Louisiana manufacturer distributes $240 million to employees after $1.7 billion sale

Graham Walker, the owner of Fibrebond Corporation in Louisiana, sold his family business for $1.7 billion in 2025. He then shared $240 million of that money with his 540 full-time employees. No employee owned any part of the company, so the payments were entirely voluntary. On average, each worker received around $443,000, though the exact amount depended on how long they had worked there. Walker made this sharing arrangement a condition of the sale to the buyer, power company Eaton. Payments started in June and will continue over five years, but employees must stay with the company to receive them. Walker's family kept more than $1 billion from the sale. He stepped down as CEO on 31 December.