On a Tuesday morning in April of last year, Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of Greek yogurt brand Chobani, gave his 2,000 full-time employees a bit of a surprise.
“I’ve built something I never thought would be such a success, but I cannot think of Chobani being built without all these people,” Mr. Ulukaya told the New York Times.
Ulukaya, who immigrated from Turkey to America in 1994, told employees that they now owned 10 percent of the multi-billion dollar brand.
Chobani shares were allotted based on tenure. The average payout to the Upstate New York workers is conservatively valued at about $150,000, with some early employees set to make over $1 million.
“It’s better than a bonus or a raise,” said Rich Lake, an employee at Chobani, told the New York Times. “It’s the best thing because you’re getting a piece of this thing you helped build.”
Employee ownership is a trend we are happy to see growing. More of this, please.
Ready for more like this? New Belgium Brewing is another amazing business with some very happy employees.
