When Facebook eventually goes public to raise some $5 billion in the largest net share offering in history, it’s not just co-founder Mark Zuckerberg who stands to gain.
Rumours are flying that one third of the company’s 3000+ employees will become instant millionaires. Or, more accurately, some will become instant millionaires and others will become millionaires for the second time. Or third. Or fourth.
You get the picture.
They were given stock options when they were hired (you might remember the diluting of shares that snagged co-founder Eduardo Saverin as told in the movie Social Network) and those shares are about to propel them into great(er) wealth.
Nice boss, right?
Well Zuck himself will be worth more than $1 billion for every year he has been alive. That’s $28 billion for 27 years. So he’s done well out of the business and employees who got in on the ground floor will cash in.
It’s been a week for nice bosses and an even better story originated right here.
Did you catch the generosity of Ken Granda, the bus company owner who splashed $15 million on his 1800 employees when he sold the business?
The SMH reported:
“The 79-year-old boss handed out an average of $8500 to each of his 1800 employees using the proceeds of the sale of the family owned business.
Workers thought their banks had made an error when they discovered thousands of dollars in their accounts.‘‘I get totally dismayed when you see some of the salaries the CEOs get paid,’’ he told radio station 3AW this morning. ‘‘It is far beyond what somebody is worth.”
Mr Grenda said the decision had prompted calls, emails and flowers from his employees, some of whom had worked with the company for several decades, as had their parents.
On ABC, Ken’s son Scott said it was the family way of saying goodbye to a true family business:
ELEANOR BELL: Scott Grenda told PM the benevolent gesture was an obvious extension to the ethos underpinning the company.
SCOTT GRENDA: Grandma, I can remember as a kid, she used to make fruitcake for all the employees at Christmas time. And we used to have employees coming and staying the night and those sorts of things. And growing up it was very much a family culture and it hasn’t changed.
Makes your cheeks glow, doesn’t it?
Who was the best (or worst) boss you’ve ever had? Are you a boss and how do you treat your employees?
