Investors holding Revolut shares through secondary markets learned this week that the fintech is in discussions about a Storonsky $500 billion award scheme, a new staged incentive package for chief executive Nik Storonsky that would only begin paying out once the company’s valuation clears $500 billion, the Financial Times reported. No agreement has been reached.
For context on the distance involved: Revolut’s most recent secondary round values the company at $115 billion, less than a quarter of the proposed new ceiling.
How the Storonsky $500 Billion Award Would Work
The proposed scheme follows the same architecture as Storonsky’s existing package. Share payouts (equity grants that convert into actual shares) are triggered in stages as Revolut’s valuation crosses pre-agreed thresholds, rather than vesting over time in the conventional way.
Storonsky, who co-founded Revolut in 2015, currently holds about 29% of the company. In an interview in December, he said his existing package would raise his stake to around 40% once Revolut reaches a $200 billion valuation. That $200 billion level is also the figure Revolut has told investors it is targeting for a potential IPO.
Reaching that first milestone would unlock an extra 10% of the company for Storonsky. According to City A.M., a 40% stake at a $200 billion valuation would put his payout at around £57 billion, which City A.M. notes would make him the richest individual in Britain.
The proposed $500 billion scheme would sit on top of that, triggering further awards if Revolut’s valuation doubles again beyond its IPO target. Storonsky has previously said his stake was diluted too quickly during earlier fundraising rounds. According to The Bell, he estimates Revolut’s net profit would need to reach $5–6 billion before the company could credibly target a $200 billion valuation, let alone the $500 billion threshold now under discussion.
One Revolut investor said they backed programmes combining ‘meaningful investment and risk-taking with very ambitious targets,’ adding that ‘more companies should apply incentive structures like these.’
Incentive schemes of this type are common among large US technology companies and comparatively rare in Europe. When Tesla agreed a trillion-dollar package for Elon Musk in November, contingent on a series of growth targets, it drew fresh attention to the model. If Storonsky’s new deal is finalised, it would represent the largest performance-linked incentive package of its kind in Europe.
The Financials Behind a Valuation Still Climbing
Revolut’s valuation has moved fast: from roughly $45 billion in 2024, to $75 billion after a secondary sale that followed investment from Nvidia, to $115 billion in the current round. Even so, it remains well short of the $200 billion mark that its existing scheme and IPO ambitions are built around.
The underlying business has kept pace with those numbers. Pre-tax profit rose 57% to £1.7 billion on revenue of £4.5 billion, driven largely by premium subscription services. Revolut’s 2025 annual report shows net profit reaching £1.3 billion in the year ending 31 December 2025, up from £0.8 billion the prior year, marking the company’s fifth consecutive year of profitability. Customer balances grew 66% over the same period, retail customers grew 30%, and business customers grew 33%.
The company has 75 million customers across 40 countries, with backers including Index Ventures, Balderton, DST Global, Ribbit, Mubadala, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity.
The regulatory picture has also shifted in Revolut’s favour. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) lifted restrictions on Revolut’s UK banking licence on 11 March 2026, granting Revolut Bank UK Ltd full authorisation. The company had first applied in January 2021, received restricted authorisation in July 2024, and was capped at holding no more than £50,000 in total customer deposits across its restricted banking entity during that mobilisation phase. At launch, Revolut committed to invest £3 billion and create 1,000 high-skilled jobs in the UK, with deposits now protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
According to FStech, Revolut aims to expand into 30 new markets by 2030 and has outlined a global £10 billion investment plan. The company is applying for a US banking licence and has already secured approval in Australia.
For prospective IPO investors, the $200 billion valuation target remains the immediate gateway. The Guardian has previously reported that Revolut’s annual report for the year through 2024 revealed Storonsky already owned more than 25% of the business through direct and indirect shareholdings, a detail that emerged after a reorganisation of the ownership structure. The current figure stands at around 29%.
Whether the $500 billion terms are ever finalised depends on Revolut clearing its own IPO target first. That requires net profit to roughly quadruple from its current level, by Storonsky’s own reckoning. The 2024 annual report recorded net profit of £790 million on pre-tax profit of £1.089 billion, a 130% and 149% rise respectively on the prior year, which gives some sense of the trajectory. At the pace of the last two years, the distance to $200 billion is shrinking. The distance to $500 billion is a different question entirely.
