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Judge Rejects Sale of Infowars to The Onion
(www.nytimes.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
They wanted the sale to go to the Onion and not some conservative hate group more than the money. They were fully on board with taking the lower amount.
There’s a legal eagle vid that explains the math:
https://youtu.be/GmDNz7irGgw?si=U3u-_vcJESrMLVdQ
I’m no lawyer, but is that how these things work? The state is selling the company to pay a debt. The family owns the debt, not the company. They don’t get to decide how much value gets generated from the sale of the company. So it’s the states duty to maximize the proceeds.
The estate has a duty to maximize the value of the liquidation, and pay back creditors as best it can. Specifically to settle the debts.
While a creditor can't dictate the value of the estate, they can offer to forgive debt, which is the same for the purposes of the estate.
If the cancelled debt would have been worth more than the cash, then the creditors would be rightfully furious if the state instead sold the asset for less cash and paid them that way.
If you owe me $50k, and I tell you your watch is worth $5k to me, and instead you sell it for $250 and give me that while declaring bankruptcy so I don't get anything else, that's a terrible outcome for me, and great for you if you sold the watch to your friend who then gave it back to you in exchange for $250 later.
Yes, it is more complicated than just money.