This is craaaaaazy. So maybe you've heard the news: Facebook has gone public, which means some of the lucky folks holding company stock are now quite wealthy... including none other than renegade graffiti artist David Choe. Say whaaaat? The guy apparently just made about $200 million on shares of Facebook: From Founders to Decorators, Facebook Riches.
Back in 2005, Sean Parker commissioned Mr. Choe to paint some murals on the walls of Facebook's first offices in Palo Alto. No big deal, right? Story has it, Choe was offered a couple of thousand dollars cash or the equivalent of company stock. He chose the stock. And if estimates are correct, those shares are now worth a crapload of cash:
In 2005, Mr. Choe was invited to paint murals on the walls of Facebook's first offices in Palo Alto, Calif., by Sean Parker, then Facebook's president. As pay, Mr. Parker offered Mr. Choe a choice between cash in the "thousands of dollars," according to several people who know Mr. Choe, or stock then worth about the same.Daaaaaaaamn. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. But from what I know of David Choe, he's something of a gambler, so it kind of makes sense. That's a hell of a payday for a guy who once called the idea of Facebook "ridiculous and pointless." He might still be right, but Facebook might just be responsible for the most valuable piece of art he's ever done.
Mr. Choe, who has said that at the time that he thought the idea of Facebook was "ridiculous and pointless," nevertheless chose the stock.
Many "advisers" to the company at that time, which is how Mr. Choe would have been classified, would have received about 0.1 to 0.25 percent of the company, according to a former Facebook employee. That may sound like a paltry amount, but a stake that size is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, based on a market value of $100 billion. Mr. Choe's payment is valued at roughly $200 million, according to a number of people who know Mr. Choe and Facebook executives.
Part of me shudders to think what a cat like David Choe might actually do with 200 million bucks in his pocket. To see what I mean, you should watch Harry Kim's crazy amazing documentary on the guy, Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe. It's a trip.