Voyager, a crypto lender, is now able to pay specific employees up to $1.9 million, thanks to court orders that were approved by a federal judge, in exchange for sticking with the company and sealing their identities.
A federal judge granted Voyager permission to pay retention bonuses to key employees. A companion order will also seal the identities of those employees.
Voyager is permitted to pay some non-insider employees it considers to be essential to its operations and potential to successfully emerge from bankruptcy under the so-called “key employee retention plan,” or KERP. Voyager claimed that as those employees’ equity declined recently, so did their compensation.
“The departure of the Debtors’ key employees during these chapter 11 cases would destroy value, harm the Debtors’ restructuring process, and adversely affect the Debtors’ ability to operate in the ordinary course upon emergence,” said Voyager in its request for the funds.
These cash bonuses would be capped at $1.9 million for 38 non-insiders performings critical accounting, cash and digital asset management, IT infrastructure, legal, and other functions. At a hearing yesterday, counsel told Judge Michael Wiles that the amount for more than 30 employees would be closer to $1.6 million, as some had left the company. A companion order will also seal the names of those receiving the payout.
During that hearing, Voyager counsel confirmed that no senior management positions were among those receiving retention pay.
After suspending activity on its platform, Voyager filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early July. It has been working its way through the process since then, and it recently received approval to return $270 million in cash deposits to customers.
