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Asset stripping

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Asset stripping involves selling the assets of a business individually at a profit. The term is generally used in a pejorative sense as such activity is not considered productive to the economy. Asset stripping is considered to be a problem in economies such as Russia or China that are making a transition to the market. In these situations, managers of a state-owned company have been known to sell the assets which they control, leaving behind nothing but debts to the state.

A fictional example of asset stripping can be found in the 1987 film Wall Street. In this film, the ruthless investor Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, purchases the failing airline Blue Star, under the pretense that he will restructure the company and return it to profitability. However, we later learn that he intends to liquidate all of the company's assets.

Asset-stripping is also used by gangster corporations and gangster families conducting criminal acts against the lives and property of competitors they run out of business so they can dominate in the market place. Vandalizing property, staged car accidents, damaging credit histories, any act, and there are many they execute that takes the time, money, etc., of the target, including non-tangible personal assets like beauty, personality, security and peace of mind. Asset-stripping is usually executed in conjunction with gang-stalking and terrorizing the target.