Artist Made Incredible Decision When He Was Offered Choice Of Payment For Painting Facebook's Headquarters

Credit: Instagram/@davidchoe

An artist made a bold choice that resulted in financial success when he was asked how he would want to be compensated for a piece of art he had created at the Facebook headquarters.

David Choe hails from Los Angeles, California, and is a talented artist, musician, actor, and former journalist turned podcast host.

In the Netflix series Beef, he costarred with Ali Wong and Steven Yeun.

As a painter, he is most recognized for his murals, which he describes as having a "dirty style" that frequently explores themes of desire, humiliation, and exaltation.

Netflix

Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook and an internet entrepreneur, commissioned Choe to paint explicit sexual murals in the Silicon Valley office of the social networking platform in 2005.

Then, in 2007, Facebook requested that he paint more murals for the firm, but with a much more subdued theme when its headquarters relocated.

Choe was given an option at the time on how he wanted to be compensated for the murals he had created.

Parker made the artist an offer of $60,000 or 0.25 percent equity in the business.

Choe declined to accept the firm stock even though, in an interview with The New York Times, he considered the Facebook economic model to be "ridiculous and pointless."

And it was undoubtedly a wise choice because, on the day of the company's 2012 IPO, the artist's shares were worth a staggering $200 million—more than thirty times the initial cash offer.

When they heard about the contract, X users expressed amazement, describing Choe as a "legend" and calling it "amazing."

However, the artist drew criticism earlier this year as remarks he had made on sexual assault on his 2014 DVDASA podcast surfaced in the wake of Beef's success.

The 47-year-old remembered an alleged sexual assault of a massage therapist in the resurfaced footage that was extensively posted on social media at the time.

Calling himself a "successful rapist," he said he touched the masseuse and made her perform a sex act on him.

"The thrill of possibly going to jail, you know, that’s what achieved the erection quest," Choe can be heard saying.

Later, Choe issued a statement in which he expressed regret for whatever damage his remarks may have caused and gave the impression that they were merely jokes.

"I’m sorry if anyone believed that the stories were fact," he said. "They were not!"

In the end, David Choe's choice of $60,000 over Facebook stock in 2005 turned out to be a huge win, scoring him $200 million at the 2012 IPO.

Even with some recent trouble over jokes, he said sorry and explained they weren't meant seriously.

It's a reminder that success can be surprising, and making smart choices matters on the way up.