Revolut's Storonsky takes big step forward in battle with the banks
Revolut valued at $45 bln in employee share sale
Valuation exceeds that of Barclays, Natwest
Storonsky's stake worth around $8 bln, Reuters calculations show
Former banker launched Revolut in 2015
By Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Amy-Jo Crowley
LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) -Revolut founder and CEO Nik Storonsky had a simple message for his employees at the company's summer drinks last year: make the financial technology firm bigger, better and beat the banks, a person who was there said.
The nine-year-old fintech business has now been valued at $45 billion after its employees sold shares to investors, surpassing in terms of worth some of Europe's biggest lenders, including Britain's 334-year-old Barclays BARC.L and NatWest NWG.L.
The deal cements London-based Revolut as Europe's most valuable start-up and is a vindication for 40-year-old Storonsky, coming weeks after he secured a UK banking licence following a three-year pursuit. The success positions Revolut to challenge established banks in more sectors, like mortgages.
Storonsky's stake in Revolut is now worth around $8 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on his shareholding disclosed in a document filed with Britain's corporate registry.
He was ranked 45th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2024, with a net worth of 4.38 billion pounds ($5.7 billion).
A former Lehman Brothers derivatives trader who also worked at Credit Suisse, Russian-born Storonsky left banking in 2013 to co-found Revolut, one in a wave of digital-only banking apps seeking to undercut mainstream lenders with lower-fee products.
The idea of the company came when, while travelling, he was dumbfounded by the high transaction fees and commissions levied by banks.
Since then Storonsky, who studied physics and maths in Moscow, has defied his critics, the struggles of rival fintechs and tough funding markets - Revolut's $45 billion valuation is a 36% jump on $33 billion in 2021.
The price is striking for a company which reported revenue of $2.2 billion last year, and the recent market downturn has demonstrated that lofty fintech valuations can fall fast.
Steve McLaughlin, founder of FT Partners and a banking adviser for Revolut on its 2021 fundraising, said he believed Revolut was worth $100 billion, in part because the total addressable market for financial services was vast.
"We did the analytics, we did the studies, we projected out to 2040 what the company would look like – and everyone thought it was overpriced (in 2021) but look who’s proven wrong," McLaughlin told Reuters.
Two sources familiar with Revolut said Storonsky had pushed in recent months for a $40 billion-plus valuation, telling bankers he would not accept any deal to cash in employee shares that was not an improvement on 2021.
Revolut declined to comment.
DETAILS AND DATA
The person at last year's drinks, a former employee, said Storonsky was obsessed with detail and data, eschewing long emails and formalities for a casually dressed, informal culture in which every employee could expect to be challenged by the CEO on calls. When in London, he works from his desk in the middle of Revolut's open-plan office, the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
However, Revolut's working culture has prompted criticism from past employees and the company has seen high staff turnover.
Storonsky has defended Revolut as a workplace and said it had learnt lessons. He brought in big names from mainstream finance like ex-Standard Life Aberdeen co-CEO Martin Gilbert as chairman and former Goldman Sachs banker Michael Sherwood.
A Revolut spokesperson told Reuters the company placed "enormous value on attracting, retaining and developing talented people". It has grievance processes that comply with local laws and are fair and transparent, the spokesperson said.
Storonsky has retained close control of performance through an internal team of about 15-20 people who report directly to him, the former Revolut employee said.
Mostly under 35 and recruited from banks or consultancies, they have been given powerful individual remits, like tackling underperforming departments, the person said.
BIGGER CHALLENGES
Delays in getting the UK banking licence after regulatory scrutiny over auditing issues - Revolut twice delayed publication of its full-year accounts - were a major setback for Storonsky.
He criticised Britain as a place to do business in a 2023 interview with The Times newspaper and said, in the event of a public listing, he would choose New York over London.
Bigger challenges for Storonsky and Revolut may lie ahead.
As the company expands into other sectors with its UK banking licence, it will invite increased regulatory scrutiny.
Consumer watchdogs have criticised Revolut's record versus rivals in reimbursing UK customers hit by fraud. Revolut has said it takes fraud and scams "incredibly seriously" and has robust protections in place.
For staff, particularly those who joined Storonsky in the early years, the rewards have been immense, turning many current and former employees into multi-millionaires on paper.
Storonsky said last week he was delighted employees could realise the company's collective success when they sold $500 million of shares.
What is less clear is how much the recent achievements and Storonsky's ambition will accelerate plans for a stock market listing, in the United States or in London.
($1 = 0.7676 pounds)
Additional reporting by Krystal Hu and Tom Wilson; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
