Billionaire Bob Parsons Is Giving Employees $1.3 Million In Bonuses, Thanks To GOP Tax Bill – By Luisa Kroll (forbes.com) / Dec 22 2017
Billionaire Bob Parsons announced on Friday that he plans to give his 725 employees a total of $1.3 million in additional bonuses. The 594 employees who have worked for his YAM Worldwide for more than six months will each receive $2,000, according to a press release issued on December 22. The 131 employees who have been at YAM six months or less will each get $1,000.
According to the December 22 press release, the money will be distributed to employees today.
The announcement was Parson’s way of celebrating the passage of the GOP tax plan on Wednesday. He is one of the first billionaires to publicly herald the new tax bill.
“The passage of the tax credit is a catalyst for explosive economic growth. On a massive scale, the lowered federal tax burden on businesses will increase investment, entrepreneurship and corporate philanthropy,” said Parsons. “I’ve always believed in sharing good news and have decided to celebrate the tax plan by giving back to my staff.”
The controversial tax legislation passed on Wednesday permanently cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. It’s been called a boon for the nation’s wealthiest, including its billionaires like President Donald Trump and his friends.
Parsons fits that bill. The self-made entrepreneur grew up poor in inner-city Baltimore and struggled in school but eventually made a fortune creating Internet domain-name registrar GoDaddy, known for its racy Super Bowl ads. He sold a majority stake in 2011 to private equity investors and stepped down as executive chairman in 2014 to focus on an array of new businesses in the Arizona area. He now owns shopping malls, motorcycle dealerships, an ad agency and a golf club. Parsons, who is worth $2.7 billion, is a Trump supporter who gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee earlier this year. He has also given more than $140 million to charity since 2011.
Parsons’ announcement was one of the first public statements of support from a fellow billionaire. On Thursday, billionaire Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Melaleuca, an Idaho-based company whose products include health supplements and eco-friendly cleaning products, announced that his 2,000 U.S. employees would get a bonus of $100 for each year they have worked at the company.
He challenged other Idaho employers to follow suit.
Several large companies came out strongly in favor of the bill on Wednesday. Telecom giants AT&T and Comcast both announced they would hand out bonuses of $1,000 to their 200,000 and 100,000 employees, respectively. Comcast also said it would spend more than $50 billion in five years on infrastructure. Fifth Third Bank said it would raise its minimum hourly wage to $15 for all employees and give $1,000 bonuses to more than 13,500 employees.
PB/TK – There have been numerous companies announcing a one time $1,000 bonus to employees after the GOP tax bill passed. I have a question, my old employer always gave around $500 Christmas bonuses, so is that $1,000 an additional bonus to something that was already given or the only one given? Hey companies have the right to decide to give/not give any bonus, but is that all it took, a tax cut to give back to your employees. Hey Mr Parsons built his wealth and I am not knocking him, but I am knocking Comcast and Cox for announcing major rate increases between the FCC/Net Neutrality and Tax Bill votes, because all this “Christmas cheer” seems more like PR bullshit to hide any price increases to come
