Revolut has facilitated nearly $1 billion in stock sales since August, as staff and early investors took advantage of the fintech’s newfound UK banking licence and its soaring $45 billion valuation. The London-based financial services company extended its secondary share sale, initially limited to current employees, to include early investors and former staff, allowing them to cash in portions of their holdings.
The secondary sale, launched just a month after Revolut secured its long-awaited UK banking licence, attracted significant institutional investors, including Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, which acquired a stake for the first time.
Founder and CEO Nik Storonsky is estimated to have earned between $200 million and $300 million in the first round of sales. Early venture capital investors sold an estimated $500 million worth of stock in the second round. In total, the sales are expected to exceed $1 billion. Revolut declined to comment on the matter.
These large sales illustrate the rapid transformation of Revolut from a fintech startup to a serious banking contender, as well as the challenges of monetizing investments in privately held companies. Secondary sales, which allow employees and investors to realize gains on their holdings, have become increasingly common in the wake of successful startups staying private longer.
In a similar move, payments giant Stripe allowed employees to sell around $1 billion worth of stock in February, bolstering its valuation to $65 billion. Stripe’s valuation has since risen to $70 billion, with further shares acquired by investors like Sequoia Capital.
Revolut spent over three years waiting for its UK banking licence, and during that time faced setbacks, including a qualified audit for its 2021 accounts, which limited investor interest. However, the recent banking licence approval has spurred new investments, with high-net-worth clients of Goldman Sachs’ private bank among those who joined Revolut’s shareholder list in the second round of share sales.
Revolut has taken a portion of the proceeds from some of the stock sales. Former staff selling their shares were charged a 2 percent transaction fee, higher than the 1.5 percent fee during a 2021 fundraising round. The fee was used to cover the costs of the share sale, with no profit made by Revolut on the transactions, according to sources familiar with the matter.
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