Business Facts

    Business Facts

    From business leaders' philanthropy, funny business blunders, to companies making a huge impact in the world - our business fun facts database has them all.

    Dunkin' Donuts
    Dunkin' Donuts
    Dunkin' Donuts in South Korea started spraying coffee aroma into public buses every time their jingle played. Coffee sales increased 29%.
    47
    John Mackey (Whole Foods CEO)
    John Mackey (Whole Foods CEO)
    In 2006, the CEO of Whole Foods reduced his salary to $1 a year, donated his entire portfolio to charity, and set up a $100,000 fund for staff facing personal problems.
    47
    Dmitry Argakov
    Dmitry Argakov
    A man named Dmitry Argakov was sent a letter offering him a credit card but he didn’t like the terms. So he altered the contract to include unlimited credit at 0% interest which the bank accepted but then tried to void his card. He sued the bank for not sticking to terms of the credit contract and won.
    48
    Free Russian Coffee Houses
    Free Russian Coffee Houses
    There are coffee houses in Russia where food and drink are free, but you pay for time.
    39
    Tim's Place
    Tim's Place
    There's a restaurant in Albuquerque called Tim's Place that serves breakfast, lunch, and hugs - and it's owned by a man with Down's Syndrome.
    96
    IKEA Boss
    IKEA Boss
    Despite being one of the top 10 richest men in the world, Ingvar Kamprad (founder of IKEA) lives in a small home, eats at IKEA, and uses the bus.
    44
    Free Daily Ice Cream
    Free Daily Ice Cream
    All employees of Ben & Jerry’s get to take home 3 free pints of ice cream every single day!
    52
    Volvo's Overseas Delivery Program
    Volvo's Overseas Delivery Program
    Americans buying a Volvo can get a free holiday to Sweden to test drive their new car. All costs, including airfare and shipment of the car, are covered by the Volvo Overseas Delivery program.
    33
    Steve Jobs' Secretary
    Steve Jobs' Secretary
    Steve Jobs' secretary told him that she was late for work because her car wouldn't start. That very afternoon, Jobs came back and threw her a set of keys to a brand new Jaguar, saying: "Here, don’t be late anymore."
    57
    Dead Google's Employees' Families Receive Fantastic Package
    If an employee of Google dies, their spouse will receive half their pay for 10 years as well as stock benefits, and any children will receive $1000 a month until they turn 19.
    73
    Lenovo CEO Redistributed His $3M Bonus to 10,000 Employees. Twice.
    As a reward for record profits, the CEO of Lenovo, Yang Yuanqing, received a $3 million bonus, which he redistributed to about 10,000 of Lenovo's employees. He did the same again in 2013.
    22
    Programmer Outsourced Job to China So He Could Surf Reddit and Watch Cat Videos
    A man secretly outsourced his programming job to China. He filled his work day watching cat videos, surfing Reddit and Facebook. Before being caught and fired, he made hundreds of thousands.
    20
    China's Pollution Is so Bad, a Millionaire Made over $6m Selling Cans of Fresh Air
    In response to China's air pollution, a Chinese millionaire started selling cans of fresh air for $0.80 and made over $6 million dollars in 10 months.
    19
    McDonald's
    McDonald's
    Every day, 1% of the world's population is served at McDonald's.
    10
    Google's Mower Goats
    Google's Mower Goats
    Rather than using mechanical mowers, Google regularly employs a flock of 200 goats to naturally mow and fertilise the lawns.
    28
    CEO takes over company worth $9m, fires management, gives power to employees, and now makes over $200m
    Ricardo Semler, a CEO in his twenties, took over a company worth $9m, fired most of the management, and gave the power to the employees. It now has a turnover of over $200m.
    15
    The CEO of Japan Airlines makes $90,000 a year, less than the pilots. During an interview, he said "We in Japan learned during the bubble economy that businesses who pursue money first fail. The business world has lost sight of this basic tenet of business ethics."
    9
    In March, 2014, Colorado sold $19 million dollars worth of Cannabis. $1.9 million went to schools and crime fell by 10%.
    6
    As of 2014, Apple has enough money to buy Facebook, or Netflix, Tesla, Twitter, Dropbox, Pandora, and Spotify combined - with $59 billion to spare!
    9
    The Shell Oil Company began as a novelty shop in London that sold sea shells.
    3
    More