By Lee Hyo-sik
WeMakePrice, a leading e-commerce site, has decided to offer all regular employees tens of thousands of company shares in a stock option deal, a move seen to prompt them to work harder amid the increasingly competitive online retail industry.
However, thousands of its contract workers are not entitled to the lucrative deal, the company said.
The e-commerce site, founded in 2003, said Tuesday that its 800 regular employees can buy company stocks at 5,000 won per share, adding that the number of shares they can purchase is determined in accordance with their job performance and work period.
One employee is said to be able to buy nearly 10,000 shares, according to the company.
They will be allowed to exercise stock options in three years after the purchase is made.
“In a recent gathering with employees, CEO Park Eun-sang said the company will offer stock options as part of its efforts to grow together with all WeMakePrice family members,” a company spokesman said. “We plan to go public in three or four years time so workers will likely exercise their options when company stocks are listed on the bourse.”
Currently, WeMakePrice founder Huh Min, a self-made billionaire, and his family members hold a 100-percent stake.
The e-commerce site’s latest move is seen as rather unusual, given the fact that companies normally offer stock option deals to people they want to recruit. Or a small group of people who found a company usually get the option to buy shares at lower prices so that they can realize huge capital gains when the firm goes public.