Klarna employees are about to get a big payday — and it could come sooner than expected.
The Swedish fintech company is giving employees a rare chance to cash out their equity during the IPO window, Business Insider has learned.
In an email to current and former staff on Wednesday, the company said it is converting vested restricted stock units, or RSUs, into tradable shares, which employees can begin selling a few days after the $15 billion IPO. The email, seen by Business Insider, said that the converted shares are “exempt from the six-month post-IPO lockup and can be traded during this time.”
Klarna didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Exemptions like this are rare in public offerings, but not unheard of. When Airbnb went public in 2020, it gave employees the chance to sell up to 15% of their holdings in the first week of trading. Usually, IPOs come with lockup periods that bar insiders from selling shares for about six months. The measure is intended to keep insiders and early investors from unloading shares right as the company opens up to public buyers.
Klarna’s email also detailed the conversion rate: roughly four RSUs will equal one publicly tradable share. Current employees will be allowed to sell during the initial IPO window until September 30; after that, trading will be limited to quarterly windows.
Stock awards, such as RSU grants, have long been a key part of compensation in the tech industry, adding to base salaries and bonuses to make up total earnings.
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Klarna does not specify in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission what portion of the ordinary shares it is offering will be sold by employees.
Klarna, which provides buy now, pay later financing to consumers, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Its shares surged to $52 at the open, a 30% premium to their listing price of $40. They retreated after that initial pop, closing the day 15% higher than its open at just under $46.
The IPO valued Klarna at about $15 billion, far below its 2021 peak of $45.6 billion. The company has been eyeing an IPO for years. Its plan to debut in April was pushed back after US tariff announcements caused market volatility.
The listing has provided returns of more than $1 billion each to investors Sequoia Capital and Heartland A/S. At Wednesday’s market close, the shares of Klarna cofounders Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Victor Jacobsson were also worth more than $1 billion each.
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