Current and former employees at Flipkart collect $700M from one-time ESOP payout

Online ecommerce platform Flipkart on Friday paid nearly $700 million as part of the one-time payout for Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) from the separation of PhonePe and Flipkart.

This follows an announcement made by the board of directors at the company on April 21.

Multiple current and former employees reported receiving the payout on July 14. The payout will benefit a total of 24,000 eligible individuals, Flipkart confirmed to YourStory.

A letter to the employees addressed by CEO of Flipkart Group, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, and reviewed by YourStory, said, “Further to the communication made 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 further added that details on individual payouts will be issued in the following week.

The payout values each ESOP at $43.67 (Rs 3,586), which includes only vested shares for eligible former employees. Current employees eligible for the payout will receive compensation for both vested and unvested options.

Flipkart follows a vesting schedule for employees over four years with 25% of the allotted shares vesting each year. It has currently earmarked 4.58% shares as part of ESOP pool as of May 2022 according to market research and data platform Tracxn.

Flipkart completed its separation from its payments unit PhonePe in December 2022 to unlock value from the entity. PhonePe has been in the process of raising $1.1 billion in equity from multiple investors including the likes of TVS Capital Fund and General Atlantic. As of February 2023, PhonePe was valued at $12 billion.

American retail giant Walmart continues to be a major shareholder in both PhonePe and Flipkart post the demerger.