Klarna turns at least 75 of its employees who own shares into millionaires – a wave of Klarna employees and alumni now own shares worth $1m, after the Swedish fintech was valued at $45.6bn

Employees of Klarna are making profits just as investors are. According to a Sifted analysis of its shareholder book, at least 75 employees, both past and present, own shares in Klarna.

Klarna’s share price soared after it secured a $45.6bn valuation in June, propped up by investors like SoftBank. The deal made Klarna Europe’s top private startup, and the world’s second most valuable fintech at the time — seeing its valuation jump fourfold from September 2020 and pricing its shares at $1756 each. Following the raise, employees who owned as little as 0.0022% of the company became paper millionaires.

This pool of employees benefited from generous equity packages over Klarna’s 15-year history. In 2020, according to Di Digital, staff who had been at the company for four years or longer were also reportedly invited to buy shares at a heavily discounted price back.

According to Klarna’s last annual report, there were 434,000 employee stock options still outstanding. At the most recent valuation, that option pool amounts to $762m.

Moreover, if Klarna’s share price increases further — at the IPO or otherwise — another batch of employees who are already close to hitting the $1m mark will join the millionaire club.

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