Swiggy’s IPO Creates 70 Dollar Millionaires: Employees Reap Rewards with Massive ESOP Payouts - Read Now
India food delivery and quick-commerce giant Swiggy is in the news today after raising a lot of money in its much-awaited IPO, which created significant wealth for employees. Swiggy's much-awaited 11,327 crores worth of IPO ended on November 13 as one of the largest public listings by a new-age Indian company, creating a financial windfall for current and former employees. This historical listing has made 70 Swiggy employees dollar millionaires, each pocketing over Rs 8.5 crore (more than $1 million) through Employee Stock Option or ESOP payouts.
Swiggy IPO: Huge Wealth for Employees
Swiggy's successful listing has been a huge bonanza for its workforce, especially for the 5,000 employees holding ESOPs. Moneycontrol reports that Swiggy's ESOP payouts have reached an astonishing level of Rs 9,000 crore disbursed across its employees, that is one of the biggest wealth-creation events in India's startup ecosystem. Out of 5,000 employees, 500 of them will receive at least Rs 1 crore each, while from this group, 70 employees are primed to clock more than $1 million each, becoming dollar millionaires in the firm.
How Swiggy's ESOP Payout Works
An ESOP is the stock given to the employees as part of their pay packages. This stock vests into the employees' ownerships within a particular tenure that compels the employees to work for the company for a longer period of time and then take stakes in the success of the firm. What makes Swiggy's ESOP payout so unique is that it made its employees swim in billions. This payoff structure rewards loyal, long-standing employees and also reflects the robust valuation and growth of Swiggy as one of the major players in India's tech and quick-commerce space.
ESOPs in Indian Startup Scene: Swiggy vs. Flipkart and Zomato
Swiggy's IPO joins the bandwagon of other Indian startups, especially Flipkart and Zomato, who had earlier clocked similar wealth creation. Flipkart owned by Walmart recently spelt out Rs 5,800 crore ($700 million) in ESOP payout this July for 17,000 current and former employees. The firm has already carried out more than five share buybacks to the tune of $1.5 billion (Rs 12,000 crore) in the last few years, which is one of the biggest ESOP payout events in India's startup history.
Equally so, its direct competitor, Zomato, in its IPO in 2021, made enormous wealth for the employees. At the listing, the ESOP pool of Zomato was estimated to be around Rs 7,000 crores, and ever since, they have been rewarding their employees with ESOPs. Swiggy has catapulted itself, with its recent IPO, into one of the best Indian startups that employed ESOPs as a method, created rich wealth for employees in the Indian tech sector.
Leaders of Swiggy Also Will Benefit from ESOP Payouts
Swiggy's leadership is also a beneficiary through the ESOP payouts. Amongst Swiggy's co-founders are Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Phani Kishan. Other key executives include food marketplace chief executive Rohit Kapoor, head of Instamart Amitesh Jha, CFO Rahul Bothra, head of HR Girish Menon, and CTO Madhusudhan Rao. According to reports, all of them stood to gain $200 million (Rs 1,600 crore) in ESOPs before the IPO. These payouts point to the scale of Swiggy's wealth-creation machinery and reward the leadership for their efforts in scaling the company.
Swiggy IPO's Broad Impact on Employee Wealth Creation
The gigantic ESOP payout by Swiggy is an epitome of the rapidly changing ecosystem of startups across India. This also brings out huge scope for generating wealth through stock options in the tech and quick commerce space, which naturally and organically brings in quality talent and ensures loyal employees. The Swiggy IPO giving boost to such an increasing sentiment is strengthening it further that the Indians should pay employees' share through their compensation package in the form of employee stock options.
What's Next for Swiggy?
Swiggy's IPO has also brought healthy returns to its employee shareholders and investors, but much competition is still there in the Indian market. Zomato is a significant food delivery player in the Indian market, but following the strong IPO, good funding, and an incentivized workforce, Swiggy is well-equipped to further scale its business and deepen its penetration into the burgeoning quick-commerce sector.
While the dollar millionaires at Swiggy can now enjoy all the money brought in, the IPO is more than the fruits of wealth creation; it is a verdict on the changing landscape of the India startup ecosystem wherein employee rewards are increasing their convergence with the line item of growth and valuation of a company. The success of Swiggy's listing and ESOP payouts will remind necessary high-value return potential that exists within the tech industry in India and the importance of companies using these employee stock options to attract and retain the right kind of talent.
