undefined | Better HN

0 pointstriceratops5y ago0 comments

Pretty sure they've been paying pre-IPO employees in RSUs for a while by now. Most late-stage companies stop paying options at a certain point. And even the pre-IPO employees will need to be paid RSUs in the future to retain them.

0 comments

actuator5y ago

Aren't RSUs granted like regular stocks are?

Say, I join a public company. If they say they will pay me 500k USD worth of stocks, it generally means that I get 500k/(average share price of month, share price on stock offer date etc.) stocks subject to vesting cycle. Basically, I have fixed number of shares from that point and they appreciate or depreciate with the market.

I am assuming if AirBnB offered 500k USD of RSUs similarly and the RSU price was say 50. That means the person had 10k RSUs subject to vesting cycle. So, if the stock price is 120 now they have 1200k USD worth of stocks subject to vesting cycle.

triceratopsOP5y ago

That's my understanding too. But if the RSU was granted at $50 and the price drops to $30, the employee is going to be quite upset (this could've happened to me at a different company if I had taken a certain offer). That's why I said that the share price continues to matter to the company, even post-IPO.

jmcdl5y ago

Expecting share prices to only go up and not move with broader market cycles would be quite naive. Maybe the fed will succeed in keeping this bubble from popping forever, but I certainly wouldn't be counting on it when considering any offer.