Selling my business

JCarterVA said:   enc0re said:   If you want a steady big bank that isn't Wall Street, Swiss private banking would be the obvious solution. There are many to choose from, Julius Baer is probably the biggest one.

While I'm not in your situation and can only imagine what it would be like, I would be really tempted to put it into Vanguard's tax managed fund (VTMFX), live off the distributions, and never think about it again.

Do you want to leave any to your heirs or consume it all yourself? If the latter, you could buy a well-diversified set of life annuities.

I plan on leaving some to any little JCarterVAs which come about in the future.They may start coming out of the woodwork any day now....

Is this Pintrest?

Congrats on your success - the modesty will serve you very well with the new found wealth. What are the other partner(s) doing with their shares?

1.) I work with the public PE shops - they are the 900 lb gorilla who will not bend for a deal, or change a term sheet, but you're cashing out, so don't worry about it
2.) Interview the major asset managers to see who you're comfortable with. The large banks can offer extreme diversification that smaller managers may not have access too. I'd break the money up between 3-5 of them ... and if you enjoy the service of one better, double up the investment.
3.) Others have recommended a family office - but without someone you trust with your life, this sounds like a dangerous decision
4.) Do not underestimate the power of diversification in a large portfolio of money. You will need proper exposure to different asset classes to maximize your nest egg and to limit potential losses. Putting a significant amount in any asset is a poor idea.
5.) If advisers cannot easily explain how they would invest your money - avoid them.

I'm looking forward to an update of this thread.

mrkk said:   I would move to India
Learn some yoga/meditation/see the world for 3 years

and try to figure out why the hell does their bank pay 10% interest to indians

I will go see the world, but I am not moving to India. Last time I went there was for a service spring break, I came back with food poisoning. Good curry though.

Spac3d said:   Is this Pintrest?

Congrats on your success - the modesty will serve you very well with the new found wealth. What are the other partner(s) doing with their shares?

1.) I work with the public PE shops - they are the 900 lb gorilla who will not bend for a deal, or change a term sheet, but you're cashing out, so don't worry about it
2.) Interview the major asset managers to see who you're comfortable with. The large banks can offer extreme diversification that smaller managers may not have access too. I'd break the money up between 3-5 of them ... and if you enjoy the service of one better, double up the investment.
3.) Others have recommended a family office - but without someone you trust with your life, this sounds like a dangerous decision
4.) Do not underestimate the power of diversification in a large portfolio of money. You will need proper exposure to different asset classes to maximize your nest egg and to limit potential losses. Putting a significant amount in any asset is a poor idea.
5.) If advisers cannot easily explain how they would invest your money - avoid them.

I'm looking forward to an update of this thread.

(1) Exactly.
(2) I'll keep that in mind.
(3) What is a family office exactly? Don't really understand it from what I can Google.
(4) Understood.
(5) I plan on it.

I'll keep it updated as time progresses.

drnyinyithan said:   Hey!!! JCarterVA, your post is so popular now, all the FatWalleteers are responding to you , and soon you will be the owner of most responded post in history of Fatwallet, Congratulations!!!!

Thanks, not quite what I was looking for, but it's quite a feat none the less.

http://www.gfmag.com/tools/best-banks/10533-worlds-50-safest-banks-2010.html

JCarterVA said:   Hello all,
I'm a bit boggled and jostled as this has all come on quite fast and heavy, so apologies in advance if this reads a bit scattered. I appreciate any advice given.

JCarter - Assuming this is for real:
These transactions are quite complicated in nature, usually to keep all parties protected.
Is this a tech related business?
I'm not on the exec side, but I've watched a few business owners go from "doing OK" to selling their business for a ton of money.

A few things:
1) The transactions were complicated and usually involved escrow, 3rd party inspection, and quite a bit of protected disclosures and audit. The company I'm working for now still has money held in escrow a year later to protect all parties.
2) The principles were never restricted from working for X years, they were simply restricted from working as a direct competitor. The last one took the same business idea, built a new team, and applied the same thing to a different vertical.
3) Find a lawyer, more likely a law firm that has done this several times. Don't shop on your own. Find VCs with clients on their roster that can give you good independent advice.

