I said less than 50 employees. This is also in a place where cost of living is low and employee turnover is high. To say they make substantially less than $60k

I said less than 50 employees. This is also in a place where cost of living is low and employee turnover is high. To say they make substantially less than $60k a year is accurate, but they still make enough to live on (unlike double that amount in SF). You're also assuming all 50 of those employees are salaried and/or full time. Not all of them are. He's making a healthy profit. That has nothing to do with the stress. Some people just don't deal well with the risk and unknowns that come with owning a business. These are only two of many stories I know of people doing very odd things under the stress of business ownership. I'm sure people here can provide more.