Selling shares · Celonis

How to sell your Celonis stock

Q: Do I own shares in Celonis?

Most German staff hold VSOPs - virtual options that pay a cash bonus tied to the share price, not real shares. US staff may hold options or RSUs instead. Check your agreement.

At Celonis, most German employees hold VSOPs — virtual options that pay cash tied to the share price and are taxed as salary, not capital gains. Here’s what you actually hold, and the German tax.

Status Privately held · Reviewed November 2026

Celonis is a private German/US process-mining company (HQ Munich) — still private as of November 2026, last broadly valued around $13 billion (2022). This guide is for the Celonis holder.

Independent guide. PrivateTechShares is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Celonis. This is general educational information for people who already hold Celonis equity. We don’t recommend or endorse any transaction — whether to buy or sell, and on what terms, is entirely your own decision based on your own due diligence. What we do: help you prepare — a clear picture of what you hold, what it may be worth, and the paperwork.

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What you actually hold at Celonis

Celonis staff in Germany typically hold VSOPs — a contractual cash payout tied to the share price, not real shares — while US staff may hold options or RSUs. A VSOP isn’t a certificate you can sell; it pays on a trigger (often a sale or IPO). Check your agreement for your vested amount, reference price and triggers.

Celonis at a glance — the dates that matter to holders

2021
Celonis raises at about $11 billion.
2022
Valuation rises to about $13 billion in a further round.
Ongoing
Employee VSOPs pay out on a trigger, not an open market.

Figures as publicly reported (PitchBook and Wikipedia on valuation and funding; industry profiles). Confirm current status before relying on them.

How Celonis equity turns into cash

Celonis is private, and VSOPs aren’t shares you can sell — they pay out on a trigger such as a sale or IPO. So for most German staff, “selling” isn’t the question; understanding your payout formula and its tax is. Any real shares (more common for US staff) would be subject to transfer rules.

Where holders actually find buyers → A plain-English map of every route — buybacks, tenders, company secondaries, platforms and investor networks.

The decision you’re probably facing

VSOPs pay out — and are taxed as income. The key Celonis point: a VSOP pays cash on a trigger and is taxed as employment income in Germany, not as a capital gain — often a materially higher rate. Understand your payout formula and the tax before counting on a number.

The practical steps: read your VSOP formula and triggers, value the payout at the ~$13 billion mark, and check the German income-tax treatment.

The tax reality (Germany)

Most German scale-ups use VSOPs (virtual stock options) — a contractual cash bonus tied to the share price, not real shares. The payout is normally taxed as employment income (income tax plus social contributions), not capital gains, which can mean a materially higher rate than selling real shares. There’s nothing to exercise and no share certificate. Take German tax advice; see our methodology.

What to expect on price

A tender has a set price; a private secondary to an outside buyer usually happens at a discount to the last headline valuation — because the buyer takes an illiquid minority stake, and you likely hold common shares worth less than investors’ preferred. See what discount is fair.

For holders

Holding Celonis equity? Get the occasional, no-noise update when something changes that could affect your position — we watch the private market so you don’t have to.

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Work out your Celonis position

Get the numbers straight: your VSOP payout formula and triggers, the value at the current mark, and the German income tax when it pays. The free tools give you the pieces; the report runs them on your grant.

Build my equity report →

valuation estimator · exercise cost · EU toolkit — €39

Questions people ask

Do I own shares in Celonis?

Most German staff hold VSOPs — virtual options that pay a cash bonus tied to the share price, not real shares. US staff may hold options or RSUs instead. Check your agreement.

How are Celonis VSOPs taxed in Germany?

The payout is normally taxed as employment income — income tax plus social contributions — not as a capital gain, which can mean a higher rate. Take German tax advice.

How much is my Celonis equity worth?

Value the payout using your VSOP formula and Celonis’s latest mark (around $13 billion), remembering it only pays on a trigger. Use our estimator as a rough starting point.

Sources

We re-verify this page’s facts monthly — they can change between updates. Figures are as reported (November 2026); confirm current status before you rely on them.

More about Celonis: celonis.com ↗ (official site) · funding & valuation data ↗.