Meet the Coronavirus Profiteers
Companies like Shake Shack, Ruth’s Hospitality Group, the Los Angeles Lakers, and J. Alexander’s Holdings drew from the Paycheck Protection Program established to aid small businesses in paying their employees. While average workers have suffered under the pandemic, these huge corporations have helped themselves to enormous amounts of cash.
Customers wait for to-go orders outside Shake Shack in South Beach on April 19, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. Cliff Hawkins / Getty
As the coronavirus pandemic ramped up, there were some individuals who saw an opportunity for a quick buck, buying up personal protective equipment and disinfectant and then selling it later at jacked-up prices to desperate people and hospitals.
Some of these profiteers were outed on social media, becoming the target of potent popular rage. “Send them to jail!” was a not uncommon refrain from people who were furious that these individuals would try to profit from others’ pain.
These people suck. But their actions pale in comparison to the bad behavior of corporations during the pandemic — companies whose leaders don’t give a fig about our moral outrage unless it affects their bottom line.
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