Facebook’s IPO put San Mateo County top of pay league in the USA, The Wall Street Journal says. The magazine examined the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures according to which the average weekly wage in San Mateo grew 107% to $3,240 (equivalent of $168K annually) in the Q4 of 2012. To compare with, the weekly salary on Manhattan totaled $2,107 (or $110K a year) for the same period.
The Bureau did not specify why the wages soared in San Mateo. However, the mass media attributed this rise to the Facebook’s stock market debut as the company’s headquarters is located in Menlo Park. Facebook is one of the first high-tech companies that issue restricted stock units, RSU, to encourage their employees.
The company’s workers can exchange their RSUs to the shares only after a certain event happens, for example, an IPO. In Facebook the employees can make this operation half a year after the social network enters the exchange. It was announced that the personnel would have to pay $1 million in taxes on average last year.
The social network placed its shares on the stock exchange in May 2012. However, IPO was not successful: the securities were placed for $38 per share but later the price fell down. By September 2012, the quotes slumped below $18 per share. Later the Facebook papers rose but could not reach the IPO level.