Artist’s decision on Facebook graffiti makes him $200m

Graffiti artist David Choe became $200m richer this week thanks to a decision he made seven years ago in the offices of Facebook.

In 2005, he decided to take Facebook stock in exchange for murals he painted in the start-up company’s headquarters.

Even though Choe thought the concept of Facebook was ‘ridiculous’, he turned down a cash offer for an undisclosed sum of shares instead.

Before being called to do some graffiti work for Facebook, Choe had been making a modest living by decorating offices.

The self-confessed former shoplifter who has done time in jail for stealing and cashing a forged cheque got a call from Sean Parker, then president of Facebook, which would change everything.

Choe did some research and found the firm had been launched in 2004, operating from offices in Palo Alto, California.

He took the ‘decorating’ job and was offered either thousands of dollars in cash, or stock worth approximately the same.

Despite thinking that the idea of Facebook was “pointless and ridiculous,” the 35-year-old went for the stock option and watched as the company grew way beyond anything he could have imagined, with its filing in an initial public offering this week that will likely leave Choe worth around $200m when the company goes public later in the year.

According to a New York Times report, Choe would have received between 0.1% and 0.25% of the company for his work at Facebook’s offices. The social networking site could soon be valued at around $100 billion.

Facebook filed papers for its IPO earlier this week with a plan to raise $5bn, valuing the social networking site at up to $100bn, making it the biggest ever IPO for an internet company.

Facebook chief executive and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is the company’s largest stockholder with more than half a billion shares (28.4%) in the business, which could be worth as much as $28bn.

Choe has not made any public comment on his earning this week but his Facebook friends have been giving him plenty of tips on what to do with his windfall.

He has many fans, including President Obama, who has a poster made by Choe featuring the word ‘Hope’ hanging in the White House.