Philz Drops Pride Flags After PE Firm Wiped Out Workers
The Pride flag removal is just the latest chapter. Last year a private equity firm bought Philz for $145 million and immediately canceled all common stock, including shares held by employees. One worker lost $12K she had personally invested.
So: workers got fleeced, PE pocketed the exit, and now the new owners are caving to a right-wing petition to strip Pride flags from every location.
Full story on the stock wipeout: https://missionlocal.org/2025/07/philz-coffee-private-equity-sell/
Philz Coffee, a San Francisco-born coffee chain, will remove Pride flags from all of its locations, the company said Wednesday, after an online petition criticizing the move spread rapidly on social media. https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/philz-coffee-pride-flags-ban-22195803.php?taid=69d6dbdf6196360001551e6e&utm_campaign=trueanthem%2B3988&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Private equity gutted Philz employee shareholders for $145M and now the new owners are stripping Pride flags, a perfect two-act story of what PE acquisition actually looks like in practice.
Source
x.com