Headed toward a record year, Random House announced at its holiday party Wednesday that all U.S. employees will receive a $5,000 bonus. The project was one of the last worked on by RH’s late CFO Anne Davis who died in late November. The publisher was boosted by the huge success of the Fifty Shades trilogy, which has sold over 35 million copies in the U.S. and 65 million worldwide. Last week, PW named E.L. James Publishing Person of the Year.

Over 1,100 employees attended the party at Gotham Hall. When CEO Markus Dohle made the surprise announcement the cheering went on for "three or four minutes" one party-goer reported.