In a moment that shocked and delighted her team, Spanx founder Sara Blakely went full fairy godmother back in 2021.
To celebrate the company’s $1.2 billion deal with Blackstone, she gave each employee two first-class plane tickets to any destination in the world.
As if that wasn’t generous enough, she even gave them $10,000 each in spending money.
It was a jaw-dropping thank-you gift that quickly went viral.
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If you’ve ever worn shapewear, odds are good you’ve heard of Spanx.
The company, founded in 2000, revolutionized undergarments with comfortable products that promised to ‘reshape’ the way people felt in their clothes.
From footless pantyhose to activewear, Spanx became a closet staple, even landing in Oprah’s ‘Favorite Things’ list.
Spanx is known for innovation, as seen by how the company is one of the first to adopt humanoid robots in its factories.
However, Spanx wasn’t built in a day. Nor did it have a big budget.
Sara Blakely launched the brand with $5,000 in savings and little business experience.
She cut the feet off her pantyhose to create her first prototype and hustled hard.
Blakely had to do everything from writing her own patent, to personally pitching stores.
For a while, she even worked her day job selling fax machines while building Spanx at night.
Her big break came when Oprah Winfrey gave Spanx a shout-out in 2000.
Sales exploded, and from there, the company soared, eventually becoming a household name and a major player in women’s fashion.
Blakely became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire in 2012, according to Forbes.
So, when Blackstone acquired a majority stake in Spanx in 2021, it was a huge milestone.
But Blakely wanted her team to share in that success.
In a viral video, she told employees about the $10,000 bonus and first-class travel vouchers, encouraging them to make unforgettable memories.
In a way, she was following in Oprah’s footsteps, mirroring the famous moment the billionaire gave away a Pontiac to everyone in her audience.
“I want every employee to celebrate this moment in their own way,” she said on Instagram.
The room lit up with cheers, hugs, and happy tears, and the internet quickly hailed her as a hero.
Sometimes, employees who have worked at the same company for decades get rewarded for their loyalty, like this man who received a 1972 Corvette after 40 years of dedication.
However, considering that Blakely gave gifts to all 500 of her employees, this might just be the next level.
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