On Friday, Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe launched employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) for its 2,200 employees, and issued shares worth over $200 million or Rs 1,500 crore to its entire staff across all levels, including freshers.

This was one of the largest ESOPs by a start-up. PhonePe said it has issued a minimum ESOP of $5,000 (around Rs 3 lakh) to every employee.

The Stock Option Plan gives every employee of the payments major a chance to own a part of the company and benefit from its success. Some of the other start-ups to have recently announced ESOPs are Mobile Premier League, Wakefit, ShareChat and Licious.

Usually, ESOPs are given on the basis of seniority, and only with certain profiles and roles that are viewed as critical for a company. For a start-up, ESOPs are a way of attracting talent, as the shares can be later on sold off at a potentially higher value if the company goes public or buys back shares.

Sameer Nigam, the co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, tweeted: ALL 2200+ full time employees at @PhonePe_ own ESOPs in the company now. 1500 Crores worth of ESOPs issued overall. Incredibly emotional and gratifying moment for @rahulchari9 and myself as founders. Shared wealth creation feels awesome. (sic)”

Proud to report that ALL 2200+ full time employees at @PhonePe_ own ESOPs in the company now.1500 Crores worth of ESOPs issued overall. Incredibly emotional and gratifying moment for @rahulchari9 and myself as founders. Shared wealth creation feels awesome. Karte Ja Badhte Ja! https://t.co/wH2vK3xxAz

— Sameer.Nigam (@_sameernigam) February 4, 2021

The allotment of ESOPs on Friday also coincided with the company completing five years. In December 2020, PhonePe was spun-off from Flipkart as a separate entity, after the digital payment firm had raised $700 million in funding, valuing it at $5.5 billion.

The allotment of ESOPs at PhonePe were over and above regular increments. Last year, despite most of the company’s employees working remotely because of COVID-19, the digital payment firm said that it had been able to turn the pandemic challenge into an opportunity.

(Edited by : Jomy)