قبل خيارات الأسهم إيبو الأسهم

شركة الذهاب الاكتتاب؟ أربعة أشياء يجب أن ينظر فيها كل موظف.
وقد أدى الإفصاح الصادر عن شركة "إيسترداى" إلى أن "تويتر" الذي قدمته للجمهور قد أثار الاهتمام مرة أخرى في سوق الاكتتاب العام.
المضاربة تدير المستشري أن إيربنب، شبكات أريستا، مربع، دروببوإكس، إيفرنوت، مذهب، كبام، أوبور وساحة (كل على قائمتنا 100 شركات خاصة يجب أن تعمل ل) هي المقبل للإعلان.
إذا كنت تعمل في واحدة من هذه الشركات هناك أربعة أشياء تحتاج إلى البدء في التفكير في:
1. ممارسة خيارات الأسهم الخاصة بك قبل الاكتتاب.
2. الإهداء بعض الأسهم الخاصة بك إلى الأسرة أو الجمعيات الخيرية.
3. وضع خطة لبيع الأسهم ما بعد الاكتتاب الإفراج لوكوب.
4. تحديد كيفية إدارة العائدات من بيع الأسهم الخاصة بك.
ممارسة خيارات الأسهم الخاصة بك قبل الاكتتاب العام.
وتتيح معظم الشركات الفرصة لموظفيها لممارسة خيارات أسهمهم قبل أن يكونوا مستحقين بالكامل. إذا قررت مغادرة الشركة قبل أن تكون مكتسبة بالكامل، فإن صاحب العمل يشتري مخزونك غير المستحق بسعر ممارستك. الفائدة لممارسة الخيارات الخاصة بك في وقت مبكر هو أن تبدأ على مدار الساعة على التأهل لعلاج المكاسب الرأسمالية طويلة الأجل عندما يتعلق الأمر الضرائب.
نعم الضرائب؛ فإن الحكومة تريد قطع ثروتك الجديدة بعد كل شيء.
الآن من أجل التأهل للحصول على العلاج المكاسب الرأسمالية طويلة الأجل، ويعرف أيضا باسم تخفيض الضرائب الخاصة بك، يجب أن تعقد الاستثمار الخاص بك لمدة سنة على الأقل بعد التمرين وسنتين بعد تاريخ المنحة، وبالتالي بدء الساعة في أقرب وقت ممكن.
إن أرباح رأس المال على المدى الطويل أفضل من الدخل العادي (الطريقة التي تتميز بها مكاسبك إذا قمت بممارسة وبيع أسهمك في أقل من سنة واحدة) لأنك قد تدفع معدل ضرائب أقل بكثير (23.8٪ ربح رأس المال على المدى الطويل معدل الضريبة الاتحادية مقابل مقابل 43.4٪ الحد الأقصی لمعدل الضریبة الفیدرالیة الحدیة للدخل العادي.
ويفضل تحقيق مكاسب رأسمالية طويلة الأجل للدخل العادي لأنك تستطيع أن تدفع معدل ضرائب أقل بكثير.
عادة ما تكون هناك فترة تتراوح بين ثلاثة وأربعة أشهر بين تاريخ قيام الشركة بإيداع بيان التسجيل الأولي الخاص بها ليتم تداوله مع هيئة الأوراق المالية والبورصات حتى يتم تداول أسهمها علنا. ويلي ذلك فترة يمنع فيها الموظفون من بيع أسهمهم لمدة ستة أشهر بعد العرض بسبب تأمين التأمين. لذلك، حتى لو كنت ترغب في بيع الأسهم الخاصة بك سوف تكون غير قادر على لمدة لا تقل عن تسعة إلى عشرة أشهر من تاريخ ملفات شركتك للذهاب للجمهور.
اثنا عشر شهرا ليست وقتا طويلا للانتظار إذا كنت تعتقد أن أسهم شركتك من المرجح أن تتداول فوق القيمة السوقية الحالية في اثنين أو ثلاثة أشهر الإفراج بعد الاكتتاب العام.
في رأينا، الفوز فك استراتيجيات لمساعدتك بيع تيك الاكتتاب الأسهم، قدمنا ​​البحوث الملكية التي وجدت معظم الشركات مع ثلاث خصائص ملحوظة تداولت فوق سعر الاكتتاب العام (الذي ينبغي أن يكون أكبر من القيمة السوقية الحالية). وشملت هذه العوامل تلبية توجيهات أرباح ما قبل الاكتتاب العام في أول مكالمتين من الأرباح، ونمو ثابت في الإيرادات وتوسيع الهوامش.
مرة أخرى، أظهر البحث فقط الشركات التي تظهر كل الخصائص الثلاثة المتداولة حتى الاكتتاب العام. واستنادا إلى هذه النتائج، يجب عليك ممارسة الرياضة في وقت مبكر إذا كنت واثقا تماما من أن صاحب العمل يمكنه تلبية جميع المتطلبات الثلاثة.
الجانب السلبي لممارسة الخيارات الخاصة بك في وقت مبكر هو أنك من المرجح أن تدين على الفور الضرائب الدنيا البديلة (أمت)، ولا يمكنك التأكد من أن الاكتتاب العام سيحدث، لذلك يمكنك المخاطرة بأنك لن يكون لديك السيولة اللازمة لدفع الضرائب . من المرجح أن تمثل آم الخاص بك 28٪ على الأقل من الفرق بين سعر التمرين وقيمة المخزون الخاص بك في وقت التمرين (لحسن الحظ يتم خصم أمت الخاص بك ضد النهائي الخاص بك على المدى الطويل ضريبة كسب رأس المال حتى أنك لا تدفع مرتين ). القيمة السوقية الحالية هي سعر التمرين الذي حدده مجلس إدارتك في منح الأسهم الأخيرة. لوحات تحديث هذا سعر السوق في كثير من الأحيان في وقت الاكتتاب العام، لذلك تأكد من أن لديك أحدث عدد.
ونحن نوصي بشدة كنت استئجار مخطط العقارات لمساعدتك على التفكير من خلال هذا والعديد من القضايا التخطيط العقاري الأخرى قبل الاكتتاب العام.
لماذا ا؟ لأن هذا التأمين سوف تأخذ أقل قدر من مخاطر السيولة.
علی سبیل المثال، إذا کنت ستمارس ثلاثة أشھر قبل الإیداع للتأکد من أنك تستفید من معدلات الأرباح الرأسمالیة طویلة الأجل فور نشر الإفراج عنھا، فإنك تتعرض لخطر تأخر الطرح. في هذه الحالة سوف مدينون الضرائب على الفرق بين سعر السوق الحالي وسعر ممارسة دون أي مسار واضح بالنسبة عندما كنت من المحتمل أن تحصل على بعض السيولة التي يمكن استخدامها لدفع الضرائب.
