The Long View
Exploring how ownership transitions shape people, communities, and what comes next.
Are You Buying a Business or Inheriting Its Debt?
Over the next decade, more than six million baby boomer-owned small businesses will face ownership transitions. Up to five trillion dollars in enterprise value is in motion. The opportunity is real.
So is the debt.
On a recent episode of Ethical Exits, Up & Over Advisors founder Hannah Sandmeyer sat down with Maura Shenker of AllHold Capital, who works at the intersection of economic mobility and ownership design. Maura offered a distinction that every aspiring buyer needs to hear before they sign anything.
"There is no great wealth transfer," she said. "It's a debt transfer."
Understanding why that may be true, and what to do about it, is what this post is about.
The Great Ownership Transfer: What $5 Trillion in Exiting Businesses Means for Mission-Driven Buyers and Sellers
Over the next decade, more than six million small businesses will change hands as baby boomer owners retire, putting up to $5 trillion in enterprise value in motion. Nearly 92% of businesses that exit the market close entirely rather than sell. At Up & Over Advisors, we help mission-driven buyers and sellers navigate this moment with intention, so businesses stay alive, communities stay whole, and ownership becomes more accessible to more people.