Kevin O’Leary Rejects Trump’s $500 Million Spirit Airlines Bailout Proposal: ‘Losers Die’ |
Kevin O’Leary Rejects Trump’s $500 Million Spirit Airlines Bailout Proposal: ‘Losers Die’
As Donald Trump weighs a rescue for Spirit Airlines, the investor argues failing companies should be allowed to collapse.
BY LEILA SHERIDAN, NEWS WRITER
Kevin O’Leary. Photo: Getty Images
Donald Trump is calling for a rescue of Spirit Airlines as rising oil prices tied to the Iran conflict push the already struggling budget carrier closer to liquidation.
But for Kevin O’Leary, the answer is simple. Let the airline fail.
In a recent interview on NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich Tonight, O’Leary called the Trump administration’s reported $500 million plan to bail out Spirit a “really bad idea,” arguing that propping up failing companies undermines the basic logic of American capitalism.
“All of these rescue bailout programs for failing companies—capitalism works because the losers die,” the Shark Tank star said. “You don’t want to support bad management. You want to let them die. That’s how the private system works. The best rise to the top, and the loser dogs go out of business.”
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O’Leary’s disagreement with Trump underscores a growing divide over whether the federal government should step in to save a company that may not be able to survive on its own.
Currently, the Trump administration is weighing a rescue package that could include up to $500 million in loans, along with warrants that would give the government the right to own as much as 90 percent of Spirit after it exits bankruptcy, according to Fortune. Trump has pointed to the airline’s 14,000-person workforce as a key reason for pursuing a rescue, arguing those are jobs he does not want the economy to lose.
But even within conservative circles, there is skepticism. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned against putting “good money after bad,” telling Reuters, “There’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, and they haven’t found their way into profitability.”