Uber and Lyft to let drivers buy stock during IPOs

Uber Self-driving carsRide-hailing rivals Lyft and Uber are both planning to provide some of their drivers with money to buy stock their highly-anticipated initial public offerings (IPOs), the Wall Street Journal reports.

The pair are set to offer cash bonuses to the drivers that are most active and dedicated to their services, and this cash can then be used to buy stock in the companies when they eventually float on the stock market. Previously, because drivers are classified as contractors, they were not open to receiving these benefits.

Lyft plans to give $1,000 to drivers who have carried out over 10,000 rides through its service, while drivers who’ve manage to reach 20,000 rides will receive $10,000. It’s then up to the drivers if they want to keep the bonus or use it to buy shares in Lyft. On the other hand, Uber hasn’t entirely worked out its driver stock program, but it is expected to provide a kind of bonus to the majority of its 3m active drivers.

Both Lyft and Uber filed to go public with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December – although Lyft is expected to take the leap earlier than Uber and publicly submit its IPO application today.