[carlosjobim]

Owners would never sell their business to young tradespeople for any less than twice the value. The hatred that the old have against the young is just too strongly ingrained.

They'll be fine with selling for much less to a "worthy" buyer though, such as a private equity firm.

[sudobash1]

That seems a very cynical view, and it doesn't ring true to me. Anecdotally, I know of multiple business that were built up by one person, and then practically gifted to the employees. Some people really care about the business, customers, and employees.

[carlosjobim]

> Anecdotally, I know of multiple business that were built up by one person, and then practically gifted to the employees.

And when was that? Because that's how it used to be, a business would go to the children or a child of the owner, or go to the employees. But that trend has changed and that's why we're reading this article. More small/medium business owners send their kids to study for different careers, and the relationship between owners and employees aren't the same as they might have been in the past. The owner generally feel a lot of resentment towards his employees because they are mere workers and not as successful as him, and partly because their salaries are an expense that he doesn't feel it is fair that he has to pay. The current generation of old people are quite different from previous.