LAS VEGAS (NewsNation) — 5,400 employees at a Las Vegas casino hit the jackpot in a big way.
On Wednesday night, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas employees were taken by surprise during an employee appreciation and awards buffet when the resort CEO and president Bill McBeath announced that all 5,400 people who work there would be receiving a $5,000 bonus.
“This appreciation award, the winner will get $5,000.” McBeath announced during the ceremony, “Congratulations to … every one of you.”
The employees were completely shocked. They thought only one person was going to get the bonus, not every employee in the room.
The bonuses totaled more than $27 million altogether.
Two employees were also gifted vacations to San Diego and Hawaii: Staci Stafford, a housekeeping worker trainer, and Samira Harbali, a server at the resort.
An estimated half of the resort’s workers attended the noontime midweek event, where executives from Blackstone Real Estate Americas and the Cosmopolitan credited them with maintaining “a youthful, exuberant brand” while working through the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s you, every single day, that makes a difference,” said Daniel Espino, Cosmopolitan chief people officer. “Whether you clean the rooms, cook the food, are dealing cards, serving drinks, at the front desk.”
McBeath noted the resort had donated more than $9 million to charities during the last seven years.
Blackstone, the New York-based private equity firm, owns the approximately 3,000-room, two-tower property. It plans in coming weeks to complete a $1.6 billion sale of property operations to casino giant MGM Resorts International.
The Cosmopolitan sits between two other MGM-owned Strip properties: Bellagio and the multi-resort City Center complex.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
