Figma to boost employee equity packages after Adobe's $20 billion deal collapses - source
By Akash Sriram
(Reuters) - Figma will refresh equity packages for employees and offer an optional program to those who wish to leave the cloud-based designer platform with a hefty package after its deal with Adobe fell through, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
San Francisco-based Figma will provide employees with more equity at a $10 billion valuation as they signed up after Adobe's buyout offer valued the company at $20 billion, the source said.
Under the optional program, employees who decide to leave by Jan. 31 will be given three months pay in cash and allowed to keep all the equity they have vested, irrespective of how long they have spent with the company, the person added.
"Figma is still a startup, and while we realize this may not be what some on our team expected or signed up for, we're fired up for the next chapter and hope Figmates choose to stay and be a part of it," spokesperson Michael Amodeo said in a statement.
Forbes first reported the news on Tuesday.
Photoshop maker Adobe terminated its $20 billion deal to buy Figma in December last year, pointing to "no clear path" for antitrust approvals in Europe and Britain for what would have been among the biggest acquisitions of a software startup.
The cash-and-stock deal, announced in September 2022, attracted tough scrutiny from regulators worried about Big Tech acquisitions that boost the market power of dominant companies or involve startups seen as nascent rivals.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)