النظر في الإهداء بعض الأسهم الخاصة بك إلى الأسرة أو الجمعيات الخيرية.
إذا كنت تعتقد أن الأسهم الخاصة بك من المرجح أن نقدر بشكل ملحوظ بعد الاكتتاب العام ثم الإهداء بعض الأسهم الخاصة بك لأفراد الأسرة قبل الاكتتاب العام يسمح لك لدفع الكثير من التقدير للمتلقي ويحد من الضرائب التي من المرجح أن مدينون.
وضعه بصراحة، ونحن نوصي بشدة كنت استئجار مخطط العقارات لمساعدتك على التفكير من خلال هذا والعديد من القضايا التخطيط العقاري الأخرى قبل الاكتتاب العام.
في حين أن هذا قد يبدو المراضة هو حقا مسألة واقعية، بعد كل شيء أكثر يقينا من الموت والضرائب.
خطة العقارات الأساسية من شركة ذات سمعة طيبة يمكن أن يكلف أقل من 2000 $. هذا قد يبدو مثل الكثير ولكن هو مبلغ صغير نسبيا بالمقارنة مع الضرائب التي قد تكون قادرة على حفظ. مخطط العقارات يمكن أن تساعدك أيضا على إنشاء الثقة بالنسبة لك وأطفالك من شأنها أن تقضي على المشاكل المحتملة بروبيت إذا كان شيء مؤسف يحدث لك أو زوجتك (والقيام بذلك يمكن أن ينظر إليها على أنها هدية أخرى لبقية عائلتك).
... النظر في تعيين محاسب الضرائب لمساعدتك على التفكير من خلال الضرائب المرتبطة نهج مختلفة في وقت مبكر ممارسة.
في حال كنت لا تخطط لتقديم هدية يجب أن تنظر في تعيين محاسب الضرائب لمساعدتك على التفكير من خلال الضرائب المرتبطة نهج مختلفة في وقت مبكر ممارسة.
ونحن ندرك الكثير منكم حاليا استخدام توربو الضرائب للقيام الضرائب السنوية الخاصة بك، ولكن رسوم متواضعة سوف تتكبد محاسب جيد أكثر من دفع ثمن نفسه عندما يتعلق الأمر التعامل مع خيارات الأسهم و رسوس (انظر مثال على نوع من نصيحة يجب عليك البحث عنها في ثلاث طرق لتجنب المشاكل الضريبية عند ممارسة الخيارات). لمزيد من التفاصيل حول متى يجب عليك توظيف محاسب الضرائب يرجى قراءة 9 إشارات يجب أن تستأجر محاسب الضرائب.) هذا هو المجال الذي كنت لا تريد أن تكون قرش الحكمة والجنيه الجنيه.
نحن سعداء لتقديم توصيات للمحاسبين الضرائب ومخططي العقارات لعملائنا الذين يقيمون في ولاية كاليفورنيا إذا كنت مراسلتنا على دعم @ الثروة.
وضع خطة ما بعد الاكتتاب-الإفراج عن تأمين لبيع الأسهم.
لقد قمنا بكتابة عدد من المشاركات بلوق التي تفسر لماذا سيكون لديك خدمة جيدة لبيع الأسهم وفقا لخطة متسقة بعد الاكتتاب العام. في تجربتنا العملاء الذين يعتقدون هذا من خلال قبل الاكتتاب العام هي أكثر عرضة لمتابعة فعليا من خلال وبيع بعض الأسهم من أولئك الذين ليس لديهم خطة مسبقة ومدروسة.
في الفوز استراتيجيات فك لمساعدتك على بيع التكنولوجيا الاكتتاب الأسهم أوصينا خطط مختلفة التي تقوم على كيفية الشركة من المرجح أن تؤدي نسبة إلى المتطلبات المالية الثلاثة المذكورة أعلاه. ويمكنك حتى اختبار هذه التوصيات المختلفة في ما بعد الاكتتاب الأسهم بيع محاكاة وجدت في هذا الإدخال ذات الصلة.
وينتشر وادي مع قصص من الموظفين الذين لم يباعوا حصة من أسهمهم بعد الاكتتاب العام وانتهى في نهاية المطاف مع أي شيء. وذلك لأنهم إما شعروا أنه سيكون غير مخلص أو يعتقد بقوة في التوقعات لشركتهم أنهم لا يستطيعون جلب أنفسهم لبيع.
في تجربتنا العملاء الذين يعتقدون هذا من خلال قبل الاكتتاب العام هي أكثر عرضة لبيع فعلا بعض الأسهم من أولئك الذين يفتقرون إلى خطة مسبقة ومدروسة.
يكاد يكون من المستحيل بيع الأسهم الخاصة بك على أعلى سعر مطلقة، ولكن يجب أن لا تزال تستثمر الوقت لوضع استراتيجية من شأنها أن تحصد معظم المكاسب المحتملة وتسمح لك لتحقيق أهدافك المالية على المدى الطويل.
إذا كنت في وضع يمكنها من معرفة النتائج المالية لصاحب العمل أمام عامة الناس، قد يطلب منك المشاركة في "خطة 10b5-1". وفقا لويكيبيديا، سيك القاعدة 10b5-1 هي لائحة سنتها الولايات المتحدة للأوراق المالية ولجنة التبادل (سيك) لحل مشكلة غير مستقرة حول تعريف التداول من الداخل. تسمح خطط 10b5-1 للموظفين ببيع عدد محدد سلفا من الأسهم في وقت محدد سلفا وذلك لتجنب اتهامات التداول من الداخل. إذا كان مطلوبا منك أن تشارك في خطة 10b5-1 فإنك سوف تحتاج إلى أن يكون هناك خطة فكر في وقت مبكر من إطلاق الشركة الاكتتاب لوكوب.
تحديد كيفية إدارة العائدات من بيع الأسهم الخاصة بك.
الشركات التي قدمت مؤخرا للجمهور هي واحدة من أفضل مصادر عملاء جدد للمستشارين الماليين. أصدقائنا في الفيسبوك تستخدم للشكوى باستمرار عن "الدعاوى" اصطف في اللوبي الذي كان هناك فقط لأخذ أموالهم. إذا كنت من المرجح أن تكون قيمتها أكثر من 1 مليون $ من خيارات الأسهم الخاصة بك ثم سيتم متابعتك بشدة. سوف تحتاج إلى أن تقرر ما إذا كنت ترغب في تفويض إدارة العائدات التي تولدها من بيع النهائي من الخيارات الخاصة بك / رسوس أو إذا كنت تريد أن تفعل ذلك بنفسك.
