Raj Peter Bhakta

It’s a sad tale that former friends are seeking to take the company from its founder and 50 percent owner and put it on the block. But I have known these guys for a long time, i was totally blindsided by their threat that if I didn’t sell I would be bankrupted in court and have my character assassinated in the public square.

Raj Peter Bhakta

There was part of me that was petrified. These are rich and powerful people who threatened me with ruin. No rational person wouldn’t take that threat seriously. On the other hand, I thought about what I was fighting for, this is my farm, where I live with my two daughters and my pregnant wife. This is not just a business, this is not some piece of dirt, like a mall, some piece of real estate, this is my home. I have put my heart and soul into this. I have gotten our employees to buy into a long-term vision of creating the finest whiskey company in the world and I felt like I needed to fight for that, for this being the right thing for our society and civilization, as opposed to gangster capitalism.

Raj Peter Bhakta

All good propaganda and lies contain elements of truth. So, have I been a hard-charging, hard-partying guy? Absolutely. Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. Am I a criminal and a fraud? Absolutely not. Absolutely not, these are classic dirty tricks used by a capitalist class and their lawyers to bully and intimidate an entrepreneur and a businessman to doing what they want.

Raj Peter Bhakta

Entrepreneurs need to be very, very careful. Underline, ‘very, very careful,’ about who they take money from. It’s a very difficult decision, when you are growing and you need the money, you really want to take the money, you can’t create the business if you don’t take the money, but on the other hand, you take the money and sometimes you find that you have made a deal with the devil.

Raj Peter Bhakta