While private equity has won a reprieve in its battle over the taxation of carried interest, that may be cold comfort for Henry Kravis, who's not only facing protests at his Upper East Side home, but is the feature of a new, short documentary called "The War on Greed," which is available on YouTube below.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., dropped Thursday a proposed change in the tax laws that would raise taxes on limited partnerships like hedge, private equity, and venture capital funds. The same day, documentarian Robert Greenwald staged a protest in front of Kravis' home in order to promote his film, which according to The New York Times is a cross between Michael Moore's "Roger & Me" and "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous."
Protests are becoming commonplace. The Times wrote: "Today’s protest is the latest indication that the reaction against the wealth created by private equity funds has become part of a populist movement."
Indeed it has, but the Thursday protest may mark the first time it was taken directly to the private residency of a dealmaker. The Service Employees International Union came close over the summer when protesting in downtown Southampton, N.Y., but the protest wasn't targeted at a specific residency.
Kravis can take some comfort in knowing his home is not the only target of activists. As the New York Post notes, a few blocks away from Kravis' home, every Saturday since October protesters gather at Viacom chairman Phillip Dauman's townhouse to protest about rap videos. Of course protesting rap is so passe. — Matthew Wurtzel
