January 1, Louisiana CEO Shares Massive Sale Bonus with Workers

Wyatt’s Take

• A Louisiana business owner made a $1.7 billion deal and demanded workers get a slice.
• $240 million is being shared among 540 employees over five years.
• Each worker will see an average of $400,000 extra in their pocket.

This Louisiana businessman made sure his people didn’t get left out when he sold Fibrebond for $1.7 billion.

He wouldn’t let the buyout happen unless $240 million was set aside for worker bonuses over five years.

The average payout is more than $400,000 per employee for the company’s 540 full-timers.

“If the buyer wouldn’t set aside 15% of the company’s sale price for employees, I wouldn’t sell,” Graham Walker told the press.

The company, based in Minden, Louisiana, with a population of just 12,000, changed hands in April. Employees started getting details about their bonuses in June.

Hard work pays off in places where folks look out for each other. Deals like this remind us what it means to reward loyalty and dedication in our heartland towns.

Read the full story here

Wyatt Matters

Taking care of the people who built the company is the kind of old-fashioned, neighborly thinking that keeps our communities strong. Stories like this bring hope to working families everywhere.