Klarna listed in 2025 at a $15.1B valuation, one of the marquee fintech IPOs of the year. As of September 11, 2026, its public market cap is $5.3B — down from $7.4B the last time we refreshed this figure, and down roughly 65% from the IPO price. This is a useful, uncomfortable case study in what post-IPO equity risk actually looks like once the champagne is gone.
The numbers
A 65% decline from IPO means an employee who held 10,000 RSUs worth $15.10 each at listing is now sitting on shares worth roughly $5.30 — a paper loss of nearly $98,000 on that tranche alone. Unlike private options, there's no strike price cushioning the downside: RSUs are worth whatever the stock trades at, full stop, in both directions.
What changed
Klarna's decline reflects a broader repricing of high-growth fintech names that listed in 2025, combined with company-specific concerns about buy-now-pay-later credit quality and slowing international growth. There was no single catalyst — this is a steady grind lower over several quarters rather than one bad earnings print, which is arguably harder to plan around than a sharp, identifiable shock.
What this means for employees
The tax mechanics make this worse than it looks. RSUs are taxed as ordinary income at fair market value on each vesting date — so an employee who vested shares in 2025 near the IPO price already owed (and likely paid, via withheld shares or cash) tax on that higher value. If they held those shares rather than selling immediately, they're now underwater on a position they already paid tax on, with the value that would offset that loss no longer there. Selling now locks in a capital loss on the shares themselves, which can offset other capital gains but does nothing for the ordinary income tax already paid at vest.
If you're holding Klarna RSUs from a 2025 vest, talk to a tax advisor about harvesting the capital loss on shares you still hold — and consider whether an automatic sell-on-vest policy going forward would reduce this kind of concentration risk. Run the calculator with your actual vest dates to see the full picture, not just today's price.