Musk style: how Revolut's founder can earn 15,000,000%

British fintech company Revolut may bring its founder Nick Storonsky one of the largest fortunes in the industry - about $76 billion.This will happen if in the next two years Revolut holds an IPO with a valuation of about $200 billion, Bloomberg writes, citing documents detailing the terms of increasing Storonsky's stake in the business.

To launch the startup, Storonsky invested about $500,000, which he earned from derivatives trading at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse. If the ambitious plans come true, the return on Storonsky's initial investment will exceed 15,000,000%.

Upon reaching the maximum target - Revolut's valuation at the time of listing of $200 billion - Storonsky will receive more than 12 million special incentive shares. These will be added to the 10.5 million Revolut common shares he already owns. This capital appreciation dynamic for Revolut's founder is similar to the structure of Elon Musk's incentive packages at Tesla. Such a long-term remuneration mechanism allows the founder to retain majority control over the business while ensuring multiple growth of capitalization. According to Bloomberg's source, discussions on the next compensation package for the founder could begin as early as the end of this year.

Bloomberg already estimates Storonsky's fortune at $20.4 billion, making him the richest person in the UK. If Revolut reaches its target capitalization, this compensation plan will propel the fintech founder into the top richest people on the planet. Storonsky will surpass even such financial sector heavyweights as Citadel founder Ken Griffin or Blackstone CEO Steve Schwartzman in terms of capital, Bloomberg notes.

"I'm not spending all this money," Storonsky told David Rubenstein for Bloomberg earlier this year. - I'm just continuing to work on what I need to do to create the first global bank."

Revolut did not comment on Storonsky's remuneration. He himself also declined to comment for Bloomberg. Earlier in an interview with the YouTube channel "It's Ossetian" Storonsky said that his stake in Revolut increased from 25% to 29% of shares, and if the valuation reaches $200 billion - will grow to 40%.

Storonsky's capital growth is directly tied to Revolut's market value, which is tied to tight operating metrics, emphasizes Bloomberg. The company has almost no direct analogs in the financial market. Other fintech projects rarely offer a comparable line of services, and classical banks operate with a different balance sheet structure, which imposes stringent regulatory obligations and capital adequacy requirements on them.

Revolut's current target is to reach 100 million daily active customers (DAU) in 100 countries. According to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates, the company is capable of reaching these figures within the next two years.

Revolut is now valued at $75 bln. In the short term, the company may hold a new share sale to allow early investors to partially sell stakes, the Financial Times wrote earlier. According to the publication's sources, the closed deal may take place in the second half of the year, and Revolut may be valued at more than $100 bln. In an interview with The David Rubenstein Show on Bloomberg, Nikolay Storonsky said that Revolut will hold an IPO no earlier than 2028.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor