Good question. Matt Taibbi noted the same thing during the 2012 election when talking about the company that Romney used to work for.
But it sure also does happen from the inside. If you can even call it the inside. C Level folks move around and have no connection to their companies anymore. Where are the Bill Hewlett or David Packard types of the world of big corporations?
In 2003, I was hired to work for a medical device company that was still being run by the guy that started it. It was owned by a larger one, but we operated at the time as a subsidiary. That changed radically soon after I joined. We were fully absorbed by the larger one. One that had very little knowledge about the dynamic world of technology, medical devices or FDA regulations. We were extremely profitable and they squeezed us HARD. Same with other device companies they bought. When they had enough, they spun off us all off. Lots of people were laid off, including me.
I came back as a contractor later to the spun off company and was hired on again. Then the old guys from the old days that stayed to run the new company retired - they were really not making that much money compared to what came next.
The new guy was brought in from a competitor and he immediately saw a chance to squeeze the place and make it look attractive to buyers. Layoffs, outsourcing, etc… We were always very profitable.
The first full year that he was there, he made more money in total compensation than the CEO of Chase and Amex.
I saw the writing on the wall and bailed out, but soon later they were in fact sold to a very large company based in Jersey.
The squeezing began again. And the layoffs, and the outsourcing.
I have friends there still. Deja vu all over again - the buyer is clueless on regulations, medical devices and cutting edge technology.
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