Lyft and Uber to give stock to some drivers at IPO price

​HIGHLIGHTS
 Lyft and Uber will offer some of their drivers cash to bonuses to buy stock in their upcoming IPOs
 Lyft's program will impact a minority of its driver, who will get cash that they can either keep or buy shares with at the IPO listing price
 Uber's program, in a similar manner, likely reach the majority of its 3 million drivers

According to the Wall Street Journal, Lyft and Uber both will offer some drivers the option to buy stock in their upcoming IPOs.

According to the report, both the companies will offer programs that give their most active and dedicated drivers’ cash bonuses with which they can buy company stock at the listing price. On the first day of trading, many tech IPOs leap in price, this will likely give the drivers a chance to purchase shares at a lower price when compared to if they just buy stocks on the open market after the IPO.

As part of their compensation packages for full-time employees, both Lyft and Uber offer equity. But drivers are classified as contractors and have not earlier been eligible for these benefits.

As per the report, on Friday Lyft is expected to publicly file its IPO paperwork, plans to give $1,000 to drivers who have logged 10,000 rides on its platform. It's completely drivers wish they can either keep the money or else use it to buy shares, and only a marginal of its drivers qualify.

The report says the drivers who racked up 20,000 rides on Lyft are eligible for $10,000.

As per the report, Uber’s IPO is expected to happen later this year, is still working on the details of its driver stock program, however it expects to offer some form of bonus to most of its 3 million active drivers.