Bonuses done right: The Leonard Abess Jr. story
Posted by drocolate on March 5th, 2009
The word “bonus” has been having a really hard time in the news lately. It seems like everywhere you turn there’s a new corporate jackass giving out bonus money to some of his golfing buddies hours after laying off thousands of people. A few examples of bad bonuses:
- John Thain rushing to give out bonuses before Merrill Lynch’s eruption
- Bernie Madoff trying to give out bonuses mere hours before admitting the full scope of his shithead-ness
- Macy’s giving out bonuses the day after laying off 7,000 people
- The “Bonus Jonas“
“Bonus” has really been taking a major beating (especially on this blog). With that in mind, I’d like to present the other side of bonuses. (There really is another side…seriously…keep reading)
Meet Leonard Abess Jr. Leonard was the president of City National Bancshares in Miami. After selling the majority stake of his bank last month, Leonard took $60 million of the profits and gave every one of his 399 employees a sizable bonus. He even reached out to 72 former employees that had retired or moved on and rewarded them in the same way.
Wow.
The bonuses ranged anywhere from five to six figures and were given to literally everyone. Mr. Abess didn’t go to great lengths to publicize his good deed, which is, in some ways, the most shocking part. He didn’t even go to work the day the bonuses were handed out. All he did was make a small online video explaining that his bank was merging with another and that a considerable windfall was coming to all of his employees. From there the money was simply deposited into the workers accounts with no strings attached.
I’ll say it again: Wow.
Well played, Leonard. Well played. I hope some of those corporate jackasses I mentioned above are taking notes.
Tags: bernie madoff, bonus, John Thain, Leonard Abess, Macy's, Miami, retirement
The Bonus Jonas will come out of this recession older than he is now.