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this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2025
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Eddie Lampert set the gold standard for corporate raiding in the 21st century when he orchestrated the Sears/KMart merger and then spent the next 18+ years liquidating all of Sears Holdings fixed assets.
Drowning the company in the bathtub on one hand while on the other, constantly crying to anyone who would listen about the struggles of retail. Buying up the retailers debt to create the public image of a benevolent shareholder who just wanted to offer lifeline after lifeline.
It took a lot longer than some of the smaller private equity takeovers. The combined organization was enormous at the time of the merger in 2004 and still very much financially viable. It's even possible that Lampert intended to make an earnest go at the retail business initially. Although I kind of doubt it. Either way, at some point he figured it was more profitable for him to slowly liquidate the business than continue trying to compete in a harsh retail environment.
It took years for creditors to figure out what was happening and the general public never really caught on. Lampert is a greedy bastard but I have to admire his incredibly patient handling of that whole situation, which was honestly brilliant.
20 years later, Sears and KMart have gone the way of Montgomery Ward, even if their websites are still functioning. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs and Eddie Lampert is far wealthier than he was when he started.
Sears could have been what Amazon is today. Hell, it the 19th century, it WAS was Amazon is today. But the focus is so often on financial trickery over actual sound business practices