GoTo rewards 600,000 drivers with company shares after IPO
Indonesia’s e-commerce giant GoTo said it will allocate around 920 million Series A shares to its 600,000 driver-partners following its successful initial public offering (IPO) on the Jakarta stock exchange on March 31 which raised $1.1 billion.
The programme, called “gotong royong,” or “mutual assistance,” is a first for Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry and will grant each Indonesian driver registered between the company’s inception in 2010 and December 2016 4,000 GoTo shares, while drivers registered between January 2017 and February 2022 will get 1,000 shares.
Based on the IPO price o 338 rupiah, the value of the respective share allocations will be around 1.4 million rupiah (around $98) and 338,000 rupiah (around $24) per driver, respectively. The total allocation will be worth 310 billion rupiah ($21.6 million), according to a company statement.
Reward for independent drivers
“It’s an acknowledgment that our driver-partners are part of our success,” GoTo’s CEO Andre Soelistyo said, adding that “this is something we’ve wanted to do since the beginning.”
GoTo’s drivers, who are not classified as employees but independent contractors, may choose to hold the shares or cash out after an initial eight-month lock-up period that lasts until the end of November, according to the company’s prospectus. The programme includes Gojek drivers who work for GoRide, GoCar, GoSend, GoFood and GoBox services in Indonesia. Gojek’s drivers in Singapore and Vietnam are not eligible to apply for the shares due to local regulations and will receive cash instead.
GoTo is the first major sharing-economy company in Southeast Asia to include part-time gig workers in its own IPO windfall. While the industry has made their founders wealthy, the app-based so-called “gig economy” is typically built on the backs of low-wage contract workers, who work long hours but continue to lack employee benefits like healthcare or a safety net.
Shares also for merchants, employees
The GoTo share grant to drivers is part of a broader programme that includes the company’s merchants and employees. Loyal merchants and consumers of Gojek and Tokopedia received priority access when ordering GoTo shares during the book-building period. All 8,540 full-time employees have received equity under the programme.
The company said it has also set aside more than 9.35 billion shares, valued at roughly $216 million, as an endowment fund to support social and environmental initiatives.
Indonesia’s e-commerce giant GoTo said it will allocate around 920 million Series A shares to its 600,000 driver-partners following its successful initial public offering (IPO) on the Jakarta stock exchange on March 31 which raised $1.1 billion. The programme, called “gotong royong,” or “mutual assistance,” is a first for Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry and will grant each Indonesian driver registered between the company’s inception in 2010 and December 2016 4,000 GoTo shares, while drivers registered between January 2017 and February 2022 will get 1,000 shares. Based on the IPO price o 338 rupiah, the value of the respective share allocations...
Indonesia’s e-commerce giant GoTo said it will allocate around 920 million Series A shares to its 600,000 driver-partners following its successful initial public offering (IPO) on the Jakarta stock exchange on March 31 which raised $1.1 billion.
The programme, called “gotong royong,” or “mutual assistance,” is a first for Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry and will grant each Indonesian driver registered between the company’s inception in 2010 and December 2016 4,000 GoTo shares, while drivers registered between January 2017 and February 2022 will get 1,000 shares.
Based on the IPO price o 338 rupiah, the value of the respective share allocations will be around 1.4 million rupiah (around $98) and 338,000 rupiah (around $24) per driver, respectively. The total allocation will be worth 310 billion rupiah ($21.6 million), according to a company statement.
Reward for independent drivers
“It’s an acknowledgment that our driver-partners are part of our success,” GoTo’s CEO Andre Soelistyo said, adding that “this is something we’ve wanted to do since the beginning.”
GoTo’s drivers, who are not classified as employees but independent contractors, may choose to hold the shares or cash out after an initial eight-month lock-up period that lasts until the end of November, according to the company’s prospectus. The programme includes Gojek drivers who work for GoRide, GoCar, GoSend, GoFood and GoBox services in Indonesia. Gojek’s drivers in Singapore and Vietnam are not eligible to apply for the shares due to local regulations and will receive cash instead.
GoTo is the first major sharing-economy company in Southeast Asia to include part-time gig workers in its own IPO windfall. While the industry has made their founders wealthy, the app-based so-called “gig economy” is typically built on the backs of low-wage contract workers, who work long hours but continue to lack employee benefits like healthcare or a safety net.
Shares also for merchants, employees
The GoTo share grant to drivers is part of a broader programme that includes the company’s merchants and employees. Loyal merchants and consumers of Gojek and Tokopedia received priority access when ordering GoTo shares during the book-building period. All 8,540 full-time employees have received equity under the programme.
The company said it has also set aside more than 9.35 billion shares, valued at roughly $216 million, as an endowment fund to support social and environmental initiatives.
