>Selling to Private Equity is almost never what any founder would have wanted, as their job is to slice and dice, "cut the fat" and sell the pieces to different highest bidders.
Depends on the founder, I'm happy that the OP decided to look after his workers, but there's no loyalty in business.
Many founders would just look at the largest payday and be done with it.
I guess you can have a George Lucas moment and criticize the new owners for destroying what you made, but you're sitting nice with your profits.
OP comes off as someone who was already really comfortable, and the business appears to of been profitable.
But it would have been a completely different story if they were losing money, at a point you might just have to sell the company for parts and cut your losses.
Maybe offer some of the lifers generous severance packages.
Depends on the founder, I'm happy that the OP decided to look after his workers, but there's no loyalty in business.
Many founders would just look at the largest payday and be done with it.
I guess you can have a George Lucas moment and criticize the new owners for destroying what you made, but you're sitting nice with your profits.
OP comes off as someone who was already really comfortable, and the business appears to of been profitable.
But it would have been a completely different story if they were losing money, at a point you might just have to sell the company for parts and cut your losses.
Maybe offer some of the lifers generous severance packages.