Thank you all for your advice, and input. Right now I am trying to digest it all and here is where I stand so far:

I'll be sending emails/making calls tomorrow to the following:
- JPMorgan Private Bank
- Fidelity Personalized Portfolio
- UBS Private Wealth Management
- Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management
- Credit Suisse Private Banking
- http://tinyurl.com/7jzjjwo made for an interesting read (PDF)
- Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group
- ML apparently does retain *some* independence from BoA.
- Vanguard Flagship
- Schwab Private Client
- Bank New York Mellon Individual Wealth Management
- Northern Trust Wealth Management
- Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management
- US Bank Private Client Reserve

I would appreciate comments/experiences/notions regarding any of the above.

I am focused right now on trying to finish this deal up, and placing my money into an account somewhere for probably 30 days or so to allow me to have meetings with the above firms.

Secondly, I hate to fly due to TSA molestation procedures. I don't anticipate paying large amounts of cash to utilize a private jet just to be molested and fly in comfort. First class does exist for that.

Third, I am researching Texas, Oregon, Wyoming and Delaware which are all states which do not have any sort of income tax. Someone also pointed out that there is a town for sale (yes an actual town) in Wyoming that I could have to myself, thanks for that.

I'll keep you all updated as things progress.

dcg9381 said:   JCarterVA said:   Hello all,
I'm a bit boggled and jostled as this has all come on quite fast and heavy, so apologies in advance if this reads a bit scattered. I appreciate any advice given.

JCarter - Assuming this is for real:
These transactions are quite complicated in nature, usually to keep all parties protected.
Is this a tech related business?
I'm not on the exec side, but I've watched a few business owners go from "doing OK" to selling their business for a ton of money.

A few things:
1) The transactions were complicated and usually involved escrow, 3rd party inspection, and quite a bit of protected disclosures and audit. The company I'm working for now still has money held in escrow a year later to protect all parties.
2) The principles were never restricted from working for X years, they were simply restricted from working as a direct competitor. The last one took the same business idea, built a new team, and applied the same thing to a different vertical.
3) Find a lawyer, more likely a law firm that has done this several times. Don't shop on your own. Find VCs with clients on their roster that can give you good independent advice.

Yes this is a technology related business.

(1) It is fairly complicated, but it is all worked out fairly nicely by those who have done these things before.
(2) Apparently it is different in this case, with this PE firm.
(3) We have retained counsel, which has negotiated contracts with the likes of Goldman/Merrill/JPMorgan to underwrite IPO's and sell outs to Google/Yahoo/Microsoft, etc.

Thank you for your input.

Seconding the recco on Northern Trust. They manage my family's money.

I wouldn't let that business go to one of the vampire squids for anything. Don't be somebody's muppet.

I'd stash the whole lot of it in bullion in a vault before I cast it into the hives of scum and villainy at all of the prop hedge funds masquerading as banks.

Take an extended vacation and change your phone number. Keep your closet friends and family even closer, they will help protect you from the scavengers. When you start thinking about all of this and your heart starts racing and you can't breathe, just step back and take deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

HumDoHamaraDo said:   Happy to hear someone on FWF hitting big, someday you should tell us your real id.

Once this is announced, I plan to.

JCarterVA said:   Yes, and per non-disclosure I also understand I can't divulge anything which would give exact contents of the deal out until it has been publicly announced.

There's more ways to queer a deal than just a technical breach of an NDA. Would you want your counterparties on the buy side reading your thoughts here?

Remember what Gordon Gekko said about information. That's how they think, and it's the truth.

tzeric said:   Spac3d said:   Is this Pintrest?


Not denied hmm!

My mistake.....

Denied.

tzeric said:   Spac3d said:   Is this Pintrest?


Not denied hmm!
It's not him. Ben Silbermann got married not that long ago. Of course, he could be trying to throw us off his track. And maybe the $225 million is an entirely different number.
Congratulations, JCarterVa!

I'm sure this had to do with both, but was this more of dumb luck or hard work?

That's 225 million man, take it, deposit all of it in a bank or 2 at at least a 100 mil each and live off the monthly interest on your savings account. checks of 200 or a hundred thousand a month isn't too shabby.

Instagram?

Are you the graffiti guy who got $200 million in stock options from Facebook? In three years time, how about getting a higher education degree so your mind won't melt away?

sp00 said:   Carries 5 phones... has to be some kind of app

Or his distributorship is being bought out by some nice folks from Juarez.