Thinking back to the fellow who gave all of his employees a raise to $70K, parts of that ended up going badly for him.
As a thought experiment, I wonder what might go well or poorly in this case?
The publicity is great. Employee loyalty from gratitude and vesting. It may afford a near-term competitive advantage from capabilities like increased willingness to work overtime or rallying together during an opportunity/crisis. Real information may flow more freely as employees feel a safety/pride of ownership and connection to management.
How will new employees feel about working alongside someone with much greater compensation? Existing employees may immediately face this - since shares were dolled out by tenure, employees with several years' tenure may see themselves as rich vs. newer folks and vice versa.
As vesting completes, experienced employees may depart as they become financially independent. Or perhaps the windfall will inspire lifetime loyalty.
Will there be problems at competitors, whose employees are marginally less satisfied, knowing their counterparts at Chobani are treated so well?
Overall an inspiring and kind program. I'm excited to see it play out.