Revolut employees are in line for a payout bonanza after the UK fintech firm launched a share sale that has pushed its valuation up by two-thirds to $75bn (£55bn).
The secondary sale, which prices each share at $1,381.06, will secure the finance app’s position as one of the world’s most valuable fintech firms.
Employees will be allowed to sell up to 20% of their personal holdings to new and existing investors over the coming weeks, with payouts likely to follow in the early autumn.
The secondary share sale, which was announced to staff on Monday, comes after Revolut boosted its annual profits by more than 150% in 2024 to £1bn, following a jump in subscriptions and revenues from its wealth and crypto trading divisions.
Revolut’s founder and chief executive, Nik Storonsky, has already enjoyed a $200m-$300m windfall, according to reports, as a result of a separate share sale that valued the company at $45bn last summer. Storonsky is said to be in line for multibillion-dollar fortune if he manages to push the fintech company’s valuation past $150bn (£110bn).
A Revolut spokesperson said on Monday: “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.”
The announcement will be a boon for longstanding staff but the timing has sparked speculation that Revolut’s much-anticipated stock market debut may be further delayed.
“This could be a sign that the company will either IPO soon or that its employees are getting antsy about the lack of an IPO and want to release their equity in the firm rather than wait for the IPO,” said Kathleen Brooks, a research director at the online broker XTB. “Whatever this moves signals, it is deep shame that Revolut is not planning to IPO in the UK.”
Storonsky suggested last December that New York could be a better fit for the company’s IPO because of the regulatory environment and the size of the market. A US listing would be a major blow to the City and the London Stock Exchange, which has suffered from a growing number of defections.
Revolut bosses have grown frustrated with UK regulators, who have been slow to grant the fintech a full banking licence that would allow it to hold customer deposits and branch out into more lucrative products such as loans and mortgages.
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The challenge, in part, was convincing regulators that Revolut had addressed accounting issues and EU regulatory breaches, as well as reputational concerns, including an aggressive corporate culture. The fintech company says it has since resolved those accounting and regulatory problems and has made efforts to improve its working culture.
The fintech waited three years for initial approval, which was finally granted in July 2024, and it has remained on a restricted UK banking licence since.
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, tried to secure a meeting with watchdogs and regulators earlier this year amid the delay, but was blocked by the Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, amid concerns that Reeves was meddling in a process that should be independent from government intervention and influence.