Unlock the Editor’s Digest totally free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
Revolut’s chief govt Nik Storonsky is in line for a multibillion-dollar windfall if he steers the fintech’s valuation to about $150bn, below a long-standing Elon Musk-style pay package deal.
Storonsky, who based the $45bn start-up in 2015, has an outsized incentive deal that will enhance his stake in Revolut by a number of share factors if the valuation greater than triples from its present degree, in keeping with folks acquainted with the matter.
The entire quantity of shares on supply might be value as a lot as 10 per cent of the corporate if all of the targets are hit, one of many folks mentioned.
Nonetheless, the package deal was structured such that it might pay out in levels when the valuation cleared set thresholds, the individual mentioned.
A number of the folks likened Storonsky’s deal to the bumper pay deal that Musk negotiated with Tesla in 2018. That award, which was the most important in US historical past, has led to a years-long authorized battle.
Storonsky’s deal predates the corporate’s blockbuster fundraising in 2021, during which an funding spherical led by SoftBank handed the corporate a valuation of $33bn.
The chief govt’s direct and oblique holdings in Revolut shares topped 25 per cent in April this yr after a reorganisation of its possession construction, in keeping with the corporate’s newest annual report.
Earlier than that, nobody had greater than 25 per cent of the shares in challenge, though Storonsky was nonetheless deemed an individual with important management.
The Revolut scheme underscores how traders search to inspire high executives to achieve bold development targets.
If Revolut reaches a $150bn valuation, it might additionally ship outsized returns for the corporate’s early enterprise capital backers together with Index Ventures and Balderton Capital.
Storonsky guided the corporate to its $45bn valuation final yr, when workers and early traders had been allowed to money in a few of their shares. He offered a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars}’ value of his personal inventory within the transaction, the Monetary Instances beforehand reported.
The London-based start-up’s earnings greater than doubled to £1bn final yr because it surpassed 50mn clients, which boosted the charges it makes from card funds and the curiosity it earns on deposit.
Revolut additionally benefited from a resurgence of crypto buying and selling, which elevated revenues almost fourfold at its wealth enterprise comprising inventory and digital property buying and selling.
Final yr, the fintech obtained a banking licence in its house market after a years-long course of. The award from the Financial institution of England represented a milestone for the corporate, with executives now hoping it should assist it safe licences in different markets.
The corporate has additionally begun to pay out money bonuses to employees as a part of an overhaul of its remuneration coverage, a shift from a earlier system that solely granted bonuses in fairness. The transfer comes forward of a possible bumper preliminary public providing for Revolut.
Revolut declined to remark.