Closing your business? Your data may still sell
You can, and most reported company data deals so far have come from businesses that closed. Start early, alongside your dissolution filings and before software exports lapse. Expect the money to go to creditors and investors before shareholders, and expect limits on customer data: in bankruptcy, a privacy policy that forbids transfer can block its sale.
Can you sell your company's data when you close?
Yes, and closing companies are the biggest source of these deals so far. Forbes reported in April 2026 that one wind-down firm had arranged nearly 100 sales of shut-down startups' Slack, email and Jira archives in a year, at $10,000 to $100,000 each. The buyers are AI labs and the companies that build practice environments for AI agents.
Don't expect the money to reach you or your staff first. The proceeds "typically flow to senior creditors and investors", not to employees, MIT Technology Review reported in October 2026.
When should you start?
As soon as the decision to close is made. SimpleClosure, which runs these sales, puts it bluntly: "The window to maximize proceeds is narrow," and it advises starting "your asset inventory and outreach process in parallel with your dissolution filings, not after them."
- Exports expire: Zendesk, for example, lets customers export "during and 30 days after the Subscription Term". Once a tool's account closes, the data may be gone.
- People leave: the staff who know what's in each system are the ones who can help scope a sale.
- Records still have to be kept: the IRS says to keep records for 3 years in most cases, and employment tax records "for at least 4 years". Keep your own copies even if you license the data.
Who decides, and who gets the money?
It depends on how you close.
| How you close | Who decides | Who is paid from the sale |
|---|---|---|
| Dissolution (e.g. in Delaware) | Your board, sometimes with shareholder consent | Obligations first, then shareholders in order of liquidation preference |
| Assignment for the benefit of creditors | An independent assignee, not you | Creditors, by legal priority |
| Bankruptcy | The trustee, with the court's approval | Creditors, by legal priority |
In a dissolution, "selling material assets outside the ordinary course of business typically requires board approval," SimpleClosure notes, and a Delaware corporation "has three years to liquidate assets after dissolution." In an assignment for the benefit of creditors, the assignee "is functionally similar to a bankruptcy trustee" and "distributes the net proceeds of sale to the company's creditors", law firm Mayer Brown explains.
Can you sell customer data in bankruptcy?
Only within limits. If your privacy policy promised not to transfer customers' personal information, the US Bankruptcy Code says the trustee "may not sell or lease personally identifiable information to any person unless" the sale is consistent with that policy, or the court approves it after a consumer privacy ombudsman has reviewed it.
Regulators have pushed for strict conditions. When RadioShack's customer data was up for sale in 2015, the FTC asked that it be sold "only to another entity that is in substantially the same line of business", that the buyer "agree to be bound by the RadioShack privacy policies", and that customers give "affirmative consent" before any materially different use.
Spirit Airlines shows how it plays out now. Its sale of business data to Google "explicitly excludes all customer and loyalty data", Skift reported, and the court's privacy ombudsman recommended approval in October 2026, finding that "the potential privacy losses or costs to consumers have been eliminated or mitigated." Even without bankruptcy, leaving customer records out is the simplest path. See is selling company data legal.
What about your employees' data?
Their messages are in the archive, and they may object. Spirit's flight attendants' union objected to the sale on privacy grounds, MIT Technology Review reported, and a law professor quoted there argued that employers should get express consent before selling workers' data.
Tell staff before the data moves, remove HR files and personal details, and keep private messages out where you can. How staff data is treated in general is covered in who owns your company's data.
A checklist for selling data when you close
- Decide early, and get board approval for the sale alongside the decision to close.
- List every system, its years of history, and when its subscription ends.
- Export what you need to keep for records, and what you might license, before access ends.
- Check customer contracts and your privacy policy; plan to leave customer data out.
- Remove HR files, client work held under contract, and anything under an NDA.
- Tell staff what is being sold and what is excluded.
- Compare a wind-down platform, a broker and a marketplace on fees, in writing. See how to sell company data to AI.
- Have a lawyer confirm who must approve the sale and who gets the proceeds.
A closing company is one case where an outright sale can make sense; see perpetual vs term data licenses. Not sure the data is worth the effort? See if your data can sell.
Questions
Can I sell my company's data when I close the business?
Yes. Closing companies are the biggest source of reported deals: one wind-down firm arranged nearly 100 in a year, at $10,000 to $100,000 each. Start early, before software exports lapse.
Who gets the money from selling a closed company's data?
Usually creditors and investors first. In a dissolution, obligations are paid before shareholders, in order of liquidation preference; in an assignment or bankruptcy, creditors are paid by legal priority.
Can a bankrupt company sell its customer data?
Only within limits. If its privacy policy forbade transfer, the sale needs to match that policy or be approved by the court after a consumer privacy ombudsman reviews it.
How long do I have to export data from my software after closing?
It depends on each tool. Zendesk, for example, allows export during and 30 days after the subscription ends. Check every tool's terms before cancelling.
Do I need to keep records after closing my business?
Yes. The IRS says to keep records for 3 years in most cases and employment tax records for at least 4 years, so keep your own copies even if you license the data.
Sources
- Failed companies are selling old Slack chats and email archives to train AI (17 April 2026) Gizmodo, reporting Forbes
- AI labs are buying data from dead startups to train their models (13 October 2026) MIT Technology Review
- How to sell your startup's assets before you close (14 April 2026) SimpleClosure
- ABC: assignments for the benefit of creditors (17 February 2023) Mayer Brown, law firm
- 11 U.S. Code § 363, use, sale, or lease of property Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- FTC requests bankruptcy court take steps to protect RadioShack consumers' personal information (18 May 2015) Federal Trade Commission
- Google scoops up Spirit Airlines' data in bankruptcy sale to train AI (17 August 2026) Skift
- Spirit's privacy ombudsman backs Google's $10m data deal (9 October 2026) The Next Web
- Main Services Agreement Zendesk
- How long should I keep records? Internal Revenue Service