US businessman shares ₹2,155 crore bonus with employees after company sale
Washington: An American businessman has drawn global attention after distributing nearly ₹2,155 crore (about $240 million) in bonuses among his employees following the sale of his company, in a rare instance of wealth-sharing in corporate America.
Graham Walker, 46, former chief executive officer of electrical equipment enclosure manufacturer Fibrebond, ensured that the company’s roughly 540 employees directly benefited from its sale to Eaton Corporation earlier this year for ₹15,265 crore (around $1.7 billion). Despite employees not holding any company stock, Walker insisted on allocating a share of the proceeds to them before finalising the deal.
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According to a Wall Street Journal report, Walker refused to proceed with the sale unless prospective buyers agreed to reserve 15 per cent of the total proceeds for employees. The payouts were triggered in June and are being distributed over five years, averaging approximately $443,000 per employee.
Several employees initially believed the announcement was a joke. Later they used the money to clear debts, buy vehicles, pay for higher education or strengthen their retirement savings.
Lesia Key, who joined Fibrebond in 1995 at the age of 21, said the bonus had transformed her life. Having started at an hourly wage of $5.35, she rose through the ranks and was, by early this year, leading a team of 18 people and overseeing facilities spanning 254 acres. “Before, we were going paycheck to paycheck. I can live now; I’m grateful,” she was quoted as saying.
Responding to questions on NBC show, about whether the Walker family considered distributing an even larger share, Walker said placing “close to a quarter-billion dollars in employees’ hands felt fair”.
Founded in 1982 by Walker’s father, Claud Walker, along with 11 others, Fibrebond weathered multiple crises over the decades, including a major factory fire in 1998 and the collapse of the dot-com bubble. Employees, the report noted, remained with the company through difficult periods. In later years, Fibrebond made a significant $150 million investment to expand its capacity to build infrastructure for data centres.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
