Employees at a Louisiana factory got mind-boggling bonuses after their boss sold the company earlier this year.
Now former CEO of Fibrebond, Graham Walker, said he would not agree to sell if the buyer, Eaton, failed to earmark a percentage of the proceeds for those workers, the New York Post reported Thursday.
However, Eaton eventually acquired Fibrebond for $1.7 billion which meant each of Walker’s 540 full-time workers, who did not own stock, got bonus checks totaling $240 million.
The payouts averaged $443,000 per worker over five years.
In a letter to his team posted in April, Walker said, “A year of hard work and thoughtful consideration brought us to yesterday, the day our Fibrebond team joined Eaton.”
He continued:
Our family has owned Fibrebond for 43 years. It began with Claud and 11 others. Along the way, there were challenges worthy of a book. The past ten years required more than we knew we had and yet were more fun than I can put into words.
…
Last week was for the team that built Fibrebond. Men and women who know the pain required to build this business got to experience the joy of shared success. The deep respect displayed among employees was profound and sacred. Being in its presence was the highlight of my time at Fibrebond. In time I hope to understand fully what it means. I am grateful beyond measure for the opportunity to work with such people.
A worker who has been with Fibrebond since 1995, Lesia Key, has reportedly used some of her bonus to pay off her mortgage and open a boutique shop.
“Before, we were going paycheck to paycheck. I can live now,” she reportedly said.
Social media users shared their thoughts on the Post‘s story, one person writing, “This is what it’s about. Taking care of the people that helped him get there!”
“That’s amazing. What a generous man,” another user commented.
According to its website, Fibrebond “builds innovative and reliable structures that protect people and mission-critical equipment.”
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