February 22, 2026
Your portfolio’s getting rinsed
LGP to take Mister Car Wash private in $3.1B deal
Wall Street bubbles, soapy stocks, and furious car wash customers react
TLDR: Mister Car Wash is being taken private in a $3.1 billion deal at $7 a share, and small investors are split between feeling lowballed and relieved to cash out. Commenters are joking about “wallet rinse cycles,” while arguing if this is smart business or just another win for big-money insiders.
Mister Car Wash just got scooped up in a $3.1 billion private buyout, and the internet is absolutely foaming. On one side, you’ve got small investors furious that Leonard Green & Partners is taking the company private at $7 a share, calling it “a clearance sale for insiders” and accusing Wall Street of “washing away” regular people’s gains. Others clap back that the stock’s been stuck in the mud for ages, saying a 29% bonus on the recent price is “about as good as this soggy sponge was ever gonna get.”
Subscribers to the company’s unlimited wash plans are more worried about their monthly bill than shareholder drama. One popular comment joked that “step 1: go private, step 2: raise prices, step 3: blame inflation,” sparking a whole meme thread about $30 car washes and “private equity rinse cycles.” Some finance nerds try to explain that going private lets the company invest more in staff and tech without Wall Street breathing down its neck, but they’re drowned out by memes of CEOs with leaf blowers literally “drying” customers’ wallets.
The big fight: is this smart business or just another case of rich investors grabbing the good stuff before anyone else can? The only thing everyone agrees on: someone’s about to pay more for a basic rinse.
Key Points
- •Leonard Green & Partners will acquire all remaining public shares of Mister Car Wash for $7 per share in cash, valuing the company at $3.1 billion.
- •The offer represents a 29% premium to Mister Car Wash’s 90-day volume-weighted average share price through February 17.
- •LGP currently owns about 67% of Mister Car Wash, first investing in the company in 2014, and plans to delist it from NASDAQ after closing, expected in the first half of 2026.
- •CEO John Lai says going private will allow Mister Car Wash to invest more aggressively in stores, workforce, and technology, supporting its goal to triple its footprint.
- •A special committee of independent board members unanimously approved and recommended the deal, supported by separate financial and legal advisors, while LGP-affiliated directors recused themselves.