A Gift From An Entrepreneur
Posted on 24 July 2009 by Chris McDemus
This article by Knowledge @ Wharton reminded me of good, old-fashioned selflessness. Here’s the description provided by K@W:
When Leonard Abess sold a majority stake in Miami-based City National Bank last fall, he did something very unusual. He took $60 million of that money and gave it out as bonuses to 399 current bank employees and 72 former employees. He did it without calling in a public relations firm or the media. He didn’t blog about it. And while he was mentioned in President Obama’s inauguration speech and was ABC News Person of the Week, these things were not done at his instigation. In fact, he wasn’t even on site when the money was given out. He decided to share the wealth, he said, as a way to reward the people who had helped make the bank successful.
Based on the number of employees quoted, the average gross payout was approximately $127,000. Mr. Abess has accomplished something I’ve dreamed of but not yet been able to achieve. I have not doubt his actions have bought him a very loyal workforce, although based on the article it appears he might have already had that (some people have been at his company for 51 years).
