Encore Capital Group, Inc., and subsidiaries form the largest publicly traded debt buyer by revenue in the United States. They purchase "portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables from major banks, credit unions, and utility providers," and recover collectable debt from these accounts. Jake Halpern author of Bad Paper, described Encore Capital as a "behemoth" in the American debt-industry complex. At the corporate level debt collection is highly profitable and Encore Capital enjoyed soaring revenues from $316 million in 2009 to $773 million in 2013. The firm is a publicly traded NASDAQ Global Select company, a component stock of the Russell 2000, the S&P SmallCap 600, and the Wilshire 4500.