In 2005, an underground street artist received an unusual business proposition. A start-up company operating out of a small office in Palo Alto, California, needed someone to paint their walls. The pay offered was 60,000 dollars. The artist, David Choe, had a choice: take the cash or accept an equivalent amount in company stock. The start-up was Facebook. Choe stated he thought the website’s concept was ridiculous. Yet, he made a decision that resulted in a payout of 200 million dollars.
An Unlikely Commission for a Street Artist
David Choe was a working graffiti artist from Los Angeles known for his graphic murals. At the time, Facebook was a new social network primarily utilized by university students. Sean Parker, the company’s president, contacted Choe directly and asked him to paint the interior of Facebook’s first headquarters. The project required Choe to cover several meters (feet) of the indoor walls with his signature spray paint style. Parker explicitly requested provocative murals to match the attitude of the tech company.
The Choice Between Cash and Stock Options
Upon completing the painting process, Parker presented Choe with his payment options. Choe could walk away with 60,000 dollars in cash immediately. Alternatively, he could take company stock options representing a fraction of a percent of the business. Facebook was unproven on a global scale. Choe openly stated that he found the business model of the platform to be pointless. He had absolutely no interest in the website itself. Despite his negative assessment of the product, Choe decided to accept the stock instead of the guaranteed cash.
The 2012 Initial Public Offering
For seven years, Choe held onto his shares as Facebook expanded into a multinational corporation. The tech company relocated to larger headquarters and accumulated hundreds of millions of users. In May 2012, Facebook held its Initial Public Offering, making its shares available to the public market at 38 dollars per share. When the stock went public, the total valuation of the shares Choe accepted for his painting work was calculated at approximately 200 million dollars.
From Spray Paint to Massive Fortune
By choosing shares over a flat fee, Choe received a multi-million dollar payout. The original murals were later physically cut out of the structural office walls and transported to various Facebook locations. Choe continued his career as a professional painter, podcast host, and television actor. During subsequent interviews, Choe confirmed he sold a significant portion of those shares after the initial public offering. He utilized the capital to fund his artistic endeavors.