Kevin Durant’s $250,000 Hugging Face bet is reportedly worth $60M
An exit and its value
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Kevin Durant and his business partner invested $250,000 in Hugging Face’s early rounds, a figure that could translate to roughly $60M if Nvidia’s $12.9B acquisition goes through, according to reports.
A European vs American exit gap
Employees at late-stage European startups typically own about 10% of their companies, significantly less than the 20% held by employees in the United States. This disparity has been a focus of Index Ventures, which has advocated for closing this gap.
Option distribution skew
The distribution of shares also differs: American companies tend to offer higher ownership stakes (15% at Series A and 20-25% by Series D) compared to European ones, which often plateau at around 10%. Furthermore, two-thirds of European option grants go to executives, while in the US, this distribution is reversed.
Europe’s efforts to improve
Europe has acknowledged these disparities through its Startup and Scaleup Strategy, which includes measures to enhance employee stock options alongside visas and cross-border hiring. However, the implementation of these changes remains a national matter, leading to variations in option treatment across Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm.
Conclusion
The contrast between Durant’s investment return (240 times his initial amount) and the varying compensation structures for engineers working on similar projects highlights the importance of consistent and fair employee stock options globally.