Real estate company surprised employees with $10 million in bonuses

Hardly anyone knew what was inside the red envelopes handed out at a Maryland real estate firm's annual holiday party. So when employees at St. John Properties tore them open on Saturday, the surprise was palpable.

Eyebrows jumped. Hands flew to mouths. And tears flowed - lots and lots of them.

Inside the envelopes were holiday bonuses averaging $50,000 and totaling $10 million, life changing sums based solely on tenure. One man, a maintenance technician who started at the company in 1981, received more than $200,000.

"I was in shock," Stanley Ches told the "Today" show. "I'm still in shock. Everybody was shaking me down and giving me hugs."

The unusually high bonuses drew a rush of attention to the Baltimore-based firm, which has clients in eight states. After announcing them publicly on Monday, the company's phones rang continuously. Its Facebook page got comments such as, "Am I the 199th employee?" and "Are y'all hiring? Asking for a friend."

The story continued making headlines on Wednesday. St. John Properties's offices kept buzzing with excitement.

"I just hope other companies look at this and realize that the employees are who they are," company president Larry Maykrantz told The Washington Post.

Executives started working on the surprise several months ago and were "sworn to secrecy," he said.

They wanted to do something big to celebrate hitting a goal set in 2005: developing 20 million square feet of commercial space. The achievement doubled the firm's footprint from 14 years earlier and brought the worth of its portfolio to $3.5 billion.

Maykrantz said company leaders thought it was important to recognize everyone's role and to do so based not on title but on tenure "to show that all of us are equal in achieving this goal."

They considered bonuses totaling $1 million, $2 million and $5 million, founder and chairman Edward St. John said in a video released by the company, "and I looked at the numbers and they just didn't impress me." In the end, he decided that $10 million would recognize the company's 198 employees "in a meaningful way." With that amount, people would get checks of up to $270,000.

"I steer the boat, but they're the ones that run the boat," St. John said. "They're the ones that make the boat go."

Video from the event showed teary eyed employees embracing the CEO and other executives after opening the envelopes. "He just paid my house off," one man told the camera, gesturing toward St. John. One woman told company leaders that she planned to buy a Corvette. Others said they would be able to pay off their children's tuition.

"I kept hearing, 'I am finally debt-free for the first time in my life,' " Maykrantz said.

Danielle Velenzia, who has worked for St. John Properties for 19 years, had to pause to collect herself as she considered the impact of her bonus. The accounts payable specialist said in the company video that it was "huge" as a mother of five and grandmother of five who took in her in laws several years ago.

"What happened tonight was magical," she said. "This has been life changing to me today."

St. John, 81, started the company in 1971 with a team of two employees.