London (CNN Business) Sara Blakely is founder and owner of shapewear brand Spanx,
which sells undergarments, leggings, swimwear and maternity wear in over 50
countries.
She announced
that Spanx will give all her employees two first-class plane tickets to anywhere in the world and $10,000 each to celebrate the company's $1.2 billion deal with private equity firm
Blackstone.
"I really want every employee to
celebrate this moment in their own way and create a memory that will last them
a lifetime! Cheers to 21 years of magic and many more to come," she wrote
on Instagram.
Blakely also pointed out that although
50% of entrepreneurs are women, only 2.3% of venture capital funding goes to women.
In her toast, she paid tribute to
"the women that came before me, and all of the women in the world who have
not had this opportunity."
Spanx, one of America's most prominent shapewear companies, is now worth
$1.2 billion after inking a deal with Blackstone.
The private equity firm will take a
majority stake in the brand.
Sara Blakely will keep a
"significant" equity stake in the business and become its executive
chairwoman. She has said that when she founded Spanx in 2000, she did so with
$5,000 in savings.
"I started this company with no
business experience and very little money, but I cared the most about the
customer, and that gave me the courage to launch the company," she said in
a statement Wednesday.
The deal will allow Spanx to ramp up its
online presence as well as its product line.
Blackstone and Spanx said Wednesday that
they will create an "all female" board of directors at the apparel
firm.
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Article from CNN (edited)
