Digital payments firm Stripe on Wednesday announced that it has raised more than $6.5 billion at a $50 billion valuation.

Why it matters: This is much more than the company had expected to raise, albeit at a lower price.

• All proceeds will be used to help Stripe employees cover tax obligations related to the pending expiration of restricted stock units, plus to fund a new stock tender offer for current and former employees.
• No proceeds will be used to fund Stripe's own tax obligations tied to the RSUs.
• The stock tender is voluntary, with employees eligible to sell as few or as many vested shares as they want (i.e. zero-100%).

Backstory: Stripe had considered letting employees get liquidity via a public stock offering, but ultimately decided that the private transaction would be faster and give the company more flexibility.

• The company, which powers online payments for such companies as Amazon and Lyft, was valued a5 $95 billion by venture capitalists in March 2021, up from $35 billion just three months earlier.
• Early talk was that the new round would be done at around a $60 billion valuation.

New investors in the round included GIC, Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management and Temasek. 

• Return backers included Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, MSD Partners and Thrive Capital.

Go deeper: Stripe's effort to rectify past mistakes