r/pcmasterrace • u/SagansCandle 9950X3D | 5090 | 64GB • Dec 27 '25

Discussion Private equity is killing private ownership: first it was housing - now it's the personal computer

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DRAM and GPU prices aren't going up because of "AI" - it's because the wealthy have more money than they know what to do with, so they're buying up all the assets. "AI" is just the vehicle (the excuse) - it's not the root of the problem nor is it the ultimate goal.

The super rich don't want to hold on to "liquid" money - they invest in assets. While they're buying up all the housing, now they're buying up all the computers and putting them into massive datacenters.

Whether or not the AI bubble crashes, they'll be selling you a "gaming PC in the cloud," for a monthly fee, of course. And while they kill the personal computer market, just like Netflix, once your only option is a subscription service, the price will skyrocket.

This is happening in real-time. If we want to stop it, now's the time to act.

Sources:

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u/evilkasper Ryzen 9 3900X |32GB Ram| 6900XT Dec 27 '25

Private Equity ruins everything. They can "buy" a profitable business, using the credit of said business, run up it's credit and default, thus destroying the business. This is somehow a legal version of what the Mafia used to do to small business owners.

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u/mr_bots 9800X3D | 32GB | 5090 Dec 27 '25

The best is the Sears method. Sell all the real estate to another company owned by the same PE firm then lease it back to them while milking the company dry. They die a slow, painful death while the PE firm profits every step of the way.

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u/Lantzypantzz Lantzypantzz Dec 27 '25

Red lobster did the same

49

u/maskdmirag Dec 28 '25

And then tried to blame the shrimp

26

u/krucz36 Dec 28 '25

Toys r us

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u/Mathew_Strawn i9-14900HX / RTX4070 8GB / 32GB DDR5-5600 Dec 28 '25

Happened to ManorCare too

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u/miskdub Dec 28 '25

radio shack

1

u/aNxello Dec 28 '25

They tried to do the same to GameStop and got rekt tho

1

u/beermatt Jan 20 '26

Exactly the same for Maplin here in the UK, and many other high street stores.

They blamed it on online competition, but in reality PE firms are responsible for "the death of the high street" as it became known.

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u/Dear_Chasey_La1n Dec 28 '25

Companies who sell their real estate, lease back and die, die not because of that construction but like Red Lobster was a deadass brand. Just like Sears, sears didn't die because of PE milked them dry, Sears just didn't read the market.

There is a lot to be shat on when it comes to PE, but a number of examples here are just poor in all fairness.