How Wealthy Connections Shape Deal Structures

At a Family Office Club event, Richard C. Wilson introduces Joe Williams as a co-founder of Keller Williams Real Estate, then discusses deal examples.

Richard C. Wilson speaks about the habits and deal structures he says help wealthy families keep building value. He connects knowing your strengths with working alongside excellent partners, then turns to examples from his own business dealings. The talk covers relationship driven access, negotiations that account for what each side values, and capital terms designed around downside and upside.

In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Family Office Club speaker)

What they said

1. Richard on matching strengths with partners. Richard says wealthy families understand which work suits them and partner with excellent people in profitable business models. He gives negotiating as an example of a skill someone might assign to a strong attorney, while keeping work that fits their own strengths.
2. Richard on structuring dentalclub.com. Richard says his team spent 18 months and 150 emails structuring the dentalclub.com acquisition. The sellers asked $3 million, but they wanted to keep one functionality his team did not need, so he says the team offered over 400K in change and moved ahead.
3. Richard on downside protection for an investor. Richard says he had put in $150,000 toward a $500,000 purchase of 23 pieces of medical intellectual property before one investor added $350,000. In his example, that investor would recover their money first in a $350k sale, was capped at a 2x return, and would start losing money below a $350,000 sale price.
4. Richard on Joe Williams and deal access. Richard says Joe Williams introduced his team to the top Keller Williams agent in Hawaii while they were looking to acquire several assets. He describes the advisory board arrangement with Joe as a way to reach people they otherwise would not have reached.

In their words

"They don't stop doing the smart business moves just because now they're ultra-wealthy."

"If we sell it for 700k, then we're both participating in the upside in a pro rata amount."

Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth

The dentalclub.com deal suggests a seller's retained functionality can matter more than matching a $3 million asking price. Richard's team could move ahead after separating that functionality from the rest of the asset.