​Bloke Who Painted Facebook's First Office Is Now Worth Over $200m

We all know how filthy rich Mark Zuckerberg became from Facebook, but you'll be surprised to learn that some of that success also rubbed off on the dude that painted the company's first office - who's now worth over $200 million (£140 million).

David Choe is the graffiti artist who was roped in to paint Facebook's first office in its early days.

According to an episode of CNBC's The Filthy Rich Guide, in the early 2000s, Choe's work had caught the eye of Sean Parker - the founder of Napster and also president of Facebook, which at the time was still just a fledgling start-up.

WATCH JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AS SEAN PARKER IN THE SOCIAL NETWORK:

"My prices had been going higher and higher and I was like, 'Yeah, I mean, if you want me to paint the entire building, it's going to be 60 - you know, 60 grand (£42,000),'" Choe told Howard Stern.

But Parker offered him a choice between cash and company stock, advising him to go for the latter.

"I believed in Sean," Choe continued, adding that he didn't care about Facebook. "I'm like this kid knows something, and I'm going to bet my money on him."

Obviously at the time Facebook wasn't the name it is now, meaning there was no guarantee that Choe's shares wouldn't end up completely worthless.

But he went for the stock - and when Facebook went public at $38 (£27) a share back in 2012, his stock options were worth $200m, making him quite the multi-millionaire.

David Choe/Instagram

Of course, that's just a drop in the ocean compared to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who Forbes reckon is currently worth an eye-watering $76.7 billion (£54 billion).

He founded Facebook at the tender age of 19, famously dropping out of Harvard University as the social network's popularity grew.

Now he's even received an honorary degree from the Ivy League school, meaning the man literally has everything.

In an inspirational speech to the graduating class, he said: "I'm here to tell you finding your purpose isn't enough.

"The challenge for our generation is creating a world where everyone has a sense of purpose."

He also added: "Today I want to talk about three ways to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose: by taking on big meaningful projects together, by redefining equality so everyone has the freedom to pursue purpose, and by building community across the world."

Topics: Billionaire, Interesting, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman