A Billionaire Banker Who Renounced His Russian Passport Could Become The Richest Person In Europe
- 5.08.2026, 20:17
Nikolai Storonsky is the CEO of the neobank Revolut.
Due to the company’s rapid growth, the CEO of Revolut , Europe’s largest neobank, Nikolai Storonsky, is discussing a new compensation plan with investors that could become the largest stock bonus package in European history. According to Financial Times, this is a long-term incentive program that will tie the company founder’s additional compensation to the achievement of ambitious goals for Revolut’s valuation growth. If the company reaches a valuation of around $500 billion, Storonsky will be eligible to receive a significant additional stake, which currently stands at 29%.
Such programs are widespread among American tech companies. The most famous example is Elon Musk’s compensation plan at Tesla, which provided for the receipt of large stock awards upon the company’s achievement of predetermined goals. This program helped him rapidly grow his fortune, which now stands at $725 billion, and made Musk the world’s richest person according to Forbes.
The revision of the bonus program comes amid Revolut’s rapid business growth. Under the terms of the current incentive plan, Stonsky will be able to increase his stake to approximately 40% if the company’s valuation reaches $200 billion. The parameters of the new program for a $500 billion valuation have not yet been disclosed. Assuming it follows a similar logic, the program would allow the entrepreneur to retain this stake, and the value of his stake would reach about $200 billion.
Under this scenario, Storonsky would become the richest person in Europe and enter the top 10 richest people in the world. He would surpass the current leaders of the European ranking: Spaniard Amancio Ortega ($148 billion)—founder of the Inditex Group, which owns the Zara clothing chain—as well as Frenchman Bernard Arnault ($147.8 billion)—head of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company.
Revolut is currently valued at approximately $115 billion, and Storonsky’s 29% stake can be valued at $33 billion. His stake would rank him roughly 66th on Forbes’ global billionaire list—right alongside Lakshmi Mittal, owner of the ArcelorMittal steel group.
Storonsky was born in Dolgoprudny, graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), and then built a career in finance in London, where he co-founded Revolut with Vlad Yatsenko in 2015. In 2022, the entrepreneur obtained British citizenship and renounced his Russian passport.