-it-726a6749
‘People are feeling the real impacts’: influencers are targeting private equity with satire and rage
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/09/anti-private-equity-comedy-influencers
When private equity came for the clinic where I worked
https://alabamareflector.com/2026/10/07/when-private-equity-came-for-the-clinic-where-i-worked/
McKesson, private equity firm buy home infusion company, Option Care Health
https://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/view/mckesson-private-equity-firm-buy-home-infusion-company-option-care-health
Private equity circles equipment providers amid growing surgical demand: 6 deals
https://www.pehub.com/private-equity-circles-growing-surgical-demand-6-deals/
McConnell Labs Acquires Attain Cosmetics, Rebrands As Modern Chemistry Labs Following Private Equity Sale
https://www.beautyindependent.com/mcconnell-labs-acquires-attain-cosmetics-rebrands-modern-chemistry-labs-private-equity-sale/
Mars-based student transportation provider acquired after 76 years by private equity-backed firm
https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2026/10/09/mars-bus-company-sold.html
How School Choice Opens the Door for Private Equity
https://progressive.org/public-schools-advocate/how-school-choice-opens-the-door-for-private-equity-bryant-20261008/
Sen. Collins, Troy Jackson clash on how to stop private equity from buying Maine homes
https://wgme.com/news/local/maine-senator-susan-collins-troy-jackson-clash-on-how-to-stop-private-equity-from-buying-maine-homes
How City-Funded Organizing Helped Tenants Take on a Landlord
https://shelterforce.org/2026/10/08/how-city-funded-organizing-helped-evanston-tenants-take-on-private-equity-landlord/
How Elizabeth Warren’s Stop Wall Street Looting Act Would Rein In the Private-Equity Vampire
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/private-equity-healthcare-housing-american-economy/
Elizabeth Warren’s Anti-Private Equity Bill is Unfounded and Will Hurt Main Street
https://atr.org/elizabeth-warrens-anti-private-equity-bill-is-unfounded-and-will-hurt-main-street/
Watchdog seeks tighter oversight of private equity-backed insurers
https://www.businessinsurance.com/watchdog-seeks-tighter-oversight-of-private-equity-backed-insurers/
Private equity investments rapidly reshaping CPA firms, creating a gap in accounting education, study finds
https://phys.org/news/2026-10-private-equity-investments-rapidly-reshaping.html
Private Equity Isn’t Slowing Its Poaching of Bankers, Citi Executive Says
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-07/private-equity-isn-t-slowing-its-poaching-of-bankers-citi-executive-says
Private Equity’s Great Run Buying Power Plants May Be Ending
https://www.wsj.com/pro/venture-capital/private-equitys-great-run-buying-power-plants-may-be-ending-ac5bff44
Could Law Firms Be Private Equity’s Next Darling?
https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2026/10/07/could-law-firms-be-private-equitys-next-darling/
Outdoor Life Acquired by Private Equity with Plans for AI-Powered Product Sales
https://gearjunkie.com/outdoor/outdoor-life-acquired-eformed-ventures-ai-marketplace
Welcome to the Private Equity Orioles, where even the mascot gets fired
https://www.11alive.com/video/sports/locked-on/lo-baltimore/orioles-show/welcome-to-the-private-equity-orioles-where-even-the-mascot-gets-fired/535-23009946-34ca-4eb5-a48f-3cb56d1dd9a0