Paytm employees are selling their shares for huge profits

Employees of digital payments firm Paytm are reaping profits by selling the shares they held in One97 Communications, its parent company. The reason behind this sudden move is that investors and founders are increasing their stake in Paytm after demonetisation, resulting in an uprise in its valuation.

Also read: Here’s why PayTM is valued at $5 billion

Over the last few weeks, about 47 Paytm employees are believed to have sold their shares worth 100 crore to unknown internal and external buyers, sources told ET.

This would also help Paytm’s major investor Alibaba and its payments affiliate Ant Financial that hold about 45% stake in One97 Communications as of now. These two along with SAIF Partners and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, now own about 95% stake in the company.

Also read: Paytm cuts commission to take on industry leaders like Flipkart and Amazon

Last year as well, several Paytm executives had sold part of their employee stock options (esops) to the company's external board members, which include former Google and Uber executive Amit Singhal, WhatsApp's Neeraj Arora, and Ruchi Sanghvi, Facebook's first woman engineer.

Also read: After stock options, Infosys to offer incentives to attract and retain valued employees

As per Paytm work culture, factors like individual's contribution to the company, duration of employment and their long-term potential makes them eligible for holding esops.

(Image source: Paytm Blog)