July 23 (Reuters) - Some of the staff at Elon Musk's

Neuralink are making preparations to sell the brain implant

company's stock in the wake of its valuation jumping following

its first human trial, according to people familiar with the

matter.

Stock compensation is a big incentive for employees at

startups such as Neuralink. The shares they receive are not

publicly traded, and employees that want to sell them without

the company's blessing have to use complex turnarounds on niche

private market exchanges.

Now some of Neuralink's employees and investors are

preparing for Musk's company to launch a tender offer as early

as next month to buy back shares from staff that wish to sell,

according to two sources briefed on the matter who requested

anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Neuralink and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

The jump in Neuralink's valuation following the launch of

its first human trial in January is evident in secondary market

trades. While these trades are thin in volume and do not provide

a reliable number for Neuralink's current valuation, they all

point to a rise in value -- some to as much as $8 billion, more

than double what the company was worth last year.

Neuralink has called its first human trial a success. It

said it remedied an initial problem of the implant's threads

retracting from its first patient's brain and is preparing for

more trials in Britain and Canada. Musk recently said the

company plans to implant a second patient soon.

It could not be learned whether Neuralink has formally

scheduled a tender offer or what its terms would be. Last fall,

Neuralink launched a tender offer for employees that priced at

around $19 per share, when some shares traded on the secondary

market close to $35, according to a review of trades by Reuters

and sources familiar with the matter. It is common for startups

to launch tender offers at a discount to secondary market

values.

Musk has for years created scarcity for shares in his

startups, which also include rocket company SpaceX and

artificial intelligence developer xAI, turning them into

exclusive clubs that accept only a few investors, such as Peter

Thiel's Founders Fund.

This scarcity has made the shares sought after and investors

content with receiving little information on how the startups

have fared once they invested, according to investors and people

who have worked closely with Musk. A spokeswoman for Founders

Fund declined to comment.

The impact of this scarcity is reflected in recent trades.

Buyers on private exchanges paid a premium of between 84% and

137% in the last few weeks to the $3.5 billion valuation

Neuralink attained in its most recent private fundraising round

last November, according to a Reuters analysis of trades recent

trades and PitchBook data.

Most startups' shares don't trade at such premiums, and the

majority of them trade at a discount. The median private company

trades at a 32% discount from the valuation of its most recent

fundraising, according to brokerage Forge Global.

BIG WINDFALL

Neuralink's valuation has soared since it was started in

2016, and employees that were given shares at the launch or soon

after at a fraction of their current value are in for a big

windfall. Some buyers are offering as much as $50 a share, up

from about $35 around when the human trial began in January,

said Sim Desai, chief executive of Hiive, who said his secondary

platform matches buyers and sellers interested in trading

Neuralink shares.

SpaceX, Musk's most valuable company besides electric car

maker Tesla, also trades at a premium on the secondary

market. One recent transaction at $130.11 valued the company at

$232 billion, according to secondary trade data. The company

valued itself at about $180 billion in a private fundraising

round in April, according to Pitchbook. SpaceX did not respond

to a comment request.

The sources said Neuralink asks its employees not to trade

their shares on the secondary market, preferring they sell stock

during tender offers that the company can control.

One reason, according to Hiive's Desai, is that federal

regulation prevents private companies from having more than

2,000 direct shareholders. Allowing limitless trading on the

secondary market, especially for hot companies like Neuralink,

could push a company up against the limit, Desai said. The other

reason is companies retaining the ability to funnel access to

investors they want at their chosen price.

"Basically, it's an opportunity for a company, if they

restrict the trades, to do their close friends and insiders a

favor," Desai said.

Due to restrictions on trading placed by Neuralink, Hiive

only facilitates the matchmaking for shares, and the parties

have to arrange for payment and the transfer of shares on their

own, he said.