هناك مجموعة واسعة من الخيارات إذا كنت مهتما في التفويض. في نهاية المطاف سوف تحتاج إلى التجارة مقابل رسوم مقابل الخدمة كما أنه من غير المرجح أنك سوف تكون قادرة على العثور على مستشار الذي يقدم قدرا كبيرا من يد عقد مع رسوم منخفضة.
وقد أثبت مستشارو حذار الذين يروجون لمنتجات استثمارية فريدة من نوعها كالبحوث أن من المستحيل تقريبا أن يتفوقوا على السوق.
وينتشر وادي مع قصص من الموظفين الذين لم يباعوا حصة من أسهمهم بعد الاكتتاب العام وانتهى في نهاية المطاف مع أي شيء.
للمساعدة في تثقيف الموظفين على أفضل الممارسات في إدارة الاستثمار أنشأنا ما أصبح عرض سليديشار شعبية جدا. وهو يفسر نظرية المحفظة الحديثة؛ وهو نهج الاستثمار الحائز على جائزة نوبل الذي تفضله الغالبية العظمى من المستثمرين المؤسسيين المتطورين، ويشرح كيف يمكنك تنفيذ ذلك بنفسك. كما يوفر الخلفية اللازمة لمساعدتك على معرفة ما الأسئلة لطرح مستشار إذا كنت ترغب في استئجار واحد.
يتم تحذير مسبق. إذا كنت تعمل في واحدة من العديد من الشركات التي من المرجح أن يذهب الجمهور في العام المقبل ثم أخذ بعض الوقت للخروج من الجدول الزمني الخاص بك مشغول للنظر في الأنشطة الأربعة المذكورة أعلاه يمكن أن تحدث فرقا كبيرا لصحتك المالية على المدى الطويل.
لا شيء في هذه المقالة ينبغي أن يفسر على أنه التماس أو عرض، أو توصية، لشراء أو بيع أي أمن. يتم تقديم الخدمات الاستشارية المالية فقط للمستثمرين الذين يصبحون عملاء ويالثفرونت. وينبغي للمستثمرين المحتملين أن يتشاوروا مع مستشاري الضرائب الشخصيين فيما يتعلق بالآثار الضريبية على أساس ظروفهم الخاصة. ويالثفرونت لا تتحمل أية مسؤولية عن العواقب الضريبية على أي مستثمر من أي معاملة. الأداء السابق لا يعتبر ضمانا للنتائج المستقبلية.
عن المؤلف.
أندي راشليف هو مؤسس شركة ويالث فرونت، الرئيس والرئيس التنفيذي. وهو عضو في مجلس الأمناء ونائب رئيس لجنة الاستثمار الوقف لجامعة بنسلفانيا وعضو هيئة التدريس في كلية الدراسات العليا في ستانفورد للأعمال، حيث يدرس دورات حول ريادة الأعمال التكنولوجيا. وقبل تأسيس شركة ويالث فرونت، شارك أندي في تأسيس شركة بينشمارك كابيتال، حيث كان مسؤولا عن الاستثمار في عدد من الشركات الناجحة بما في ذلك إكينيكس و جونيبر نيتوركس و أوبسوير. كما أمضى عشر سنوات كشريك عام مع ميريل، بيكارد، أندرسون & أمب؛ إير (مباي). حصل أندي على درجة البكالوريوس من جامعة بنسلفانيا ودرجة الماجستير في إدارة الأعمال من كلية الدراسات العليا في ستانفورد.
تحقق من خدمات ويالثفرونت. نحن نؤيد حساب خاضع للضريبة، إيرا،
401 (k)، و 529 خطط الادخار الكلية.
على استعداد للاستثمار في مستقبلك؟
قد يعجبك ايضا.
الوظائف ذات الصلة.
قبل بضع سنوات، وأنا كنت تقديم عرض عمل لمرشح في & هيليب؛
تويتر الأخير الاكتتاب هو الحديث عن المدينة. للأسف العديد من المقالات & هيليب؛
واحدة من أهم القرارات الصعبة التي ستجعلها بعد أن تتنقل شركتك و هيليب؛
ويظهر تحليلنا لبيانات أسعار الأسهم بعد الإقفال أنه في المتوسط، واحدة من أسوأ و هيليب؛
المشاركات مميزة.
الطريق إلى الكلية.
اليوم يسرنا أن نعلن عن التخطيط الجامعي مع المسار. تبدو مألوفة؟
مما يتيح لك الحافة.
ويالثفرونت مبنية على فلسفة أن الاستثمار السلبي هو مفتاح النجاح على المدى الطويل. ولكن نحن نحاول دائما للذهاب إلى أبعد الحدود لمساعدة محفظتك أداء أفضل.
المعيار الجديد.
ونحن نعتقد أن ليكون مستشارا آليا الحقيقية يجب أن تقدم على جميع الخدمات التي تحصل عليها من المستشار المالي الراقية التقليدية: إدارة الاستثمار والتخطيط وحلول التمويل الشخصي. لذلك عند اختيار المستشار الآلي المثالي، تحتاج إلى فهم اتساع & # 8212؛ أند كواليتي & # 8212؛ من حل كل مزود.
احصل على مشاركات جديدة يتم تسليمها مباشرة إلى بريدك الوارد.
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مدعوم من هذا بلوق من قبل ويالثفرونت. يتم توفير المعلومات الواردة في هذه المدونة لأغراض إعلامية عامة، ولا ينبغي أن تفسر على أنها المشورة في مجال الاستثمار. يتم تقديم أي روابط يتم تقديمها لمواقع الخادم الأخرى كمسألة ملائمة وليس المقصود منها أن تعني أن ويالثفرونت يؤيد أو يرعى أو يروج و / أو ينتمي إلى أصحاب أو المشاركين في تلك المواقع أو يؤيد أي معلومات تحتوي على تلك المواقع ، ما لم ينص صراحة على خلاف ذلك.
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&نسخ؛ 2018 ويالثفرونت Inc. جميع الحقوق محفوظة. يرجى قراءة الإفصاحات القانونية الهامة حول هذه المدونة.

مدونة ماكس ششيريسون.
أفكار حول التكنولوجيا والأعمال التجارية التكنولوجيا.
وأوضح خيارات الأسهم بدء التشغيل.
خيارات الأسهم هي جزء كبير من حلم بدء التشغيل ولكن غالبا ما تكون غير مفهومة جيدا، حتى من قبل كبار التنفيذيين الذين يستمدون الكثير من دخلهم من الخيارات الأسهم. هنا & # 8217؛ s محاولتي لشرح القضايا الرئيسية الموظفين يجب أن يكون على بينة من.
