St John’s Properties, a real-estate firm run by founder and chairman, Edward St John, recently split $10 million among its 198 employees, as a part of its year-end holiday bonus package. The average employee received 50,000 dollars, which amounts to over Rs 35 lakhs in Indian currency.
The bonus amount varied according to an employee’s tenure at the firm and seniority level. Some packages went upwards of $250,000, which is close to rupees two crore in India. A mechanic who had served the Company for 39 years actually ended up getting a bonus that was a wee bit higher than what was given to the president of the Company, who had worked for a year less, that is, 38 years.
To add to the delight of the employees, the surprise bonus was in addition to the Company’s year-end annual bonus!
The Company has achieved a milestone, of building 20 million square feet of office space, warehouses and retail stores across eight states in the US. According to John’s statement to the media, he wanted to celebrate the achievement in a way that would make a significant impact on the lives of its employees, who are spread across Maryland and Northern Virginia.
During the Company’s holiday party, the employees were presented a red envelope containing the bonus amount. Not surprisingly, one of the employees termed the event as life changing.
St John’s Properties is one of the largest privately-held commercial real-estate developers in the Mid-Atlantic region.
