Facebook Employees Made So Much Money From The IPO, Their County Is Now The Richest In America
Facebook went public in May 2012 and its IPO was expected to turn 1,000 of its employees into millionaires. These millionaires may have made the county where they live and work, San Mateo, the best paid in the nation, The Wall Street Journal reports.
San Mateo residents made an average of $3,240 per week during the fourth quarter last year, or an annual salary of $168,000. That's more than Manhattan, the nation's second-highest paid area, which brings in $2,107 per week.
When WSJ's Scott Thurm looked into San Mateo's labor statistics, he noted the "computer systems design services" industry stood out. If you separate those 6,200 industry-specific San Mateo residents from the pack, you'll notice an even greater pay spike. Those people made an average of $82,891 per week during Q4 2012, or $4.3 million per year.
It all aligns perfectly with the timing of Facebook's IPO. Many of the stock options Facebook issued were set to vest six months following the IPO in November 2012.
"That kind of a jump can only be explained by what’s happening with stock,” Doug Henton, a San Mateo labor statistics expert and CEO of Collaborative Economics told Thurm.
More From Business Insider
