X employees now have a stake in the social media company after a new equity program was announced this week.
According to internal X documents, eligible employees were informed they would receive $45 shares in the company at a valuation of $19 billion. X will use a restricted stock unit equity model, which would require an initial public offering or a sale of the company for the shares to be taxed as income.
X’s valuation at $19 billion constitutes a 55% discount from when Elon Musk purchased the company last year for $44 billion. According to documents, the price was set by X’s board of directors, although the firm doesn’t have an official board.
The valuation comes after Mr. Musk announced in March that he believed the site’s value had dropped by $20 billion. That number comes after he purged X’s old staff, revamped the site’s verification system and reinstated conservative accounts that the previous regime had banned.
