you weren't kidding,

The term privatizing first appeared in English, with quotation marks, in the New York Times, in April 1923, in a translation of a German speech referring to the potential for German state railroads to be bought by American companies.[5] In German, the word Privatisierung has been used since at least the 19th century.[6] Ultimately, the word came to German through French from the Latin privatus.[7]

The term reprivatization, again translated directly from German (Reprivatisierung), was used frequently in the mid-1930s as The Economist reported on Nazi Germany's sale of nationalized banks back to public shareholders following the 1931 economic crisis. (link)

It always felt, in my adulthood, like they are trying to sell off anything they can in the US like we're a defunct company about to go out of business and the new ceo is trying to scam as much as possible. Guess that's just another point for America being like Germany before a fascist takeover.