The Consequences of Publicity
What happens when people find out what you have.
"If you can keep your newfound wealth private, it may save you $1.8 million."
Meet Marcus. He sold his company for nearly $200 million, and because the buyer was a publicly traded company, the sale price, and his payday with it, went out in a press release the day the deal closed.
After we sold the company, there was nowhere to hide. Anyone who wanted to know what I made could get most of the way there with a Google search.
For years I didn't think that mattered. If anything it felt useful. The number gave me credibility.
Later I started a new venture with partners, and one of them and I ended up in a dispute. I want to describe that dispute the way it actually was: ordinary. Business partners fall out all the time. In any other version of this story, we cut our losses, shook hands, and went on with our lives. That's how these things end for people whose net worth isn't a search result.
That's not how it ended for me. He sued me on speculative grounds. After $700,000 in legal fees, my attorneys and I settled for $1.1 million. We expected to win at trial, but getting there would have cost more than settling did. An ordinary falling-out cost me $1.8 million.
Here's what I understand now: a lawsuit is a business decision. Before anyone sues you, they run the numbers on whether you're worth suing. When your wealth is public, that math is already done, for everyone, forever. Every partner, every deal, every falling-out you'll ever have comes with a price tag attached to your name.
He wasn't really suing over what happened between us. He was suing what he knew I could pay.
My financial windfall couldn't be private. The buyer of my company was a public company, and so was the price. I never got to keep my newfound wealth private. If you can, keep yours.
Up next · Lesson 25 The First-Year Playbook The short list for the first twelve months after the money arrives. Read next →