Absolute Priority

Who gets what, when Kingdom Comes (or at least in financial death)? Absolute priority stipulates that, for example, creditors get paid before pretty much anyone else. And there's a whole pecking order here. Creditors first. Like, the guy who redid all the toilets in the factory gets paid before, say, bondholders...even the most senior. Creditors get absolute priority in payback when the politician hits the fan and a company goes bust.

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Finance: What are Junior and Senior Debt...7 Views

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Finance a la shmoop what are senior and junior debt? or like what's the

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difference between them well what are they they're debt in a bankruptcy senior

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debt collects what they're owed ahead of junior debt shockingly yep laws of the [Debt transferring to senior debt]

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jungle remember the debt stack? vendors to the

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company collect first then employees then the IRS of course because while

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they always have their hands up in your bidness [Woman flips over stack of papers on womans desk]

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then come senior bonds then come junior then come unsecured bonds also known as

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debentures then subordinated debenture like debentures below debentures and

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there are all kinds of granular things in the bonds above we're very sorry if

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one day in your career you have to care about all of this okay then moving down [Man discussing debt stack]

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the stack then there's preferred stock which collects after the most

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subordinated debentures collect generally and then finally there's

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common stock and well really finally then there's death and well in taxes [Uncle Sam appears at grave stone]

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)