A "bailout" is a mitigation of consequences, generally supported by an injection of cash or a guarantee thereof. It can apply to any class of interests in an e

A "bailout" is a mitigation of consequences, generally supported by an injection of cash or a guarantee thereof. It can apply to any class of interests in an enterprise. "Shareholders were bailed", "bondholders were bailed out", "depositors were bailed" -- these are all possible sentences. Shareholder bailouts are the worst but there are negative consequences to all cases.