Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, announced on Friday that he will donate to the Zomato Future Foundation all proceeds from the employee stock ownership plan (Esops) he received from investors and the board of directors (ZFF).
These ESOPs are worth around $90 million (Rs 700 crore) based on the average share price over the last month, he said in a note.
The Zomato stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 57.65 on Friday. The stock is down 62 percent from its all-time high, which it reached in November of last year.
The Future Foundation will fund up to two children’s education from each Zomato delivery partner. On actuals (above a certain service quality benchmark) who have been on Zomato’s fleet for more than five years, this will be up to Rs 50,000 per child per year. If the delivery partner stays with the company for ten years, the price per child will rise to Rs 1,000,000 per year.
It will also provide higher education scholarships above and beyond these limits for children who demonstrate exceptional performance and potential. The Foundation will also provide educational and livelihood support to the families of its delivery partners (regardless of service term) if they are involved in terrible circumstances such as on-the-job accidents.
“To maximize the benefit to ZFF and protect the interests of our shareholders, I intend to liquidate all of these shares gradually over the next few years. For the first year, I plan to liquidate less than 10% of these Esops “s fund,” Goyal explained.
Goyal went on to say that the Future Foundation will accept donations from other Zomato employees and will look into other fundraising opportunities. It also intends to establish an independent Foundation governance board.
