MUMBAI : The wealth of corporate India’s top managers derived from employee stock ownership plan (Esop) has seen a massive erosion in value as the Covid-19 outbreak has pushed stock prices of companies to new lows, resulting in margin calls on loans availed to exercise these stock options.
The sharp fall in stock prices, coupled with pressure from lenders to bring in more collateral against these loans, has in some instances, led senior executives to sell these shares at depressed prices just to get the loans off their backs.
Employees can exercise Esops at a preset price, which is generally at a discount to the prevailing market price. These options can be exercised within a certain period.