AfterDawn: Tech news

Facebook's graffiti artist is now incredibly rich

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 02 Feb 2012 9:06 User comments (20)

Facebook's graffiti artist is now incredibly rich David Choe, a graffiti artist who was hired by Sean Parker to paint the walls of Facebook's headquarters, is about to be worth $200 million.
Choe was given thousands of shares as payment for his work in 2005, even though he reportedly called the site "ridiculous and pointless." Choe will be one of 1200 employees, advisers and investors that will become millionaires or billionaires when the social network goes public in April.

The social network will raise $5 billion in its IPO, with a value of almost $100 billion, far and away the largest public offering, ever.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg will see the biggest payday, with his 28 percent share of the company. Depending on the final value of the company, Zuckerberg will be worth somewhere in the $25-30 billion range.

Despite their years of lawsuits and complaints against Facebook, the Winklevoss twins will see a large windfall as well, thanks to their 1.2 million shares received in an early settlement with Mark Zuckerberg.

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20 user comments

12.2.2012 22:48

Got to love Capitalism /not

23.2.2012 09:27

Originally posted by Gradical:
Got to love Capitalism /not
What is there not to like? Are you jealous? They didn't take any of your money. This is the American dream. You do work for a start up company that has no money so you are paid in stock. The company becomes a huge success and that stock makes you rich for life.

I guess you prefer working in work camps where you work not for riches but to avoid punishment. If you complain you are beaten. I am sure you have not thought this through.

33.2.2012 09:36

If I had any shares, Id immediately sell most of them, cause this bubble is going to burst in time

43.2.2012 10:10

Google stock prices continued to rise for months after the IPO. It went up 10 times before it leveled off. I do not expect Facebook to be much different except times are harder. Still it is the hottest offering since Google.

53.2.2012 10:24

Originally posted by Mez:
Originally posted by Gradical:
Got to love Capitalism /not
What is there not to like? Are you jealous? ----- I am sure you have not thought this through.
Me? Yeah... I'm afraid I am a bit... I thought it through on quite a magnitude.

You're right though. And it's great when an American dream makes it through the mire & comes to fruition. People should be ashamed for wanting to crush such dreams. But for every Steve Jobs, Bill Gates & Mark Zuckerburg, there's also a Nick Tesla, Preston Tucker & Georges Méliès.

Capitalism itself is great. But it's like everything else, when you kill it, take all its dead parts & sew them together into an unrecognizable creature of your own design, then shock it back into existence expecting it to magically produce your every desire? Obviously, the thing will eventually turn on you.

I think that drunken, unbridled, delusion of power part of capitalism is what folks are tired of. It's when people use capitalism (or other means) to refuse to allow you to reach for that dream that causes most of the passionate debate.

I don't know who gave Choe the stocks for doing all the paintings & personally I hope he feels like an ass for having said the foolish things that he did in hind site. Or if not, I hope he goes bat shit for feeling like a sell out in making a bunch of money in spite of himself because of the work he did.

It's a glorious contradiction & for once someone got rich that didn't piss, bitch & whine like the pussy assed twins had their daddy do for them.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 03 Feb 2012 @ 10:29

63.2.2012 13:31

Originally posted by Mez:
Google stock prices continued to rise for months after the IPO. It went up 10 times before it leveled off. I do not expect Facebook to be much different except times are harder. Still it is the hottest offering since Google.
While I agree to an extent, Google was priced very very low for the kind of revenue and growth it had. Facebook is already pretty much saturated.

73.2.2012 18:09

I just feel is actually sad to know that I can work my hardest and live with just the basic and he gets to be millionaire for painting a grafitti, even worst it's not like his work is worth millions because he's talented, it's because he got lucky. I know people that work their life out in tomato crops here in Mexico and barely have to eat themselves they are the opposite side of the coin they are so unlucky they were born poor and will die poor.

You cannot love a system which works based on luck, and just to end my rant you said it yourself "it's the american dream", to bad the rest of the world got f***d in the meanwhile.

84.2.2012 00:54

You guys just can't feel good about someone else's good fortune.
What a bunch of losers. 

94.2.2012 11:30

give me the shares :X

104.2.2012 12:20

Originally posted by Gradical:
I just feel is actually sad to know that I can work my hardest and live with just the basic and he gets to be millionaire for painting a grafitti, even worst it's not like his work is worth millions because he's talented, it's because he got lucky. I know people that work their life out in tomato crops here in Mexico and barely have to eat themselves they are the opposite side of the coin they are so unlucky they were born poor and will die poor.

