Troubled Asset

Like a bridge over troubled asset... Yes, a fine song.

Families seem to have these all the time. Yes, that red-haired step-child, the goth kid who cuts...everything, that famous graduate of the local high school (who was famous for having stolen $20,000 worth of lab equipment). All troubled assets.

Well, companies have them as well. Even the vaunted Google (Alphabet, as they semi-cleverly renamed themselves) has had troubled assets. They purchased a robotics company in Boston, and didn't click with the founders. The business under the ownership of Alphabet flailed and sputtered and nearly died, until they sold that business back to the founders and other investors, and it reignited growth.

So troubled assets don't always remain troubled. Sometimes, it's just the environment or the flavoring of the meat on the spit that makes them palpable.