Hundreds of Careem millionaires after staff share in $3.1 billion Uber payout

About 75 employees will become dollar millionaires and 200 will get at least Dh1 million each as part of the stock option programme

Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, who sits on the board of Careem, was an early champion of its "hyper-local" approach to ride-hailing. Courtesy Uber / Careem

Hundreds of new millionaires will be created among the staff of Careem after its sale to Uber, with 275 of the Dubai ride-hailing technology company’s employees receiving Dh1 million or more for their shares.

All 4,000 people working at Careem have stock options and their shares in the company will be bought as part of the deal. This does not include Careem's drivers, or "captains" as they are known, who are not employed by the company.

From its software engineers and developers to its executives employed among the 500 at the head office in Dubai, or at its operations elsewhere such as the R&D centres in Berlin and Karachi, the sale of the entire business will mean they share in the windfall too, and not just the co-founders Mudassir Sheikha, Magnus Olsson and Abdulla Elyas.

Two hundred employees will become dirham millionaires and about 75 will become dollar millionaires.

Uber Technologies has agreed to buy Careem in a $3.1 billion (Dh11.39bn) deal that is the largest technology sector transaction in the Middle East so far, eclipsing Amazon's $580 million acquisition of Souq.com in 2017.

Once the transaction is completed early next year, Careem will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Uber but will operate its regional services and brand independently.

The $3.1bn is being paid in a $1.4bn cash portion and in $1.7bn of notes that are convertible to Uber stock. The San Francisco company is set for a highly anticipated IPO on the New York Stock Exchange that is expected to value it at $120bn.

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Careem investors set to share in Uber windfall

Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, chief executive of STV, which in 2018 took part in a $200 million fund raising that valued Careem at $1.8bn, according to Crunchbase. Courtesy: STV

In 2016, Careem had been valued at $650m when it raised $350m from a group including Saudi Telecom Company. Courtesy: Saudi Telecom Co

Dany Farha , CEO & Managing Partner, of Beco Capital. The Dubai based VC fund was one of the early investors in Careem back in 2014. Photo: Pawan Singh / The National

Rakuten, the $9 billion Japanese e-commerce company, also became an investor in Careem in 2016. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

The Kingdom Tower, operated by Kingdom Holding Company, stands alongside palm trees in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's firm Kingdom first invested in Careem in 2017 and then again in October. Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Abdullah Al Dawood, MD and CEO of Al Tayyar Travel Group, talks to the press at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai. Saudi Arabia's Al Tayyar is Careem's largest corporate shareholder, having got involved back in 2014. On Tuesday, Al Tayyar said its exit value is 1.78bn Saudi riyals (Dh1.74bn). Photo: Reem Mohammed/ The National

A logo of Didi Chuxing is displayed on a building in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province. The Chinese ride-hailing firm made an undisclosed investment in Careem in 2017. Photo: STR / AFP

The Mercedes star is illuminated on the headquarters of Daimler in Stuttgart. The German luxury carmaker Daimler took part in a $150m capital raise for Careem in 2017 when it was valued at $1.1bn - making Careem a so called 'unicorn', the name for tech start-ups that reach the $1bn mark. Photo: THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP

David Chao, co-founder and general partner at DCM Ventures, the Silicon Valley investor, which also came in on Careem in 2017. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Philippe Laffont, the founder of New York VC fund Coatue Management, which also became an investor in Careem in 2017.

Fadi Ghandour, executive chairman of Wamda Group and founder of Aramex, had been a member of Careem's board. Wamda has been an investor in Careem since 2015. Photo: Pawan Singh / The National

Emirati businesswoman Muna Al Gurg, director at Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and chairwoman of the Young Arab Leaders, invested in Careem in 2016. Photo: Reem Mohammed / The National

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The creation of so much wealth at one company could result in what is known as the "Paypal effect" in the Middle East.

After the US digital payment platform was sold to eBay in 2002, former employees went on to start a number of successful technology companies.

The PayPal alumni includes Tesla’s Elon Musk, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and YouTube co-founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim.

Roy Cooper / The National

In a message after the Uber deal was announced on Tuesday, Mr Sheikha said: “We believe this is a big moment – not just for Careem but for our region – this has put our region on the map and has shown it’s a great place to build some of the best technology in the world.”