Vice CEO Shane Smith Stood On Stage With $1 Million In Cash And Handed It Out To Employees

A source at the party confirmed the story to Business Insider. According to our source, every Vice full-time staffer got an envelope with $1,500 in cash. Specifically, they each got 15 crisp, brand new $100 bills.

Before the party started, Smith gave a year-in-review speech, our source says. After the speech, he called Vice staffers on stage one by one and handed them the envelopes full of cash. But after about 10 minutes, it became clear that it would take too long for everyone to go up individually. Eventually, everyone just had to go up on stage to get their cash.

Vice has about 700 full-time employees. So, doing the math, that means Smith was on stage with a little over $1 million in cash.

It's not the only wild new media employee bonus this year. BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti told staffers last week that every employee would get an Apple Watch for meeting certain traffic goals.