Who would have thought that a little video camera would make a man so wealthy…
Did you know that GoPro founder Nick Woodman’s fortune is valued at around $2.3 billion? And that’s after he gave away $229 million.
You see, over a decade ago, Nick promised his college roommate and Go Pro’s director of music and specialty sales, Neil Dana, that he would repay him, based on the company’s 2014 prospectus. But back in 2011, Nick cancelled the agreement, instead giving Dana “more than 6 million fully-vested options in June 2011 and 270,000 restricted stock units six months later”.
Woodman agreed that he would reimburse GoPro when those options were exercised.
Luckily for Dana, GoPro has done ridiculously well for itself. The company went public in June last year, instantly making Nick’s family millionaires and himself a billionaire.
Which means that on Monday, after spending $3.6 million to exercise his options, Neil Dana walked away with $229 million.
I could certainly do with a friend like Nick Woodman.
[Source: Bloomberg]
