Louisiana boss hands workers $240M in bonuses after selling his company for $1.7B

A Louisiana factory chief proved to be a real-life Santa Claus — giving each of his 540 full-time employees six-figure bonus checks totaling $240 million.The generous gesture came after the benevolent boss sold the company for $1.7 billion.Graham Walker, the now-former CEO of Fibrebond, told The Wall Street Journal that he would not agree to sell his company if prospective buyer Eaton did not earmark 15% of the proceeds for its employees — even though none of them owned stock.The deal, which was completed earlier this year when Eaton acquired Fibrebond, triggered payouts to 540 full-time workers, averaging about $443,000 per worker spread over five years.Long-tenured employees received far more, according to The Journal.Walker, 46, told the newspaper that the requirement was non-negotiable.Without it, he believed many workers who had carried the company through decades of booms, busts and near-collapse would walk out the door.In June, employees began receiving sealed envelopes detailing their individual awards.Some of them were overwhelmed with emotion while others thought it was a prank, The Journal reported.Others sat in stunned silence.Lesia Key, a 29-year Fibrebond veteran who started in 1995 making $5.35 an hour, broke down when she opened her letter, according to the report.Key, now 51, had risen to oversee facilities across Fibrebond’s 254-acre campus, managing a team of 18.She reportedly used her bonus to pay off her mortgage and open a clothing boutique in a nearby town.“Before, we were going paycheck to paycheck,” Key was quoted as saying.

“I can live now.”Another employee used his money to take his entire extended family to Cancún, Mexico.Others paid down credit cards, bought cars outright, funded college tuition or boosted retirement savings.One longtime assistant manager, Hong “TT” Blackwell, 67, received several hundred thousand dollars and immediately retired.Blackwell, an immigrant from Vietnam who spent more than 15 years in Fib...