& # 8220؛ خيارات الأسهم & # 8221؛ كما تمنح عادة تمنحك الحق في شراء أسهم الأسهم في المستقبل بسعر يحدد اليوم. سعر الإضراب & # 8220؛ & # 8221؛ هو السعر الذي يمكنك شراء أسهم في المستقبل. إذا كان السهم في المستقبل يستحق أكثر من سعر الإضراب، يمكنك كسب المال عن طريق & # 8220؛ ممارسة & # 8221؛ الخيارات وشراء حصة من الأسهم لسعر الإضراب. على سبيل المثال، يتم منحك 5000 سهم من الأسهم بسعر 4 دولار للسهم الواحد في شركة ناشئة. بعد 5 سنوات، الأسهم يذهب العامة وثلاث سنوات بعد ذلك أنه & # 8217؛ ق تصل إلى 200 $ للسهم الواحد. يمكنك ممارسة الخيار، ودفع 20،000 $ لشراء 5،000 سهم من الأسهم التي تبلغ قيمتها 1،000،000 $. تهانينا، لقد حققت ربحا قبل الضريبة قدره 980،000 دولار أمريكي، بافتراض أنك تبيع الأسهم على الفور.
هناك مصيدة صغيرة ولكنها ضرورية: عندما يتم منحك خياراتك، فهي ليست & # 8220؛ مكتسبة & # 8221 ؛. وهذا يعني أنه إذا تركت الشركة الأسبوع بعد انضمامك، تفقد خيارات الأسهم الخاصة بك. هذا يبدو منطقيا؛ وإلا بدلا من أن يكون حافزا للبقاء، فإنها تكون حافزا على العمل هوب قدر الإمكان، وجمع الخيارات من أكبر عدد ممكن من أرباب العمل ما تستطيع. لذلك، كم من الوقت لديك للبقاء للحفاظ على الخيارات الخاصة بك؟ في معظم الشركات، فإنها ستستمر على مدى أربع سنوات. الهيكل الأكثر شيوعا هو & # 8220؛ جرف & # 8221؛ بعد سنة واحدة عندما تستحوذ على 25٪ من أسهمك، وتستحق األسهم المتبقية على أساس تناسبي على أساس شهري حتى تصل إلى أربع سنوات. التفاصيل تختلف من شركة إلى أخرى. بعض الشركات على خيارات أكثر من 5 سنوات وبعض على مدى فترات أخرى من الزمن، وليس كل أصحاب العمل لديهم الهاوية.
الجرف هناك لحماية الشركة & # 8211؛ وجميع المساهمين، بما في ذلك الموظفين الآخرين & # 8211؛ من الاضطرار إلى إعطاء أسهم للأفراد الذين ملاذ 'ر قدمت مساهمات ذات مغزى للشركة.
لماذا يجب أن تهتم ما إذا كان هذا الرجل الذي حصل على النار بعد ستة أشهر مشى بعيدا مع أي خيارات أم لا؟ لأن هذه الخيارات & # 8220؛ تمييع & # 8221؛ ملكيتك للشركة. تذكر أن كل سهم يمثل قطعة ملكية للشركة. وكلما زاد عدد الأسهم هناك، انخفضت القيمة التي يمثلها كل واحد منها. دعونا نقول عند الانضمام إلى بدء التشغيل والحصول على 5000 سهم، وهناك 25،000،000 مجموع الأسهم القائمة. أنت تملك .02٪ & # 8211؛ نقطتان أساسيتان & # 8211؛ الشركة. إذا قامت الشركة بإصدار 25.000.000 خيارات أو أسهم أخرى على مدى السنوات الخمس التي تخلل ذلك، فهناك 50.000.000 سهم في الاكتتاب العام (عادة إما كجزء من جمع الأموال بما في ذلك الاكتتاب العام أو توظيف الموظفين)، أنت تركت .01٪ & # 8211؛ نقطة أساس أو نصف النسبة المئوية الأصلية. كان لديك 50٪ التخفيف. يمكنك الآن جعل نصف بنفس القيمة لنفس الشركة.
ومع ذلك، التخفيف ليس بالضرورة سيئة. والسبب في موافقة المجلس على أي معاملة مخففة (جمع الأموال، وشراء شركة، وإعطاء خيارات الأسهم) هو أنها تعتقد أنها سوف تجعل أسهم أكثر من قيمتها. إذا كانت شركتك تثير الكثير من المال، قد تملك نسبة مئوية أصغر، ولكن الأمل هو أن وجود هذا النقد يسمح للشركة لتنفيذ استراتيجية مما يعزز قيمة المؤسسة بما يكفي لأكثر من تعويض عن التخفيف و سعر السهم ترتفع. وبالنسبة للمعاملة المعينة (التي ترفع 10 ملايين دولار)، كلما كان ذلك أقل تخفيفا، إلا أن رفع مبلغ 15 مليون دولار قد يكون أقل تخفيفا من زيادة 10 ملايين دولار مع زيادة قيمة كل حصة قائمة.
هذا يقودنا إلى العدد الذي هو أكثر أهمية بكثير (على الرغم من أنه هو السبر أقل إثارة للإعجاب) من عدد الأسهم & # 8211؛ ما هو جزء من الشركة التي تملكها. وغالبا ما يقاس هذا من حيث النسبة المئوية، والتي أعتقد أنها مؤسفة لأن عدد قليل جدا من الموظفين غير المؤسسين ينتهي بنسبة واحد في المئة أو حتى نصف في المئة، لذلك أنت & # 8217؛ وغالبا ما نتحدث عن الكسور الصغيرة، التي هي مزعجة. أعتقد أنه من المفيد قياسه في & # 8220؛ نقطة أساس & # 8221؛ & # 8211؛ مئة في المئة. بغض النظر عن الوحدات، وهذا هو الرقم الذي يهم. لماذا ا؟
دعونا نقول الشركة A وشركة B على حد سواء، بعد الكثير من العمل الشاق، بقيمة 10 مليار $ (على غرار ريد هات، على سبيل المثال). منذ فترة طويلة ذهب ألبرت للعمل في الشركة A وذهب بوب للعمل في شركة B. ألبرت بخيبة أمل أنه حصل فقط على 5000 الخيارات، وتم منحها بسعر 4 $ لكل منهما. كان بوب سعيدا جدا & # 8211؛ حصل على 50.000 خيار بسعر 20 سنتا فقط. من حصل عل الصفقة الأفضل؟ هذا يعتمد. دعونا نقول الشركة لديها 25،000،000 سهم القائمة، وكانت الشركة B 500،000،000 سهم القائمة. بعد سنوات عديدة و 50٪ تخفيف في كل حالة، الشركة لديها 50،000،000 سهم القائمة حتى أنها تستحق 200 $ لكل و حققت ألبرت ربحا من 980،000 $ على خياراته ($ 1 مليون قيمة ناقص 20000 $ تكلفة التمرين). الشركة B لديها 1 مليار سهم القائمة، لذلك هم يستحقون 10 $ لكل منهما. بوب & # 8217؛ ق صافي له أرباحا من 9.80 $ لكل منهما، لربح إجمالي قدره 490،000 $. لذلك في حين كان بوب لديه المزيد من الخيارات بسعر الإضراب أقل، وقال انه جعل أقل من المال عندما حققت شركته نفس النتيجة.
