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Stelios gives staff a lesson in capitalism
Julia Finch
Thursday September 27, 2001
The Guardian
A number of staff at Stelios Haji-Ioannou's private EasyGroup company have seen their life savings wiped out after the millionaire low-cost airline founder slashed the value of shares they had bought from £1 to 1p.
The devaluation involves staff working for the easyEverything internet cafes. The group also includes EasyRentacar and the EasyMoney personal finance operation.
Internet staff were offered free shares, which many saw as reward for salaries they claim are lower than market rates, and could invest up to £10,000 to buy additional shares in a scheme devised by the EasyJet founder to generate loyalty ahead of a float.
A successful initial public offering would have allowed staff to realise the value of free shares and presented them with bumper bonuses.
Mr Haji-Ioannou is now devaluing the shares purchased and those he gifted. Staff given what they thought was a £20,000 bonus will instead have shares worth £200. Staff who paid£10,000 will be left with a holding of £100.
The devaluation will be rubber-stamped tomorrow, at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders, when Mr Haji-Ioannou will use the weight of his 75% stake in the company to force through the change.
Mr Haji-Ioannou, reckoned to be worth more than £800m and the son of a billionaire Greek shipowner, admitted the value of the shares was being cut. "That's capitalism," he said. "They still have the shares. They are just a lot less valuable. This is an internet company. We used to think they were valuable. Now they are not."
Stelios gives staff a lesson in capitalism
Julia Finch
Thursday September 27, 2001
The Guardian
A number of staff at Stelios Haji-Ioannou's private EasyGroup company have seen their life savings wiped out after the millionaire low-cost airline founder slashed the value of shares they had bought from £1 to 1p.
The devaluation involves staff working for the easyEverything internet cafes. The group also includes EasyRentacar and the EasyMoney personal finance operation.
Internet staff were offered free shares, which many saw as reward for salaries they claim are lower than market rates, and could invest up to £10,000 to buy additional shares in a scheme devised by the EasyJet founder to generate loyalty ahead of a float.
A successful initial public offering would have allowed staff to realise the value of free shares and presented them with bumper bonuses.
Mr Haji-Ioannou is now devaluing the shares purchased and those he gifted. Staff given what they thought was a £20,000 bonus will instead have shares worth £200. Staff who paid£10,000 will be left with a holding of £100.
The devaluation will be rubber-stamped tomorrow, at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders, when Mr Haji-Ioannou will use the weight of his 75% stake in the company to force through the change.
Mr Haji-Ioannou, reckoned to be worth more than £800m and the son of a billionaire Greek shipowner, admitted the value of the shares was being cut. "That's capitalism," he said. "They still have the shares. They are just a lot less valuable. This is an internet company. We used to think they were valuable. Now they are not."
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