# Can a shutting down company license its Slack to AI?

> Searching whether a closing company can sell its Slack to AI? Some have licensed theirs. Delaware ties a sale of substantially all assets to a stockholder vote.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/can-a-shutting-down-company-sell-its-slack-to-ai  
Published: 2026-07-08  
Updated: 2026-10-14

## The short answer

Some already have. SimpleClosure has processed about 100 such deals at $10,000 to $100,000 per company. Delaware's section 271 ties a sale of substantially all assets to board action and a stockholder vote. Section 281(c) shields directors who follow it. Ask counsel how that fits your company.

In a shutdown, the board and stockholders decide what happens to the archive. That makes this a corporate law question before it is a data question.

## Who is licensing, and for how much?

[Gizmodo reported](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916), citing Forbes, that [SimpleClosure](/buyers/simpleclosure)'s platform had processed nearly 100 deals over the past year. Payouts ran from $10,000 to $100,000 per company. Treat these as reported figures.

SimpleClosure's CEO [wrote](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/guides/how-real-are-those-million-dollar-data-offers/) that assets have come from more than 350 companies.

The [Asset Hub page](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/insights/simpleclosure-asset-hub/) names source code and workspace data. It describes that data as documents, communications and institutional knowledge.

SimpleClosure's CEO tells founders to do four things:

- check a buyer's completed deals
- define what transfers
- review files for confidential third-party material
- get agreements that state actual prices and payment timelines

## What does Delaware require when a shutting-down company sells its assets?

For a Delaware corporation, [section 271](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc10/index.html) lets a board sell all or substantially all of the company's property. A majority of the outstanding stock entitled to vote must approve it. That vote happens at a meeting called on at least 20 days' notice.

Whether a data sale counts as substantially all of the assets depends on the company.

For a dissolved corporation, [section 281](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc10/index.html) sets out how to provide for known and contingent claims. Section 281(c) shields directors who follow it from personal liability to claimants. Section 282 caps a stockholder's liability at what was paid out to them.

## What stays in place after the company closes?

Contracts with customers and partners don't disappear because the company did. The people in the messages are still people.

I found no case on data-subject claims against a dissolved company. As far as my search goes, the shield's reach over privacy claims is untested.

What your staff may object to is on [licensing employee emails](/answers/can-i-sell-employee-emails-to-ai). The ombudsman process is explained in [what a consumer privacy ombudsman is](/answers/what-is-a-consumer-privacy-ombudsman).

Talk to an insolvency or corporate lawyer in your state before you sign. The [managed readiness page](/managed-readiness) covers how we help you assemble the file for that conversation.

Figure: steps Board, stockholder vote (271) -> Directors plan for claims (281) -> Stockholder liability cap (282). Delaware ties a shutdown sale to stockholder approval, then to a plan for claims.

_Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one._

## Sources

- [Gizmodo reported](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916)
- [wrote](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/guides/how-real-are-those-million-dollar-data-offers/)
- [Asset Hub page](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/insights/simpleclosure-asset-hub/)
- [section 271](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc10/index.html)

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