[mailshanx]

Maybe he already cashed out? We increasingly hear of founders taking money off the table by selling a part of their share when it comes time to raise a series-B or later round. SoundCloud was likely well past the series-B stage, and i wouldn't be surprised if the founder already has a few million in the bank.

[cupcakestand]

They have. But still, every founder wants to avoid such situations. The founding team's reputation went from sky to hell within few weeks. Not nice and nobody wants to loose their face like this.

[erikb]

Yes he already cashed out, but apparently too early. For a normal life with a house and a little travel here and there his money is enough, but for this from-burning-man-to-private-jet lifestyle he will be broke in 5 years. A Twitter buyout would have made his lifestyle probably viable though.

Now it will produce shaming news for 1-2 years before someone buys it for a few million, drops 80% of the staff and then turns it into a low-level cash cow to fund his own private jet.