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What Was Random House CEO's Exciting, 50 Shades of Grey-Related Christmas Party Announcement?
Random House CEO Markus Dohle announces a $5,000 bonus for employees during the company's holiday party at Martin's in Westminster, Md. Friday, Dec 7, 2012. (Photo: AP)

What Was Random House CEO's Exciting, 50 Shades of Grey-Related Christmas Party Announcement?

"The applause is said to have lasted for minutes"

Random House CEO Markus Dohle announces a $5,000 bonus for employees during the company's holiday party at Martin's in Westminster, Md. Friday, Dec 7, 2012. (Photo: AP)

(TheBlaze/AP) --Thanks to "Fifty Shades of Grey," employees at Random House Inc. are seeing green.

Every worker, from the mail room to editorial to distribution, will receive a $5,000 bonus in their next paycheck, according to reports.  For employees who have been with the company for less than a year, the amount will be prorated.

(Photo: Random House)

The announcement was made by CEO Markus Dohle at the company's annual holiday party, and the applause is said to have lasted for minutes.

In a company-wide letter sent Monday, Dohle credited the publishing house's "unprecedented success" in 2012 for the generous end-of-year sendoff.

The biggest success was undeniably EL James' erotic "Fifty Shades" trilogy, which has sold more than 35 million copies.  Making an almost immediate impact on American culture-- everyone knows what the books are about-- the series has been distributed to dozens of countries, and Universal Pictures has nabbed the movie rights.

But that wasn't their only success this year.  Random House also released best-sellers "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and "The Passage of Power" by Robert Caro.

Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum said Monday that while some employees have existing bonus plans, the across-the-board payment was "unique" for the company.

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