You cannot love a system which works based on luck, and just to end my rant you said it yourself "it's the american dream", to bad the rest of the world got f***d in the meanwhile.
You've got a good point too. Most artists I got my degrees studying made their millions posthumously. Being an artist (like all others screwed by the alphabet Nazis) would like to eat in this life as well. 'Luckily' a few do & get hated on in spiteful adolescent return. Sour grapes for what actually oils down to either just that; blistered ass, hard, never ending work or simple luck.

Sometimes, it really is 'luck' that gets food on the table in the 'here & now' as apposed to some a-hole scarfing up your work for a few sheckles (as your corpse has yet to cool), planting a bullshit story around your creations & then making a fortune after the fact (think Elvis, to this day).

You can't tell me that ending to a success story is supposed to be better; is it?

114.2.2012 17:52

I disagree...

I guess you can hate everyone that hit the lottery or was born rich but that does you no good. Just because you live in a capitalist society does not guarantee that you will become rich even if you work hard. However, the chance is very good that if you lived in a non capitalist country you would not be doing close to as well as you are where ever you live.

Gradical are you familiar with the guy's work to know that his grafitti was worthless? You you really think Facebook would have commissioned him just to spray paint "Go to faceboo.com"? Anyone could have done that! The guy is a famous artist and was doing just fine without Facebook. I checked out his work and I have seen less talent go for a good deal of money. You are condemning the man out of sheer ignorance.

link

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 04 Feb 2012 @ 5:53

125.2.2012 10:59
llongtheD
Inactive

@Mez
I have to agree with you for the most part, but capitalism in America has morphed into something that's slowly gutting us from the inside out. When anyone or anything can be bought things begin to change. Capitalism has turned into unchecked corporate power, but I guess it's probably been that way since before I was born.
That being said, good for David Choe. I know I wouldn't turn my nose up at a couple hundred million. The guy has talent.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Feb 2012 @ 11:06

135.2.2012 12:28

Originally posted by llongtheD:
@Mez
I have to agree with you for the most part, but capitalism in America has morphed into something that's slowly gutting us from the inside out. When anyone or anything can be bought things begin to change. Capitalism has turned into unchecked corporate power, but I guess it's probably been that way since before I was born.

I tend to agree. Other than a Rule 15 damnation debate with another forum troglodyte for Ron Paul that I tried to corroborate the same comment you just made; there seem to be people out there who are in denial. The whole mutation of capitalism thing. In all honesty I don't even think you can call it capitalism anymore, really.

It's like I've said before. People love art to the n'th degree, until they have to pay for it. Then it becomes appreciate real quick.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Feb 2012 @ 12:30

145.2.2012 13:04

Originally posted by LordRuss:
Originally posted by llongtheD:
@Mez
I have to agree with you for the most part, but capitalism in America has morphed into something that's slowly gutting us from the inside out. When anyone or anything can be bought things begin to change. Capitalism has turned into unchecked corporate power, but I guess it's probably been that way since before I was born.

I tend to agree. Other than a Rule 15 damnation debate with another forum troglodyte for Ron Paul that I tried to corroborate the same comment you just made; there seem to be people out there who are in denial. The whole mutation of capitalism thing. In all honesty I don't even think you can call it capitalism anymore, really.

It's like I've said before. People love art to the n'th degree, until they have to pay for it. Then it becomes appreciate real quick.
Call it being a troglodyte. Fact of the matter is powers at be have tried to manipulate the Constitution to fit their own needs. The Constitution has checks and balances built in to protect all citizens. Now basics like declaring war on other countries gives power to the executive branch to do what seems politically correct without the intervention and okay of Congress. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves. There was a reason for checks and balances. One was to avoid the the problems that plague UK's totalitarian regime. Paying taxes for Kings and Queens who have no function other than being TMZ news.

Ron Paul has common sense. He may be too old to be president but he sure beats the hell out of Romney and Newt. The GOP has nothing to offer for an outstanding candidate regarding the 2012 elections. Since I an an Independent I will vote for Obama's second term as president.

Jeff

155.2.2012 13:31

Originally posted by Jeffrey_P:

Call it being a troglodyte. Fact of the matter is powers at be have tried to manipulate the Constitution to fit their own needs. The Constitution has checks and balances built in to protect all citizens. Now basics like declaring war on other countries gives power to the executive branch to do what seems politically correct without the intervention and okay of Congress. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves. There was a reason for checks and balances. One was to avoid the the problems that plague UK's totalitarian regime. Paying taxes for Kings and Queens who have no function other than being TMZ news.

