Spanx founder awards employees with $10,000, 2 plane tickets

Spanx employees were treated to a surprise by its CEO and founder after the company signed a $1 billion deal with an investment company.

After the shapewear company scored a deal with Blackstone, Sara Blakely awarded her employees with $10,000 and two first-class Delta Airline tickets to anywhere in the world.

Blakely posted a video of the surprise to her Facebook on Tuesday.

“I really want every employee to celebrate this moment in their own way and create a memory that will last them a lifetime!” Blakely said.

According to a press release, Spanx is worth $1.2 billion after Blackston bought a majority stake in the brand.

In 2000, Blakely founded Spanx by taking $5,000 out of her savings, using no outside investments, wrote her own patent, and invented the first SPANX undergarment in her apartment.