ويصبح ذلك واضحا عند النظر إلى نسبة الملكية. كان ألبرت 2 نقطة أساس، وكان بوب واحد. على الرغم من أنه كان أقل من الأسهم، وكان ألبرت المزيد من الأسهم في الطريقة الوحيدة التي تهم.
كم عدد الأسهم المعلقة & # 8220؛ العادية & # 8221 ؛؟ على مستوى ما عدد هو التعسفي تماما، ولكن العديد من الشركات الممولة فك يميلون إلى البقاء في نطاق مماثل الذي يختلف على أساس المرحلة. كما تذهب الشركة من خلال المزيد من جولات التمويل ويستأجر المزيد من الموظفين، فإنه سيتميل إلى إصدار المزيد من الأسهم. A & # 8220؛ نورمال & # 8221؛ مرحلة مبكرة قد يكون بدء 25-50 مليون سهم المعلقة. قد يكون متوسط ​​المرحلة العادية (إيرادات كبيرة وجولات تمويل متعددة، والكثير من الموظفين مع فريق إيكسيك الكامل في مكان) 50-100 مليون سهم القائمة. الشركات المرحلة المتأخرة التي هي على استعداد للاكتتاب العام غالبا ما يكون أكثر من 100 مليون سهم القائمة. في النهاية، العدد الفعلي لا يهم، ما يهم هو العدد الإجمالي بالنسبة لحجم المنحة.
تحدثت بإيجاز عن ممارسة الخيارات أعلاه. من الأمور المهمة التي يجب مراعاتها أن ممارسة خياراتك تكلف المال. اعتمادا على سعر الإضراب وعدد الخيارات لديك، قد يكلف قليلا من المال. في العديد من الشركات العامة، يمكنك إجراء & # 8220؛ ممارسة غير نقدية & # 8221؛ أو & # 8220؛ نفس اليوم للبيع & # 8221؛ حيث يمكنك ممارسة وبيع في معاملة واحدة وأنها ترسل لك الفرق. في معظم الشركات الخاصة، ليس هناك طريقة بسيطة للقيام ما يعادلها. تسمح لك بعض الشركات الخاصة بتسليم بعض الأسهم التي حصلت عليها فقط في الشركة على & نبسب؛ & # 8220؛ القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221 ؛؛ قراءة خيارات الخيارات الخاصة بك لمعرفة ما إذا كان يتم تقديم هذا. I & # 8217؛ سوف نتحدث أكثر عن & # 8220؛ القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221؛ أدناه، ولكن الآن أنا & # 8217؛ ليرة لبنانية أقول فقط أنه في حين لها عظيم أن يكون هذا الخيار، فإنه هو & # 8217؛ ر دائما أفضل صفقة إذا كان لديك أي بديل.
والشيء المهم الآخر الذي يجب مراعاته في ممارسة خيارات الأسهم هو الضرائب التي سأناقشها لاحقا.
في رأيي، العملية التي يتم بموجبها & # 8220؛ القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221؛ من الأسهم الناشئة يتم تحديدها في كثير من الأحيان تنتج التقييمات التي سيكون من الصعب جدا العثور على البائع وسهلة جدا للعثور على المشترين & # 8211؛ وبعبارة أخرى قيمة غالبا ما تكون أقل قليلا من معظم الناس & # 8217؛ s بديهية تعريف القيمة السوقية. مصطلح & # 8220؛ القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221؛ في هذا السياق له معنى محدد جدا لمصلحة الضرائب، وعليك أن تدرك أن هذا المعنى التقني قد لا يتوافق مع السعر الذي سيكون فكرة جيدة لبيع الأسهم الخاصة بك.
لماذا تشارك مصلحة الضرائب وما يجري؟ يخضع إصدار خيار الأسهم جزئيا للقسم 409 أ من قانون الإيرادات الداخلي الذي يغطي & # 8220؛ التعويض المؤجل غير المؤهل & # 8221؛ & # 8211؛ يحصل العاملون على تعويضات في سنة واحدة تدفع في السنة المقبلة، بخلاف المساهمات في & # 8220؛ الخطط المؤهلة & # 8221؛ مثل 401 (ك) الخطط. خيارات الأسهم تمثل تحديا في تحديد متى & # 8220؛ التعويض & # 8221؛ هو & # 8220؛ مدفوع & # 8221 ؛. هل هو & # 8220؛ مدفوع & # 8221؛ عندما يتم منح الخيار، عندما سترات، عند ممارسة الخيار، أو عند بيع الأسهم؟ أحد العوامل التي تستخدمها مصلحة الضرائب لتحديد ذلك هو كيفية مقارنة سعر الإضراب مع القيمة السوقية العادلة. وتتيح الخيارات الممنوحة بأقل من القيمة السوقية العادلة إيراد خاضع للضريبة، مع فرض غرامة على الاستحقاق. هذا أمر سيء جدا. لا تريد دفع فاتورة ضريبية عند استحقاق خياراتك حتى إذا لم تكن قد مارستها بعد.
غالبا ما تفضل الشركات انخفاض أسعار الإضراب للخيارات & # 8211؛ وهذا يجعل الخيارات أكثر جاذبية للموظفين المحتملين. وكانت نتيجة ذلك معيارا واقعيا لتحديد القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221؛ من أجل أغراض إصدار خيارات بدء التشغيل في مرحلة مبكرة تكون مساوية ل 10٪ من السعر الذي يدفعه المستثمرون فعلا للأسهم (انظر مناقشة فئات الأسهم أدناه).
في حالة خيارات الأسهم الناشئة، فإنها تحدد أنه يجب استخدام طريقة تقييم معقولة تأخذ في الاعتبار جميع المعلومات المادية المتاحة. أنواع المعلومات التي ينظرون إليها هي قيم األصول والتدفقات النقدية والقيمة التي يمكن تحديدها بسهولة للكيانات المماثلة والخصومات لعدم قابلية األسهم للتسويق. الحصول على التقييم خاطئ ينطوي على عقوبة ضريبية صارمة، ولكن إذا تم التقييم من خلال تقييم مستقل، هناك افتراض معقولية وهو قابل للنقض فقط على مصلحة الضرائب تبين أن الأسلوب أو تطبيقه كان غير معقول بشكل كبير & # 8221 ،.
