Flipkart’s Current and Former Employees Receive $700 Million in ESOP Payout

• ByStartupStory     |    July 14, 2023

Flipkart, the online ecommerce platform, has disbursed a one-time payout of nearly $700 million as part of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) from the demerger of PhonePe. Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy addressed the employees in a letter,“Further to the communication made on April 21, 2023, regarding this payout, I am delighted to inform you that the much-awaited compensation will be made today, July 14, 2023.”

The letter also mentioned that detailed information regarding individual payouts would be provided in the following week. Each ESOP was valued at $43.67 (Rs 3,586), encompassing only vested shares for eligible former employees. Current employees eligible for the payout would receive compensation for both vested and unvested options. Flipkart operates on a four-year vesting schedule, with 25% of the allotted shares vesting annually. As of May 2022, Flipkart had allocated 4.58% of its shares to the ESOP pool, according to Tracxn, a market research and data platform.

In December 2022, Flipkart completed the separation of its payments unit, PhonePe, to unlock its value. PhonePe has been in the process of raising $1.1 billion in equity from various investors, including TVS Capital Fund and General Atlantic. As of February 2023, PhonePe’s valuation stood at $12 billion.

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