42 public companies are returning their small business loans after Mnuchin threat

Steven Mnuchin.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's threats may have worked, at least in part.

The Associated Press reports 42 public companies as of Wednesday have agreed to return the $337 million they received as part of the federal government's small business loan strategy known as the Payroll Protection Program. The PPP was set up to help small businesses pay their employees, but larger companies like Shake Shack and the Los Angeles Lakers drew criticism when they were also revealed as recipients (both have returned the money).

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.