While I havent been a huge fan of their knife line up for some years short of an XL Voyager I bought a month or two ago on a whim, I have long held their specialty items in high regard. I probably own close to 12 of their tomahawks and axes.
My first "good" knife was a Carbon V Trailmaster i bought back in 2002. It was a gateway into what this hobby has to offer when you step up to the next tier. I will say that I eventually outgrew most of their products short of the axes and hawks that are durable bangs for your buck.
I don't see this ending well for the brand as we know it. Without Mr. Thompson at the wheel, I don't see how they keep pushing the high strength/high value/moderate price point angle. The profitable low hanging fruit for a larger company is going to be inexpensive and mass produced. I work in a business where manufacturers a purchased by big groups from time to time. It seems that those that have been bought and sold a time or two usually handle about the same. When one group buys it from another, they are just trying to figure out how to make it .05% more efficient/profitable above market projections and sell it in 5 years or something. Old workers get screwed, product gets sourced elsewhere, a bit more Styrofoam get added to the sausage to keep the price low and profits up. It works a bit.
However, I have seen a couple of first time bought companies struggle. One of the manufacturers I purchase a lot from is run by the son of the founder and has been for decades. The "Old man" retired a few years back and is a spry 86. His son is about 60 and the group offering to buy them overpaid them by what the owners figured was double (They figured $500,000,000-$600,000,000. The group thought $1.1B) Who wouldn't take that deal? Now the buying group has a company that they are basically upside down with and don't know how to run. My sales rep who has been at the game for 20 years says it's like a 9 year old getting behind the wheel of an F-1 racecar.
However, I see where Mr. Thompson is coming from. I run my family's business and I can tell you that I would fold like a house of cards and get out of here tomorrow for a fraction of a fraction of what some would as long as my dad, uncle, brother, and myself were all comfortable. No one runs a business because they owe it to someone else. You start it or buy it, build it, grow it, and then either sell it or pass it on. My family has been doing my line of work nearly SEVENTY years. 3 generations and my little brother is 20 years younger than me, so basically 4 generations. As I highly doubt my daughter wants a turn at this, it'll be up to my brother as to what happens and if we close up. I adore what we do, but I don't owe my LIFE to making sure I keep it going for my customers. At the end of the day, I want as many days in warm places enjoying the time I have left because I worked hard and not compelled to feel I have a debt to do it until I die. I don't fault Mr. Thompson for that if he chose the money path.