Nikishka Iyengar

For an industry that employs roughly 12 million people in the United States, or about 8% of the labor force, the fundamentals of how private equity operates remain notoriously opaque. The big headlines about deals gone wrong —Toys “R” Uscollapsing after a leveraged buyout, private equity firms buying up housing stock,Deadspinabruptly shuttering — capture the fallout but often miss the bigger picture of private equity’s cumulative impact on workers and the broader economy.

Editors’ Note: This article was originally written for the Summer 2025 issue of Nonprofit Quarterly Magazine, “Land Justice: From Private Ownership to Community Stewardship.” For people working toward systems change, the connection between neoliberalism-fueled wealth gaps, a declining social safety net, and the erosion of democratic institutions is perhaps clear.

This story is part of Atlanta magazine’s Streets Issue—a block-by-block exploration of our city and the stories it tells. Find the entire package here. It’s a sunny afternoon, and Quincey Patterson is parked outside his childhood home on South Eugenia Place. He’s reminiscing about growing up in Grove Park and Bankhead, when the area was bustling with kids walking to school, playing in the streets, throwing footballs, and riding bikes.