The model we have used to explain the existence of minority shareholders and debt in the
capital structure of corporations implies that the owner-manager, if he resorts to any outside
funding, will have his entire wealth invested in the firm. The reason is that he can thereby avoid
the agency costs which additional outside funding impose. This suggests he would not resort to
outside funding until he had invested 100 percent of his personal wealth in the firm—an implication
which is not consistent with what we generally observe. Most owner-managers hold personal
wealth in a variety of forms, and some have only a relatively small fraction of their wealth
invested in the corporation they manage.62 Diversification on the part of owner-managers can be
explained by risk aversion and optimal portfolio selection.