The CEO of a Louisiana manufacturing company allocated approximately $240 million to his employees after he sold the firm to Eaton, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Fiberbond CEO Graham Walker included staff payouts in the deal, according to the report. A acquisition was made by Eaton Company for about 1.4 billion US dollars, with Walker setting aside about 15% of the amount for the company’s 540 permanent staff, according to the Journal.
The average award is approximately $443,000 per employee, although payments are being made in installments over a period of five years, requiring employees to be retained to qualify for them, according to a report given to the Journal. The first payments started last June, according to a report.
“Employees reacted in disbelief and emotion to the news, some of them thinking it was a prank at first, the Journal said.” Those who have received the funds have used them to repay mortgages and other debts, purchase cars, finance education, improve their pensions, and even organize family vacations, the report said. Walker told the press that the employees took the first installment in different ways, the report said.
Eaton announced through a press release that it has finished acquiring Fiberbond.
The Journal says that Eaton, as the buyer, is in charge of the deal and the payments over time, according to the terms of the purchase. The company could not be immediately reached for further comments on the matter, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
