The founder of fintech firm Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky, is set to become one of the 10 richest businessmen in Britain.
App-based bank Revolut is allowing employees to sell a portion of their shares in the company – up to 20 per cent – for $1,381.06 per share (around £1,034) in a secondary sale, which will value the business in total at $75bn. Last year, the company was valued at $45bn.
Mr Storonsky has around a 25 per cent holding of the firm, meaning his personal wealth will grow to more than $18bn – putting him in the top 10 richest businesspeople in the UK.
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index ranks Sir James Dyson, the entrepreneur and inventor, as the richest on these shores with a personal wealth of $19.5bn. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of Ineos and part-owner of Manchester United, is next in line at $16.2bn according to their list.
Other sources that work out billionaire wealth by different metrics place Mr Storonsky’s impending value below that of Sir Jim’s, while individuals such as Lakshmi Mittal – chair at one of the world’s biggest steel manufacturers – is based in the UK, though born in India.
Thus, there will be discrepancies at the precise rank of Mr Storonsky – himself Russian-born but who renounced his citizenship after the invasion of Ukraine – when it comes to the richest business people in the UK. He will certainly, however, be within the ranks of the top 10 – and with the potential to go far higher.
As part of his package at Revolut, the founder will add more shares to his ownership if he steers the firm to a $150bn valuation, double that of the new level.
On the employee share sale, a spokesperson said: “As part of our commitment to our employees, we regularly provide opportunities for them to gain liquidity. An employee secondary share sale is currently in process, and we won’t be commenting further until it is complete.”
While Revolut does not yet have a full banking licence for the UK, it does hold a restricted one, allowing it to operate towards being a full bank during a “mobilisation” phase.
Its valuation of around £56bn makes it bigger than the market capitalisation of publicly listed banks such as NatWest (£41.7bn), the Lloyds group (£47.6bn) and Barclays (£51.6bn). Revolut is expected to float on the stock market in due course, though Mr Storonsky suggested New York, rather than London, fits the company better.
Annual profits at Revolut topped £1bn last year, while earlier this year they announced an internal points system which contributes towards employee bonuses, as well as an intent to break into the mobile phone operator market.
