He Was Offered $60,000 to Paint Facebook's Office. He Took Stock Instead.

In 2005, Facebook was a scrappy startup operating out of a small office on University Avenue in Palo Alto. Sean Parker, then president of the company, wanted murals on the walls. He reached out to David Choe, a Korean-American graffiti artist who'd built a cult following in the street art world.

The offer was straightforward: $60,000 in cash to paint the office. Choe thought Facebook was, in his own words, "ridiculous and pointless." A social network for college kids? He wasn't impressed.

But he liked to gamble. So instead of taking the cash, he asked for stock options.

For the next few weeks, Choe covered Facebook's walls with his signature style — raw, chaotic murals featuring women, animals, and surreal imagery. The work was provocative and completely at odds with the clean tech aesthetic of Silicon Valley. Mark Zuckerberg loved it.

Then Choe went back to his life. He kept painting, traveling, and doing what street artists do. Facebook, meanwhile, grew from a college project into one of the most valuable companies on Earth.

Seven years later, on May 18, 2012, Facebook went public. The IPO valued the company at roughly $104 billion. Choe's stock — payment for a few weeks of painting walls — was worth an estimated $200 million.

A $60,000 painting job turned into one of the greatest returns on labor in corporate history. Choe had essentially been paid $200 million to do what he would have done for free on a highway overpass.

After cashing out, Choe didn't buy a tech mansion or launch a venture fund. He traveled, funded art projects, and largely stayed out of the Silicon Valley spotlight. When asked about the windfall, he's been remarkably nonchalant — the guy who thought Facebook was pointless accidentally became one of its biggest individual beneficiaries.