Ron Paul has common sense. He may be too old to be president but he sure beats the hell out of Romney and Newt. The GOP has nothing to offer for an outstanding candidate regarding the 2012 elections. Since I an an Independent I will vote for Obama's second term as president.

Jeff
My prob isn't with Ron Paul (or you at all) it's with individuals that spin/lie or live in their own utopian world drummed up out of some anime from a hippie, huggy, feely, everyone got a trophy for showing up existence; which was with another individual. I would suppose Ron Paul would be fine for the country, but the time for 'tough love' really isn't now.

Anyway, any short search of these forums will pull up the old farts of us & characterize the stories of yore when asses were beat & music was music. I'm just sure you'll agree that we ALL know what right/wrong is & the bullshit games need to "stop".

An infinity number of pages & a Möbius strip manner of never being able to execute the obviously guilty has made all poor societies wary (I bow to your stance on the death penalty, I'm on my soapbox).

Personally, politics needs a lot less crazy shite, billionaires & pandering right now. Common sense would most certainly be a breath of fresh air, but I don't think the American people can handle truth's either; simply because they've been lied to for so long.

But one thing is for sure... If something does seem to be working & we're seemingly on the road to recovery, we need to stick with it and finish the medication. Not stop it cold turkey & throw away the bottle or else we're going to be right back here. I don't know about you, but I have done a lot of work & none of it has paid of like this guy's did for me to just up & forget about political folly testing my liberties.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Feb 2012 @ 1:33

166.2.2012 18:03

Nothing is perfect, capitalism and democracy aren't perfect but they are the best that I know of. As far as capitalism morphing to to something bad it was never good. A century before it was far more nasty than it is now.

The problem is most of the world has been going into debt. You have corrupt officials making very bad deals for the public.

Ron Paul is a libertarian. He believes we can be isolationists. If he was president in the 40s Hitler would have taken over the world. Thing aren't as simple as he believes.

My problem with Obama is that he is great on spending money but not so great getting the economy back on its feet. The reason the first Bush didn't get reelected was because he couldn't turn the economy around. Time for him to go but who to replace him that isn't worse?

I am all for voting out all the incumbents everywhere! Keep voting them out till we can get some serious persons in place. Well serious and not barking mad. I think the tea party is serious but they fail my second criteria. Jeff, at least you are voting for Obama for all the right reasons. I can't fault you. However, you may freak out when Obama care come into effect. Someone will have to come up with the vast amount of money required to run the damn thing. You all think it will not be you but unless you are very poor, you will be paying for it. HMOs cost about 20K/yr. Depending on who you work for will determine how much you pay. 1 out of 3 Americans are too poor to pay for healthcare. That means your share will be 7k. Maybe they will only raise your taxes 5K because you don't make much. Obamacare allows you to pay into health insurance but not receive any benefits till your health care costs. It will probably slide from #k for the poor but not destitute to 20K for the wealthy.

He will not say what he is going to go till after the elections. Which I take is he knows if the public knew what he was going to do he couldn't get elected even when he thought he was bullet-proof.

177.2.2012 10:27

Originally posted by Mez:
I am all for voting out all the incumbents everywhere! Keep voting them out till we can get some serious persons in place.
I'm with you (up until your definition on healthcare, I'm muddy on that whole thing), but it somehow seems that caucuses & electoral colleges only see fit to allow multi-milloinairs to run for office. I 'suppose' this wouldn't be a problem if most of them were self made individuals who came from pretty humble beginnings, but we all know that to not be the case. Which I offer as a crippling factor in anyone's decision making process as the pin ultimate decision maker of this country.

If anything 'experience' should be #1 in the portfolio, not your bank account or toy box. I mean by the current criteria, Choe here could be running in 2016.

187.2.2012 20:03

I don't blame you on the healthcare there is too much smoke hiding everything. I figure Obama doesn't want us to know.

I guess then Ron Paul has the most experience since he is the oldest. Just joking...

I prefer governors to senators. I can't remember any senator that made a good president. We never had a businessman. Someone that had to make money.

I will say some of the cuts Obama made were good. I am a govt contractor and I say we need to get the govt work like a business where you have goals and if you don't make them you are out!

198.2.2012 11:19

Facebook's IPO is going to generate hundreds of millionaires.

208.2.2012 11:22

Health related forums are mushrooming up these days

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