Monzo's staff cashed out £109m, but the golden handcuffs remain

Monzo is one of the many fintechs rumored to be on the verge of an IPO, but CEO TS Anil quashed excitement on that front yesterday by saying a public offering is "not something we're focused on right now." However, Monzo's staff that participated in a secondary share sale last October won't be too upset about that... for now.

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Monzo's 2025 annual report, released yesterday, revealed that the shares sold by employees in October had a "total value of £109m" ($148m). Monzo employed ~3,700 people, but the opportunity to cash out was reportedly only offered to hundreds of staff. 

Monzo declined to comment on how many staff members participated in its share sale, even if the number of employees involved was close to a thousand, they would still have been able to cash out over £100k each. 

That doesn't mean the golden handcuffs have been broken for those involved in the sale. Monzo only allowed employees to sell up to 40% of their total equity in the company, meaning the employees that cashed out still have a vested interest in the fintech until its IPO... or next share sale.

Cash compensation, meanwhile, has stagnated. The report said that, in the year ending 31st March 2025, Monzo paid 3,821 staff an average of £58.7k per head in salaries over the past year. This was down from an average of £60k per head in the previous period, which was it paid to 3,145 employees. 

Monzo said its headcount increase was "focused on filling critical roles to support expansion in the EU and senior leadership." With 83 current open roles, the expansion is ongoing.

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