Banks have—for now, at least—amassed enough equity to get by without having to offload their least liquid assets.
Through his Tracinda investment company, Kerkorian amassed an equity stake in GM and pushed for changes even as ratings firms continue to slash the automotive giant's debt ratings.
In 1999 Stemberg helped amass $50 million in private equity, including $10 million of his own.
Generally, the more equity you amass, the less debt you can take on.
People close to the company have expressed skepticism that Mr. Schulze, who owns a 20 percent stake, can amass the billions of dollars in equity and debt financing needed to pay the $24 to $26 a share that he has proposed.
Like other people who amass great wealth at hedge funds or private equity firms, Mr. Romney earned much of his money at Bain in the form of "carried interest," a share of the profits earned by investors in Bain funds, which current federal rules treat as long-term capital gains taxed at a 15 percent rate.
Private equity firms amassed more than $64 billion from investors in the third quarter, 10 percent more than in the period a year earlier, Reuters reports, citing data from the research firm Preqin.
Mr. Zell, who became chairman and chief executive of the Tribune Company after selling Equity Office, amassed his supersize real estate portfolio over many years.
Eighteen months after launch, the company had raised $6 million in equity capital, amassed 2 million registered users and hired 20 full-time staffers at its Bellevue, Wash., headquarters.
Companies offered first and second mortgages and home equity lines, marketed credit cards for teenagers and helped college students to amass upward of $100,000 in debt by graduation.
