Chapter 12 - SEABROOK DIDN’T DIE WHEN I LEFTThe Whitmores did not lose everything.
That was another fantasy people liked because it made the story cleaner.
Robert negotiated.
The seller reduced the price modestly in exchange for a larger earn-out tied to future performance.
Whitmore sold a minority interest in one profitable event venue to a regional hospitality investor.
Painful.
Robert had wanted to keep it forever.
The sale raised enough liquidity to preserve the acquisition structure at a smaller scale.
The bank reduced the loan.
Renovations were phased.
Seabrook closed seven weeks late.
Not Monday.
My $1.25 million never went in.
The company also cut costs.
Twelve positions were eliminated across eighteen months.
Some through attrition.
Some not.
Real people were affected.
That hurt me.
But the independent review concluded Whitmore’s previous growth plan was too aggressive even if I had funded.
My investment would have delayed some pain.
Not eliminated it.
Robert eventually admitted that to me.
Not personally.
In a written statement during the divorce-related financial discovery.
Grant stepped away from acquisition authority for several months.
Later returned in a reduced operating role.
Robert postponed retirement.
Eleanor blamed me for that too.
I stopped answering her messages.
The company survived.
Smaller.
Less glamorous.
More honest.
May you like
Sometimes consequences are not ruin.
Sometimes they are losing the story you told yourself about how big you deserved to become.
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