Former Bain Capital partner says Romney was 'legally' CEO of Bain Capital until 2002

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29. It would depend on whether Mitt had a financial interest in the specific deals.

Think of Bain as an ocean liner with many watertight compartments. Each compartment is created as a LLC, corporation, partnership, etc. separate from the whole and separate from each other.

That way, if a particular deal makes money, some of it flows to the owners of the specific deal. If a particular deal goes sour, the losses affect only the capital furnished by participants in the specific deal. Even a spectacularly bad deal, e.g. you buy a company with what turns out to be an EPA superfund site, it doesn't sink Bain as a whole and it doesn't create an unlimited liability for the participants.

Romney has both an MBA and a JD from Harvard.

Setting up ownership structures to maximize control with minimum assets, limit liability, minimize taxes, and maximize returns is corporate law 101.