Ahead of Christmas, employees at a Louisiana manufacturer received an unexpected windfall after the company was acquired earlier this year: bonuses totaling $240 million.
The payout at Fibrebond — a Minden-based maker of electrical equipment enclosures — was driven by outgoing CEO Graham Walker, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Before agreeing to sell Fibrebond to Eaton for $1.7 billion, Walker ensured that 15% of the proceeds would be set aside for the company’s 540 full-time employees. Workers began receiving the bonuses in July, the Journal reported.
On average, employees are set to receive about $443,000 each, paid out over the next five years. Those who remain with the company throughout that period will collect the full amount, and some long-tenured staff are expected to receive even more.
Walker, 46, told the Journal he wanted the people who helped build the company — including those who stayed through difficult stretches — to share in the outcome.
“I hope I’m 80 years old and get an email about how it’s impacted someone,” he said.
Asked why he insisted on 15% during negotiations with potential buyers, he gave a simple answer: “It’s more than 10%.”
Fibrebond was founded by Walker’s father, Claud Walker, in 1982, and is described as a “leader in wireless communications,” according to the company’s website.
Over the decades, the business weathered major setbacks, including a destructive fire in 1998. Even during the months it took to restart operations, the Walker family continued paying employees’ salaries, the Journal reported. Later, when the dot-com bubble burst, Fibrebond’s customer base reportedly shrank to just three, and its workforce fell from 900 to 320.
Things began to shift in the mid-2000s when Walker and his brother took over leadership. As the company stabilized and grew, Walker rehired some employees who had previously been laid off during the lean years.
One of Fibrebond’s biggest turning points came in 2020, the Journal reported, when the company invested $150 million to build infrastructure for data centers, including power equipment enclosures. That bet paid off — especially as AI-driven data center growth accelerated — with Fibrebond’s sales rising roughly 400% over the last five years, according to the Journal.
“Today, with more than 51,000 modules deployed to projects across the country, Fibrebond is the nation’s leading manufacturer of complex electrical modules used in the data center, industrial, and utility sectors,” the company stated on its website.
On April 1, Fibrebond announced that its sale to Eaton had been finalized. The following day, Walker wrote a letter reflecting on the moment and what it represented.
“Last week, we gathered together and recognized every Fibrebond employee,” he wrote. “We shared the same humbling question, how did we build this? Forty-three years of memories, failures, successes, and opportunities came forth as tears, hugs, and profound joy. Our family fulfilled a commitment that we would all win together, and over two days, we shared details of that commitment.”
The bonuses sparked emotional reactions across the company. Some employees used the money to pay down debt and cover college tuition, build retirement savings, or take long-postponed vacations.
“Before, we were going paycheck to paycheck,” longtime employee Lesia Key told the Journal. “I can live now; I’m grateful.”
Others reportedly didn’t believe it at first, assuming it had to be a joke.
“It was surreal, it was like telling people they won the lottery. There was absolute shock,” Hector Moreno, a Fibrebond executive who helped distribute the bonuses, told the Journal. “They said, ‘What’s the catch?’”
Walker is expected to exit the company on Wednesday, Dec. 31, following the sale.
“It’s time, for the good of the business and all involved,” he told the Journal.
