Approximately 600 Kioxia employees are set to become millionaires as stock option values soar. Bain Capital granted these options in 2018 following the acquisition of Toshiba's memory unit. The windfall includes non-executive staff, marking an unconventional broad-based wealth-sharing event.
The 7 million outstanding stock options are now valued at approximately 790 billion Japanese yen. This results in an average pre-tax unrealized gain of over 1 billion yen per employee. Kioxia’s market capitalization has climbed to the top tier of Japanese companies.
Surging demand from the artificial intelligence sector is driving the current NAND flash memory boom. This market shift significantly increased the value of the manufacturer's stock.