Coinbase’s CEO is set to get a $3 billion windfall as his company goes public amid a cryptocurrency boom

Coinbase’s CEO is set to get a $3 billion windfall as his company goes public amid a cryptocurrency boom

Coinbase's surge in popularity amid a boom in cryptocurrencies has helped mint founder and CEO Brian Armstrong as one of the newest Silicon Valley ultra-rich.

Amstrong is set to reap a potential $3 billion windfall from the digital currency exchange's direct listing as a trend of mega grants to tech founders continues full steam ahead, Bloomberg calculated from company filings and news reports. His stake in the company is worth $15 billion, the news site estimates.

In 2020, Armstrong took home $56 million of stock option awards on top of a $1 million salary and another $1.8 million in reimbursement for legal and security fees, according to registration documents. 

Like peers including Elon Musk, the most well-payed CEO in the worldin recent years, Armstrong's pay day isn't a shoe-in. He'll need to shepherd the company through a choppy cryptocurrency market, and hit certain milestones along the way. What's more, his 9.3 million option grant doesn't even begin vesting until Coinbase's stock price hits $200 “” up from a "fair value" award price of $23.49.

"We believe the performance conditions associated with the 2020 CEO Performance Award are extremely rigorous and appropriately align Mr. Armstrong's incentives with the interests of our stockholders," Coinbase said in