Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 20th, 2014

It has been reported that Facebook will be buying WhatsApp for almost $19 billion, hence making each of their 55 employees multi-millionaires. If this were to be averaged amongst them (highly doubtful) they would each be taking home an average of around $344 million, making POWERBALL winners appear like poor cousins. Here are some of my thoughts:

1) This could be good news for super-high end real estate as these are the buyers who can easily afford a $20 million home or apartment and probably don’t own one already.

2) Many are probably crying out how unfair these massive ‘wins’ are for a few, yet they hardly make a peep when someone wins the lottery.

3) Is Facebook possibly over-paying for this company? Is this the biggest indicator of a tech bubble? Or is it a smart purchase? Only time will tell.

4) This sale could generate large tax revenues.

5) Not the best headline this week when we cannot afford to commit to a minimum wage above $ 10/hour. The divide keeps growing, and regardless of the economics, when do the masses become angry……Marie Antoinette anyone?

6) Its scary that a company that employs only 55 people could be worth $19 billion: this is a clear indicator how high-tech minimizes the size of the labor force. Its the new reality. And its a bit scary.