- Personal: the case made it clear that commuting to Japan had taken an emotional toll on Eberhart's family. However, by bringing on a full-time Japanese CEO, Eberhart's time commitment to the company had been reduced.
- Cash Crunch: the company is at a place where it needs to raise money to finance their expansion efforts. It is 2007 and financing from the United States is about to be difficult to secure. Theoretically Eberhart could look elsewhere for financing but it might be a very painful task.
- Reputation of the company: Eberhart cares about the reputational well-being of the company he built and wants to leave it in good hands.
- Profit: Eberhart cares mostly about profit. The last valuation of the company put it at $10 million, given the growth in revenues and market growth, it's realistic to believe the current offer is for $20 million or more. He has given away over 45% of the company. Assuming he owns 30%, this would be a generous payout of $6 million. Even if he only owns 20%, the payout would be $4 million. Given that he worked for 9 years (receiving a salary for only 2) he would get around half a million per year that he worked. This is not a bad deal.
Given these factors, I recommend that Eberhart sell and invest his money after the financial crisis in the United States. Since he'll be cash rich going into a recession he will be able to make higher return than he might've been able to do on WineInStyle.
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