A Maryland real estate company surprised all its employees with $10 million bonus

Brett Molina | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Real estate company surprises employees with jaw-dropping bonuses This year's holiday bonus would be life-changing for employees at one company.

Talk about a Christmas miracle.

A real estate company headquartered in Maryland dropped a big gift for all 198 of its employees: a shared $10 million bonus.

In a statement released Monday, St. John Properties said the average employee will receive $50,000. The company said the bonus will vary based solely on years of service.

The company said the bonus was given to celebrate reaching the goal of developing 20 million square feet of office, retail and other commercial real estate space in eight states.

“To celebrate the achievement of our goal, we wanted to reward our employees in a big way that would make a significant impact on their lives,” Edward St. John, the company's founder and chairman, said in a statement.

St. John made the announcement Dec. 7 during the company's annual holiday party. A video of the announcement shows employees holding red envelopes, opening them up to learn their share of the $10 million bonus. Some employees cried in response to the bonus they received.

"It is life-changing," one unidentified employee says in the video.

The company said the bonus is on top of the company's annual year-end bonus.

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