Twinkies, Management fiasco or Labor Union Greed?

Some short time ago, 4 years, Twinkies faced extinction.

Management, investors, and the Market blamed greedy labor unions. The bankruptcy judge sold the company for roughly $400 million dollars.

Cheap.

Two bidders snapped up the company and recently sold their shares. Combined, they got a "return of about $1 billion on an initial equity investment of about $185 million." Those numbers come from the New York Times.

Now, I'm saying Bullshit on the management, investors, and Market analysis. No, labor did not kill the Twinkie in 2013. Bad management killed it.

Two companies turned less than $200 million into $1 billion in less than 4 years baking flour, sugar, water, eggs, whey and salt.

Wait! There's more. Here's another analysis of the deal with a creamy inner filling.

"Nowhere was it sweeter, perhaps, than at the investment firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos, which spent $186 million in cash to buy some Hostess bakeries and brands in early 2013.

Less than four years later, they sold the company in a deal that valued Hostess at $2.3 billion. Apollo and Metropoulos have reaped a return totaling 13 times their original cash investment."

So what did it take to do all that billions and billions in business?

"There continues to be strong demand for these products in the marketplace, and we feel we can capitalize on that with some fresh new marketing ideas and some more consistent sales efforts."

Some one sold the business way short of its value and cried crocodile tears as they cashed in some bonus checks, separation payments, and secret insider trading profits.

It's that Capitalism thing. "I got mine. You get yours. Let the Devil take the rest."