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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Man shoots himself to death over domestic dispute in Karnataka
Kalaburagi (Karnataka) (PTI): A man died by suicide on Monday after allegedly shooting himself with a revolver over a domestic dispute, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Khanduraj Dhavalaji (42), they added.
The incident took place at Shivashakti Nagar, police said, noting that no suicide note has been recovered so far.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a quarrel between husband and wife over domestic issues may have triggered the extreme step, a senior police officer said.
Police officers and staff from the Chowk police station visited the scene, and further investigation is underway.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416.)