معظم الشركات الناشئة لديها كل من الأسهم المشتركة والمفضلة. إن األسهم العادية هي عادة األسهم المملوكة من قبل المؤسسين والموظفين واألسهم الممتازة هي األسهم المملوكة من قبل المستثمرين. فما هو الفرق؟ وكثيرا ما تكون هناك ثلاثة اختلافات رئيسية: تفضيلات التصفية، وأرباح الأسهم، وحقوق المساهمين من الأقليات بالإضافة إلى مجموعة متنوعة من الاختلافات الأصغر. ماذا تعني هذه ولماذا يتم تضمينها عادة؟
أكبر الفرق في الممارسة هو تفضيل التصفية، وهو ما يعني عادة أن أول شيء يحدث مع أي عائدات من بيع الشركة هو أن المستثمرين الحصول على أموالهم. المؤسسون / الموظفين فقط كسب المال عندما المستثمرين كسب المال. في بعض الصفقات التمويل المستثمرين الحصول على 2X أو 3X العودة قبل أن يحصل أي شخص آخر يدفع. شخصيا أحاول تجنب تلك، ولكن يمكن أن تجعل المستثمرين على استعداد للقيام الصفقة لأسهم أقل، وذلك في بعض الحالات أنها يمكن أن يكون لها معنى. غالبا ما يطلب المستثمرون توزيعات أرباح (مماثلة للفائدة) على استثماراتهم، وعادة ما تكون هناك بعض الأحكام التي تتطلب موافقة المستثمرين على بيع الشركة في حالات معينة.
وعادة ما يحصل الموظفون على خيارات الأسهم العادية دون توزيعات الأرباح أو تفضيل التصفية. وبالتالي فإن الأسهم لا تستحق تماما بقدر الأسهم المفضلة التي يشتريها المستثمرون.
وهذا هو، بطبيعة الحال، السؤال الكبير. إذا كانت قيمة السوق العادلة & # 8221؛ ألا تتطابق مع السعر الذي تعتقد أنه يمكن أن تجد فيه مشتريا بشكل معقول، كيف يمكنك تقدير القيمة الحقيقية لخياراتك؟
إذا كانت شركتك قد رفعت المال مؤخرا، فإن السعر الذي يدفعه المستثمرون للأسهم المفضلة يمكن أن يكون نقطة مرجعية مثيرة للاهتمام. كانت تجربتي هي أن سعر السوق) وليس القيمة الرسمية للسوق العادلة & # 8221؛، ولكن ما تدفعه العمالت االفتراضية (للأسهم العادية غالبا ما يتراوح بين 50٪ و 80٪ من السعر الذي يدفعه المستثمرون للأسهم الممتازة. وكلما زاد احتمال بيع الشركة بسعر منخفض بما فيه الكفاية بحيث يستفيد المستثمرون من تفضيلهم كلما زاد الفرق بين قيمة الأسهم المفضلة والأسهم العادية.
الشيء الآخر الذي يجب مراعاته هو أن معظم الناس لا يملكون الفرصة لشراء الأسهم المفضلة للسعر الذي تدفعه المجالس القروية. ويسر الكثير من المستثمرين المتطورين جدا أن تتاح لهم الفرصة للاستثمار في صناديق رأس المال الرأسمالي من الدرجة الأولى حيث يأخذ رأس المال المتداول 1-2٪ سنويا في رسوم الإدارة و 25-30٪ من الأرباح. قالوا جميعا إنهم يملكون حوالي 60٪ من صافي شراء الأسهم مباشرة. لذلك عندما يشتري الرأسمال الرأسمالي أسهما مشتركة بنسبة 70٪ من سعر الأسهم المفضلة، تأتي هذه الأموال من صندوق تقاعد أو منحة جامعية تحصل على 60٪ أو نحو ذلك من قيمة تلك الحصة المشتركة. وبالتالي، فإن المستثمر الذكي يقوم بشكل غير مباشر بشراء أسهمك المشتركة مقابل السعر الذي تدفعه العمالت االفتراضية مقابل السعر المفضل.
إذا لم يكن هناك جولة مؤخرا، فإن تقييم قيمة أسهمك أصعب. قد تكون القيمة السوقية العادلة أقرب نقطة مرجعية متاحة، ولكنني رأيت حالات حيث 30-60٪ (وأحيانا أبعد) أدناه ما قد يدفع المستثمر العقلاني لأسهمك. إذا كان الشيء الوحيد الذي لديك، قد تخمن أن القيمة السوقية ستكون أقرب إلى 2x & # 8220؛ القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221؛، على الرغم من أن هذه الفجوة تميل إلى الانكماش كما تقترب من الاكتتاب العام.
انتهاء الصلاحية وإنهاء الخدمة.
تنتهي الخيارات عادة بعد 10 سنوات، مما يعني أنه في ذلك الوقت أنها تحتاج إلى أن تمارس أو أنها لا قيمة لها. كما تنتهي الخيارات عادة بعد 90 يوما من ترك وظيفتك. حتى لو كانت مكتسبة، تحتاج إلى ممارسة لهم أو تفقد لهم في هذه المرحلة. أحيانا هذا قابل للتفاوض، ولكن هذا أمر نادر جدا & # 8211؛ لا تعتمد على القدرة على التفاوض على هذا، خاصة بعد الحقيقة.
ويشكل شرط الممارسة في غضون 90 يوما من إنهاء الخدمة نقطة هامة جدا ينبغي مراعاتها عند وضع الخطط المالية والوظيفية. إذا كنت & # 8217؛ لا حذرا، يمكنك ينتهي المحاصرين خيارات الأسهم الخاصة بك؛ أنا & # 8217؛ سوف نناقش هذا أدناه.
ستتوفر في بعض الأحيان خيارات الأسهم & # 8220؛ تسارع & # 8221؛ اللغة حيث يستقرون في وقت مبكر على أحداث معينة، وغالبا ما يكون تغيير السيطرة. وهذا مجال من أوجه عدم التماثل حيث يكون كبار المسؤولين التنفيذيين في هذه الأحكام أكثر تكرارا من موظفي الرتب. هناك ثلاثة أنواع رئيسية من التسارع: تسارع تغيير التحكم، والتسارع عند الإنهاء، و & # 8220؛ الزناد المزدوج & # 8221؛ التسارع الذي يتطلب كل من تغيير السيطرة وإنهاء لتسريع الاستحقاق الخاص بك. يمكن أن يكون التسارع كاملا (جميع الخيارات غير المؤهلة) أو جزئية (على سبيل المثال، استحقاق سنة إضافية واحدة أو 50٪ من الأسهم غير المستثمرة).
