Turkish technology firm boss distributes $27 million to employees after sale

The sale of a company is usually bad news for its employees, but that wasn't the case for Yemeksepeti.com, the leading Turkish firm in online food ordering, as more than 100 of its employees were given bonuses totaling $27 million following the company's sale last May for $589 million, the firm's CEO, Nevzat Ayd?n, has said.

"We have shared $27 million of the money we earned with our 114 employees," Ayd?n told daily Hürriyet. 
Delivery Hero, the German-based online food ordering giant, acquired Yemeksepeti for $589 million on May 5. 

Yemeksepeti CEO Ayd?n remained in his post, as he also became part of the management team of Delivery Hero. 

Ayd?n said they had set a "bad example" for other bosses by sharing the money with their employees.

"They will hate us, but this is the case," he said. "Although we did not have any liabilities or promises, we shared $27 million of the money we got from the sale of the company with the employees, out of our own share and by also paying the taxes."

Ayd?n said such an act was a first in Turkey.

"We did this because if there is a success, we have accomplished it altogether," the CEO added.

There were emotional reactions to the decision, which meant more than $200,000 per employee, Ayd?n said.

"Some employees cried, some screamed, some wrote letters of thanks," he said. "There were emotions, because you affect the lives of the people. People can buy homes, cars. They can immediately do something otherwise they could not with monthly wages of 3,000-5,000 Turkish Liras. It was a good thing; I wish we could have given them more."

Ayd?n said the deal, which was the biggest acquisition of a Turkish technology firm, was the result of "patience."

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