![\"Cashing_Out\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Cashing_Out.jpg\")
<\/a>Finally it arrives and you see the balance in your account jump to a number you\u2019ve never seen there before.\u00a0 You pause for a minute to savor the victory.\u00a0 And you go back to what you were doing right before that moment.\u00a0 Or not.\u00a0 But the closing was such a non-event that you wonder why people even call it a \u201cclosing.\u201d<\/p>\nCongratulations.\u00a0 You have joined an exclusive club, and have earned your membership.<\/p>\n
[Email readers, continue here…]\u00a0<\/em> <\/span>It used to be thrilling to participate in a real \u201clive\u201d closing.\u00a0 The date and time of the closing would be published for all interested parties.\u00a0 The lawyers for both buyer and seller would meet the day before to go over a \u201ctrial closing\u201d to be sure all documents were ready to sign.\u00a0 And on the appointed morning, often at 10 AM, all attorneys, the investment bankers, you and your buyer\u2019s CEO would all gather in a large conference room with documents already spread around the conference table.\u00a0 After pleasantries, you and your opposite CEO would pick up your (fountain) pens and start moving around the table, signing agreements in the appointed spots until your fingers were weak from the effort.\u00a0 The lawyers would follow and check, then finally all nod that the work was done.\u00a0 A handshake, applause, a promise to meet the next day, and a celebration closing meal either immediately following or at a future time sealed the deal for all.<\/p>\n Those were the days.\u00a0 The smell of the newly-copied papers, the smudges from the fountain pen ink, the tension followed by smiles all around, all contributed to the feeling that something grand was happening.<\/p>\n My favorite closing followed this pattern with a twist. \u00a0There must have been 25 of us that arrived for a 4:00 PM closing after the day-before trial closing by the attorneys.\u00a0 We all expected to be finished and out of there for a late dinner.\u00a0 At five the next morning, after an all-night session with revisions, midnight calls to the buyer\u2019s parent CEO in New York and more, we finally signed the papers, all completely worn out from the many anxious moments and long, long night.\u00a0 All the parties vowed to go home and get some sleep.\u00a0 I went home, took a shower, and went to work as if a typical day, working now as CEO of a subsidiary of a parent company.\u00a0 And yes, I checked the bank account every half hour for the wire transfer.\u00a0 Some things do not change.<\/p>\n For those of you who ever experience the muted thrill of today\u2019s electronic closing, you can give a nod to those days when the smoke-filled rooms were real and the tension palatable, when a closing was a face to face event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now you have worked for months to get this deal to the closing, anticipating the wire transfers to the shareholders that will come any minute.\u00a0\u00a0 This could change your life style and give you that much needed pause in your … Continue reading