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Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart has announced a $50 million employee stock option (ESOP) buyback program. According to an internal note shared by Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the discretionary buyback will allow eligible employees to sell up to 5% of their vested options, specifically those vested between July 6, 2022, and July 5, 2025, at a pre-decided price of $174.32 per share.
The program, conducted under the Flipkart Stock Option Plan 2012, will be executed in August 2025 and is expected to benefit approximately 7,000 to 7,500 current employees.
Flipkart, currently valued at around $35 billion, has been increasingly using ESOPs to attract and retain talent as it prepares for a public listing. Media reports suggest the Walmart-backed company is targeting a valuation in the range of $60 billion to $70 billion for its anticipated initial public offering. In preparation, the company’s board has already approved a plan to transition its holding structure from Singapore to India.
Krishnamurthy, in his note, hinted at the possibility of a second liquidity event early next year, provided Flipkart meets key performance targets by the end of 2025. “Our core businesses are performing well, and quick commerce continues to scale at an unprecedented pace,” he said in the communication.
The development follows Flipkart’s landmark $700 million ESOP buyback in 2023, one of the largest such events in India’s startup ecosystem.