Anything You Want

Why I gave my company to charity

Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Hel er were at a party at a bil ionaire's extravagant

estate. Kurt said, “Wow! Look at this place! This guy has everything!”

Joseph said, “Yes, but I have something he'l never have.... Enough.”

When I decided to sel CD Baby, I already had enough.

I  live  simply.  I  don't  own  a  house,  a  car,  or  even  a  TV.  The  less  I  own,  the

happier I am. The lack of stuff gives me the priceless freedom to live anywhere

anytime.

So I didn't need or even want the money from the sale of the company. I just

wanted to make sure I had enough for a simple, comfortable life. The rest should

go to music education because that's what made such a difference in my life.

I  created  a  charitable  trust  cal  ed  the  Independent  Musicians  Charitable

Remainder Unitrust. When I die, al of its assets wil go to music education.

But while I'm alive, it pays out 5 percent of its value per year to me.

A few months before the sale, I transferred al the CD Baby assets into the trust.

It was irreversibly and irrevocably gone. It was no longer mine. It al belonged to

the charitable trust.

Then, when Disc Makers bought CD Baby, they bought it not from me but from

the trust, turning it into $22 mil ion cash to benefit music education.

It's not that I'm altruistic. I'm sacrificing nothing. I've just learned what makes

me happy. And doing it this way made me the happiest.

I get the deeper happiness of knowing that the lucky streak I've had in my life

wil benefit tons of people—not just me.

I  get  the  pride  of  knowing  I  did  something  irreversibly  smart  before  I  could

change my mind.

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I get the safety of knowing I won't be the target of wrongful lawsuits, since I

have very little net worth.

I  get  the  unburdened  freedom  of  having  it  out  of  my  hands  so  I  can't  do

something stupid.

But most of al , I get the constant priceless reminder that I have enough.

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