PhonePe Esop buyback: Flipkart makes $700 million payout to employees

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Flipkart will receive payments from a $700 million employee stock option (Esop) buyback today. CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy informed the eligible employees about the payment in an internal email.

“...the BoD (Board of Directors) had decided to pay US$43.67 (Rs 3,615) as compensation for each Esop (vested options for eligible current and former stakeholders and unvested options only for eligible current stakeholders) as of the record date of December 23, 2022,” the email from Krishnamurthy noted. The details of individual payments would reach employees by next week, the CEO’s email added.

More than 24,000 individuals, including former Flipkart and Myntra employees, are eligible for payments from the buyback. The payment is compensation for the loss of PhonePe’s value in the stock option as a result of its separation, an earlier Flipkart internal note had stated.Also read | Flipkart-PhonePe spilt: Flipkart staff to receive $700 million cash payout this month “There has certainly been good work across the business, and I want to thank all the teams for their consistent and dedicated efforts in prioritizing impact and value”, Krishnamurthy said in the latest internal email.

ET was the first to report late last week on the buyback payment being made by the end of this month. The payout will be “subject to applicable withholding taxes and other tax rules in respective countries of various Esop holders”, the earlier Flipkart internal note had said about the buyback, adding that legal formalities for the payout were currently underway.