Xiaomi awards shares worth US$24 million to staff as it celebrates status as Fortune Global 500 company
- Just over 20,000 people were granted the stock award on July 19, which included full-time staff and outsourcing service teams
Chinese phone maker Xiaomi Corp has given each of its employees 1,000 free shares in the company, worth a total of HK$187.5 million (US$24 million), to celebrate the company being included in the latest Fortune 500 global company list for the first time.
Just over 20,000 people were granted the stock award on July 19, when shares in the Hong Kong-listed company closed at HK$9.11, Xiaomi said in a statement to the city’s stock exchange late on Monday.
The July 19 closing share price reflects a 46 per cent fall from Xiaomi’s IPO price of HK$17 per share a year ago.
The vesting period of the shares is one year, which means staff leaving the company before July 19, 2020 will not be able to cash in on the award.
Xiaomi was included in the “2019 Fortune Global 500” companies announced by Fortune magazine on Tuesday, the first time that the nine-year old firm has made it into the prestigious list.
Beijing-based Xiaomi ranked 468th on the Fortune Global 500 list and was also ranked 7th in the Internet Services and Retailing category, after posting revenue of US$26.4 billion and net profit of US$2 billion in the previous financial year.
Many other major Chinese technology companies also made into the list, such as Huawei Investment and Holding, Alibaba Group Holding (the parent company of the South China Morning Post), and Tencent Holdings.
“As the youngest among all Fortune Global 500 companies (except those established through mergers), we have overachieved after our inception nine years ago,” Xiaomi’s founder and CEO Lei Jun said in an open letter to employees.
The share award was also given to outsourcing service teams, in addition to Xiaomi’s full-time staff.
