During that same period, investment firms engaged in leveraged buyouts (LBO deals), which allowed small companies to buy larger ones using high-yield debt, known as junk bonds. The debt was repaid with the assets of the acquired company. The companies so acquired were often stripped of their assets, which were then sold, leaving little more than a shell behind. The largest example of an LBO was the purchase in 1988 of RJR Nabisco. The LBO was set off by RJR Nabisco’s chief executive, who proposed to take the company private. Other takeover firms quickly jumped in. When the fight ended, Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co won with a bid of $25 billion. It was the largest LBO of its time, but it was only one of several takeovers that took place during the go-go 1980s.