- One in three startups that carried out ESOPs buyback became a unicorn (valued over $1 billion) this year, as per a report.
- According to Longhouse Consulting, Flipkart has the largest ESOP pool of $2.2 billion.
- Abhinav Sinha, the global chief operating officer and chief product officer at OYO, has shareholdings worth $147 million in the company.
Stock option plans (ESOPs) have been an effective way to push employees to work hard for their company’s success and get rewarded by it too. These employees have already started getting their returns as well.
As per a VC circle
analysis, 32 Indian startups have spent close to ₹3,000 crore ($440 million) to buy back stock options from the employees. One in three startups that carried out ESOPs buyback became a unicorn (valued over $1 billion) this year.
That is a lot since
four startups became a unicorn every month.
According to Longhouse Consulting, Flipkart has the largest ESOP pool of $2.2 billion. It is followed by Oyo with a $1 billion pool, Zomato $745 million and Paytm with $604 million ESOP pool. The list also features Swiggy, Ola, Byju’s, Nykaa, PolicyBazaar, ShareChat and Upgrad.
These 12 companies have given 35 of their employees stock options worth ₹100 crore ($13 million) so far, the report added. The consultancy firm has shared a list of 20 such employees who reaped the benefits of these ESOPs policies.
Abhinav Sinha
Twitter
Global Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer at OYO | Shareholding: ₹1100 crore ($147 million)
Harinder Takhar
Linkedin
Chief Executive Officer at Paytm Labs | Shareholdings: ₹413 crore ($55 million)
Gunjan Patidar
Linkedin
Chief Technology Officer at Zomato | Shareholdings: ₹363 crore ($48.5 million)
Madhur Deora
Linkedin
President and Group Chief Financial Officer at Paytm | Shareholdings: ₹344 crore ($46 million)
Srinivasagopalan Ramamurthy
Linkedin
Chief Product Officer at Freshworks | Shareholdings: ₹304 crore ($40 milliion)
Reena Chhabra
Linkedin
CEO Private Labels at Nykaa | Shareholdings: ₹249.75 crore ($33 million)
Nihir Parikh
BCCL
CEO Nykaa Man at Nykaa | Shareholdings: ₹245.11 crore ($32 million)
Sanjay Suri
Nykaa
Chief Technology Officer and Chief Product Officer at Nykaa | Shareholdings: ₹220.64 crore ($29 million)
Mohit Gupta
LinkedIn
Head New Business at Zomato, elevated as the cofounder of the company in 2020 | Shareholdings: ₹195 crore ($26 million)
Gaurav Gupta
LinkedIn
Former head of supply at Zomato, later elevated as the cofounder of the company in 2018 | Shareholdings: ₹179 crore ($24 million)
Surobhi Das
Twitter
Management at Zomato | Shareholdings: ₹179 crore ($23 million)
Akriti Chopra
Linkedin
Head People Development at Zomato, later elevated as the cofounder in 2021 | Shareholdings: ₹149 crore ($20 million)
Vikas Garg
Linkedin
Chief Financial Officer at Paytm | Shareholdings: ₹148 crore ($19.8 million)
Abhishek Gupta
Linkedin
Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at OYO | Shareholdings: ₹130 crore ($17 million)
Saurabh Tiwari
Linkedin
Chief Technology Officer at PolicyBazaar | Shareholdings: ₹120.8 crore ($16 million)
Akshant Goyal
Linkedin
Chief financial officer at Zomato | Shareholdings: ₹114 crore ($15.3 million)
Maninder Gulati
Linkedin
Global Chief Strategy Officer at OYO | Shareholdings: ₹107 crore ($14.3 million)
Manoj Sharma
Linkedin
Cofounder and Director of Finance at PolicyBazaar | Shareholdings: ₹106 crore ($14 million)
Ankit Kwatra
Linkedin
Director and founder at Zomato Feeding India | Shareholding: ₹105 crore ($14 million)