How One Owner Shared the Wealth
When Graham Walker sold the family business, he directed 15 percent of the sales price to his employees.
Good morning!
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SELLING THE BUSINESS
When Fibrebond was sold, its employees got $240 million in bonuses: “In March, Lesia Key was summoned to meet her boss, Graham Walker, near the factory where they worked. At an outside table, Walker thanked Key for her 29 years of service. Then, a colleague handed her a sealed, blue-and-white envelope. She opened it and broke down crying, as Walker struggled to compose himself. Walker was giving Key, 51, a life-altering sum of money [that she would use, in part, to start a business]—and he was doing the same for his 539 other full-time employees.”
“Walker and his family started a company in Minden, La., called Fibrebond, which makes enclosures for electrical equipment. Earlier this year, he agreed to sell the business to Eaton, a power-management company, for $1.7 billion.”
“Walker wanted to reward employees, grateful that so many had stuck with his company through tough times, before it found new life-building enclosures for data centers. So he included a condition into the terms of the transaction: 15 percent of the sale proceeds would go to his employees.”
“In June, his 540 full-time employees began receiving $240 million in bonuses. The average bonus was $443,000, to be paid over five years, as long as the employees remained at the company for that period. Long-timers received much more.” READ MORE
