Chobani employees were treated to a sweet new perk on Tuesday: an ownership stake in the company.
A share in the yogurt maker has the potential to make some of the 2,000 full-time employees millionaires, reported the New York Times. Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya told employees that they would receive shares worth up to 10 percent of the company, giving them a chance to cash out handsomely when the company goes public or is sold.
Each employee was given a number of shares based on his or her tenure. Shares of which came directly from Ulukaya’s own holdings since he owns the lion’s share of the company. The longer a worker has been there, the bigger the stake.
Ulukaya wants employees to share in the value that they’ve helped create, which is said to be in the several billion-dollar range. One estimate from two years ago when TPG Capital loaned the company $750 million estimated Chobani’s value at $3 billion to $5 billion. At the low end, the average employee pay out would be $150,000. The longest tenured employees could hold closer to $1 million worth of shares.
