Lightning owner offers $50,000 bonus (minimum) to employees

Earlier this week, Lightning owner Jeff Vinik sold a majority stake in the franchise to a pair of fund managers from an investment firm in New York.

Vinik sent an e-mail to his employees with the news.

But in the e-mail, there was also an interesting message for Vinik Sports Group employees…

The Lightning owner said in his e-mail that each full-time Vinik Sports Group employee (there are around 300 in total) will share a handsome $20 million bonus in connection with the sale.

In the end, each employee will be able to collect a “minimum” bonus of $50,000, which is meant to be a nice amount of money for those working within the organization.

This prompted Julien BriseBois (Lightning GM) to say:

He’s the best owner in the sport. I have friends who are involved in other sports and they all say the same thing: Jeff is the best. – Julien BriseBois

As his sale of his #GoBolts majority ownership share was completed, Jeff Vinik announced that he was sharing $20 million of what he’s made with the roughly 300 Vinik Sports Group employees under him in the form of bonuses – to the tune of a $50K minimum. https://t.co/cA8dUIBoxL

– Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) October 25, 2024

It’s out of the ordinary, honestly.

Jeff Vinik really didn’t have to make the decision to share his income with his employees, and it seems refreshing.

After all, it’s possible that some of those employees are having a hard time with the two major hurricanes (Helene and Beryl) that have hit Florida in recent weeks.

The Lightning owner is obviously aware of this and has decided to take action to help these people. I think that’s really interesting.

It also makes the club’s employees feel even more attached to the Tampa Bay organization.

It’s a nice vote of confidence in the employees, and it also shows that the owner is thinking of his staff.

Hats off to him!

Overtime

– He’s getting better.

Alexis Lafreniere’s point pace per age:

19yo: 31 points
20yo: 33 points
21yo: 36 points
22yo: 60 points
23yo: 68 points (only 6 games)

He’s gotten better every year of his career without fail. pic.twitter.com/fJDaWDIPFb

– Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) October 25, 2024

– Wow.

A list that Wayne Gretzky isn’t first on?! pic.twitter.com/1unhtk4Kz1

– NHL (@NHL) October 25, 2024

– It’s coming…

The road to 1000 points and 600 goals continues.

Heading into their Friday night matchup in Edmonton, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby are both closing in on monumental milestones. pic.twitter.com/c0m7rUotTa

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 25, 2024