وبوجه عام، أعتقد أن لغة التسارع منطقية في حالتين محددتين ولكنهما لا معنى لهما في معظم الحالات الأخرى: أولا، عندما يتم التعاقد مع مسؤول تنفيذي في جزء كبير منه لبيع شركة، فإنه يوفر حافزا مناسبا للقيام بذلك؛ ثانیا عندما یکون المسؤول التنفیذي في دور یصبح من المرجح أن یکون زائدا عن الحاجة عند بیع الشرکة و ب) سوف یشارك بشکل کبیر في البیع في حالة حدوثھ یمکنھ أن یلغي بعض العقوبات المالیة الشخصیة التي ستدفعھا السلطة التنفیذیة فإنه من الأسهل بالنسبة لهم للتركيز على القيام بعملهم. في هذه الحالة الثانية، وأعتقد تسارع جزئي، الزناد المزدوج هو عادل. في الحالة الأولى، قد يتم استدعاء التسارع الكامل ل، الزناد واحد.
في معظم الحالات الأخرى، أعتقد أن المديرين التنفيذيين يجب أن يتقاضون رواتبهم عندما وكيف يحصل الجميع على دفع. يعتقد بعض المديرين التنفيذيين أنه من المهم الحصول على بعض التسارع عند الإنهاء. شخصيا لا & # 8217؛ t & # 8211؛ I & # 8217؛ د بدلا من التركيز التفاوض بلدي على الحصول على صفقة مواتية في حالة حيث أنا & # 8217؛ م ناجحة والعصا حولها لفترة من الوقت.
كم عدد خيارات الأسهم التي يجب الحصول عليها يتم تحديدها إلى حد كبير من قبل السوق وتختلف قليلا جدا من موقف إلى موقف. هذا هو مجال صعب للحصول على المعلومات و أنا متأكد من أن كل ما أقول سوف يكون مثيرا للجدل، ولكن أنا & # 8217؛ سوف أبذل قصارى جهدي لوصف السوق كما أعتقد أنه موجود اليوم. ويستند هذا على تجربتي في اثنين من الشركات الناشئة وشركة واحدة كبيرة استعراض حوالي ألف منحة المنح الإجمالية، وكذلك التحدث إلى المجالس القروية والمديرين التنفيذيين الآخرين ومراجعة استطلاعات الرأي التعويض.
أولا، أتحدث عن كيفية تفكير أحجام المنح، ثم أعطي بعض الإرشادات المحددة للمواقف المختلفة.
وأعتقد اعتقادا راسخا أن الطريقة الأكثر منطقية للتفكير في أحجام المنحة هي بقيمة الدولار. كما نوقش أعلاه، عدد الأسهم لا معنى له. في حين أن النسبة المئوية للشركة أفضل فإنها تختلف بشكل كبير على أساس المرحلة ولذلك فمن الصعب تقديم مشورة قابلة للتطبيق على نطاق واسع: 1 نقطة أساس (0،01٪) من غوغل أو أوراكل هي منحة ضخمة ل إيكسيك كبار ولكن في نفس الوقت 1 نقطة أساس هو منحة صغيرة لموظف مستوى الدخول في سلسلة الخام - A بدء التشغيل. قد تكون منحة عادلة لموظف متوسط ​​المستوى في مرحلة ما قبل الاكتتاب الأولي. قيمة الدولار يساعد على حساب كل هذا.
بشكل عام لهذه الأغراض لن أستخدم قيمة 409a & # 8220؛ القيمة السوقية العادلة & # 8221 ؛. وأود أن أستخدم إما أ) القيمة في الجولة الأخيرة إذا كان هناك واحد أو ب) السعر الذي كنت تعتقد أن الشركة يمكن أن تثير المال اليوم إذا لم يكن هناك جولة في الآونة الأخيرة.
ما أود أن ألقي نظرة عليه هو قيمة الأسهم التي تستثمرها كل عام، ومقدار قيمتها إذا كان السهم يفعل ما يريد المستثمرون القيام به & # 8211؛ الزيادات في القيمة 5-10 مرات. هذه ليست نتيجة مضمونة، ولا هو الخيال البري. ماذا ينبغي أن تكون هذه المبالغ؟ ويختلف هذا حسب مستوى الوظيفة:
مستوى الدخول: توقع أن تكون قيمة الاستحقاق السنوية قابلة للمقارنة بمكافأة سنوية صغيرة، على الأرجح 500 - 2500 دولار أمريكي. نتوقع القيمة الإجمالية إذا كانت الشركة جيدا أن تكون كافية لشراء سيارة، المرجح 25-50k $.
من ذوي الخبرة: الموظفين الأكثر خبرة ستسقط في هذا النطاق. توقع أن تكون قيمة الاستحقاق السنوية قابلة للمقارنة مع مكافأة سنوية معتدلة، من المحتمل أن تكون 2500 - 10 ألف دولار أمريكي، والقيمة الإجمالية إذا كانت الشركة تعمل بشكل جيد لتكون كافية لسداد دفعة على منزل وادي السيليكون أو لوضع طفل عن طريق الكلية، من المحتمل حوالي 100-200،000 دولار.
الإدارة الرئیسیة: یستأجر علی مستوى المدیرین وحفنة من المساھمین الفرديین کبار السن عادة في ھذا النطاق. كبار الموظفين في وقت مبكر غالبا ما ينتهي في هذا النطاق مع نمو الشركة. نتوقع أن يكون مبلغ الاستحقاق السنوي مثل مكافأة كبيرة، من المحتمل 10K-40K $ والقيمة الإجمالية إذا كانت الشركة بشكل جيد لتكون كافية لسداد رهن السيليكون وادي الخاص بك، على الأرجح 500K - $ 1 مليون دولار.
التنفيذي: نائب الرئيس، سفب، و كسو (باستثناء الرئيس التنفيذي). توقع أن تكون قيمة الاستحقاق السنوية جزءا كبيرا من راتبك، على الأرجح 40-100 ألف دولار أمريكي (أو ما يعادله بالعملة المحلية)، والقيمة إذا كان أداء الشركة جيدا بمبلغ مليون دولار أو أكثر.
بالنسبة لأولئك الذين يقرأون هذا من بعيد ويحلم ثراء وادي السيليكون، وهذا قد يبدو مخيبا للآمال. تذكر، ومع ذلك، ومع ذلك، فإن معظم الناس لديهم ما يقرب من 10 وظيفة في مهنة 40 عاما في مجال التكنولوجيا. على مدى تلك المهنة، 4 نجاحات (أقل من النصف) في مستويات متزايدة من الأقدمية سوف تسدد القروض الطلابية الخاصة بك، وتوفير الدفعة المقدمة الخاصة بك، ووضع طفل من خلال الكلية، وفي نهاية المطاف سداد الرهن العقاري الخاص بك. ليس سيئا عندما تعتبر أنك ستحصل على راتب أيضا.
