Over 200 past and current Revolut employees could be sitting on equity fortunes worth more than a million dollars following the completion of the company’s latest secondary share sale.
Founded in 2015 by Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut is Europe’s most valuable privately-traded tech company and has raised billions in funding from investors such as Balderton Capital, Tiger Global and Mubadala Capital.
But it’s not just Revolut’s founders and investors that could get rich from its rise, equity-holding employees past and present could be set to cash in too. Earlier this week, the fintech reportedly launched an employee secondary share sale valuing the company at $75bn, pricing employee shares at $1381.06.
According to a Sifted analysis of Companies House records, at least 239 current and former staff will own shares worth more than $1m once the deal closes. That’s more than triple the number of paper millionaires after Revolut’s 2021 fundraise, which gave the fintech a $33bn pricetag.
Of the millionaires logged, more than twenty hold shares worth over $10m, including key figures past and present in the company.
The company declined to comment, saying: “We don’t comment on individual shareholdings.”
These include former chief marketing officer Chad West, ex-chief revenue officer Alan Chang, and Allica Bank CEO Rich Davies. Revolut CEO Storonsky holds shares now worth around $14.5bn, making him one of the UK’s wealthiest people.
There could also be more waiting in the wings. UK public records, which were filed this August, only show individuals who’ve already exercised their options into real shares.
Cashing in
Some past and present employees have already cashed in. A group of 18 employee millionaires were minted last year after they cashed in during last year’s secondary sale.
Last August, Revolut closed an employee share sale that valued the fintech at $45bn, which enabled a number of employees to cash out their holdings according to Companies House filings. Those include chief technology officer and cofounder Yatsenko, who cashed in over $80m worth of shares.
Revolut’s currently ongoing secondary share sale could mint even more millionaires. Staff will be able to sell as much as 20% of their stake in the company, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.
The Revolut flywheel
The transfer of wealth could serve as a springboard for new founders. At least 46 startups have been founded by Revolut alumni, according to data released in March by VC firm Accel and data platform Dealroom.
Among them include Chang’s Fuse Energy, which raised at a unicorn valuation in July this year, crypto startup DeBlock and Sardine, a fraud and compliance platform founded by ex-Revolut exec Soups Ranjan.
For now, it remains unclear when Revolut’s secondary sale will close. A Revolut spokesperson previously told Sifted: “As part of our commitment to our employees, we regularly provide opportunities for them to gain liquidity. An employee secondary share sale is currently in process, and we won’t be commenting further until it is complete.”
Alongside the secondary share sale, the fintech yesterday debuted a tender offer which allows it to repurchase as much as 10% of its shares from eligible investors, according to reports. Fintechs such as US payments giant Stripe have previously utilised tender offers in order to stay private for longer periods of time and for now, it’s not clear if and when Revolut will go public.
Last December, Storonsky suggested New York would be a better fit over London were it to seek a public listing. And the fintech is yet to be granted a full banking licence in its home country of the UK, limiting its ability to move into more lucrative products such as loans and mortgages.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/revolut-paper-millionaires/
