Proper 12's $600M Exit

Audie Attar shares the story of selling Proper 12 whiskey during COVID and his emotional reaction to the windfall.

"It's surreal because on one end it happened during COVID, so it was a weird time for all of us. You get there and you're pinching yourself. In this new age you don't have to go to the bank to print the receipt, you can just look at the app - I surely did that a few times just to be like 'what?'

But we hired more people, gave people raises, gave bonuses to people that had nothing to do with that part of the business, and invested back in the business. The first thing I bought was my mom a house and a car.

I was trying to stay grounded and do right by those important to you - both family and team. Because we were locked in at home, every night it was just surreal for my wife and I. Then you start thinking about 'do you tell your kids? Do you not? How do you raise them the right way and keep them hungry and humble?'

A lot of things change because you get there and realize you have to start planning, thinking, and acting differently. But then other unintended issues start to come up - unappreciative people think they deserve things, no matter what you give them. That's the reality - you have to take the good, the bad, the ugly and just keep evolving."