يجب أن تسأل على الاطلاق كم عدد الأسهم المعلقة & # 8220؛ المخفف تماما & # 8221 ؛. يجب أن يكون صاحب العمل مستعدا للإجابة على هذا السؤال. وأود أن أضع أي قيمة على خيارات الأسهم من صاحب العمل الذي لن يجيب على هذا بوضوح ودون لبس. & # 8220؛ مخفف بالكامل & # 8221؛ يعني ليس فقط عدد الأسهم المصدرة اليوم، ولكن كم عدد الأسهم ستكون مستحقة إذا تم إصدار جميع الأسهم التي تم الترخيص. وهذا يشمل خيارات الأسهم للموظفين التي تم منحها فضلا عن الأسهم التي تم حجزها للإصدار للموظفين الجدد (الأسهم & # 8220؛ تجمع & # 8221؛ فمن الطبيعي أن نضع جانبا تجمع مع جمع التبرعات بحيث يمكن للمستثمرين معرفة عدد والأسهم الإضافية التي يتوقع أن تصدرها)، وأشياء أخرى مثل الأوامر التي قد تكون صدرت فيما يتعلق بالقروض.
يجب عليك أن تسأل كم من المال الشركة لديها في البنك، ومدى سرعة حرق النقدية، وفي المرة القادمة التي يتوقعون لجمع التبرعات. سيؤثر ذلك على مقدار التخفيف الذي يجب أن تتوقعه وتقييمك لخطر االنضمام إلى الشركة. لا تتوقع الحصول على إجابة دقيقة على هذا السؤال كما في السابق، ولكن في معظم الحالات يكون من المعقول أن يكون لدى الموظفين مؤشرا عاما للوضع النقدي للشركة.
يجب عليك أن تسأل ما هو سعر الإضراب للمنح الأخيرة. لن يتمكن أحد من إخبارك بسعر الإضراب لمنحة مستقبلية لأن ذلك يعتمد على القيمة السوقية العادلة في وقت المنحة (بعد بدء ومتى يوافق المجلس عليه)؛ كان لي صديق الانضمام إلى شركة الألعاب الساخنة وارتفع سعر الإضراب 3X من الوقت الذي قبل العرض إلى الوقت الذي بدأ. التغييرات شائعة، على الرغم من 3X غير عادية إلى حد ما.
You should ask if they have a notion of how the company would be valued today, but you might not get an answer. There are three reasons you might not get an answer: one, the company may know a valuation from a very recent round but not be willing to disclose it; two the company may honestly not know what a fair valuation would be; three, they may have some idea but be uncomfortable sharing it for a variety of legitimate reasons. Unless you are joining in a senior executive role where you’ll be involved in fundraising discussions, there’s a good chance you won’t get this question answered, but it can’t hurt to ask.
If you can get a sense of valuation for the company, you can use that to assess the value of your stock options as I described above. If you can’t, I’d use twice the most recent “fair market value” as a reasonable estimate of a current market price when applying my metrics above.
One feature some stock plans offer is early exercise. With early exercise, you can exercise options before they are vested. The downside of this is that it costs money to exercise them, and there may be tax due upon exercise. The upside is that if the company does well, you may pay far less taxes. Further, you can avoid a situation where you can’t leave your job because you can’t afford the tax bill associated with exercising your stock options (see below where I talk about being trapped by your stock options).
If you do early exercise, you should carefully evaluate the tax consequences. By default, the IRS will consider you to have earned taxable income on the difference between the fair market value and the strike price as the stock vests. This can be disastrous if the stock does very well. However, there is an option (an “83b election” in IRS parlance) where you can choose to pre-pay all taxes based on the exercise up front. In this case the taxes are calculated immediately, and they are based on the difference between the fair market value and the strike price at the time of exercise. If, for example, you exercise immediately after the stock is granted, that difference is probably zero and, provided you file the paperwork properly, no tax is due until you sell some of the shares. Be warned that the IRS is unforgiving about this paperwork. You have 30 days from when you exercise your options to file the paperwork, and the IRS is very clear that no exceptions are granted under any circumstances.
I am a fan of early exercise programs, but be warned: doing early exercise and not making an 83b election can create a financial train wreck. If you do this and you are in tax debt for the rest of your life because of your company’s transient success, don’t come crying to me.
What if you leave? The company has the right, but not the obligation, to buy back unvested shares at the price you paid for them. This is fair; the unvested shares weren’t really “yours” until you completed enough service for them to vest, and you should be thankful for having the opportunity to exercise early and potentially pay less taxes.
Taxes on stock options are complex. There are two different types of stock options, Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) and Non-Qualified Stock Options which are treated differently for stock purposes. There are three times taxes may be due (at vesting, at exercise, and at sale). This is compounded by early exercise and potential 83b election as I discussed above.
This section needs a disclaimer: I am not an attorney or a tax advisor. I will try to summarize the main points here but this is really an area where it pays to get professional advice that takes your specific situation into account. I will not be liable for more than what you paid for this advice, which is zero.
For the purposes of this discussion, I will assume that the options are granted at a strike price no lower than the fair market value and, per my discussion on early exercise, I’ll also assume that if you early exercise you made an 83b election so no taxes are due upon vesting and I can focus on taxes due on exercise and on sale. I’ll begin with NSOs.
NSO gains on exercise are taxed as ordinary income. For example, if you exercise options at a strike price of $10 per share and the stock is worth $50 per share at the time of exercise, you owe income taxes on $40 per share. When you sell the shares, you owe capital gains (short or long term depending on your holding period) on the difference between the value of the shares at exercise and when you sell them. Some people see a great benefit in exercising and holding to pay long term capital gains on a large portion of the appreciation. Be warned, many fortunes were lost doing this.
What can go wrong? Say you have 20,000 stock options at $5 per share in a stock which is now worth $100 per share. مبروك! But, in an attempt to minimize taxes, you exercise and hold. You wipe out your savings to write a check for $100,000 to exercise your options. Next April, you will have a tax bill for an extra $1.9 million in income; at today’s tax rates that will be $665,000 for the IRS, plus something for your state. Not to worry though; it’s February and the taxes aren’t due until next April; you can hold the stock for 14 months, sell in April in time to pay your taxes, and make capital gains on any additional appreciation. If the stock goes from $100 to $200 per share, you will make another $2 million and you’ll only owe $300,ooo in long term capital gains, versus $700,000 in income taxes. You’ve just saved $400,000 in taxes using your buy-and-hold approach.
But what if the stock goes to $20 per share? Well, in the next year you have a $1.6 million capital loss. You can offset $3,000 of that against your next years income tax and carry forward enough to keep doing that for quite a while – unless you plan to live more than 533 years, for the rest of your life. But how do you pay your tax bill? You owe $665,000 to the IRS and your stock is only worth $400,000. You’ve already drained your savings just to exercise the shares whose value is now less than the taxes you owe. Congratulations, your stock has now lost you $365,000 out of pocket which you don’t have, despite having appreciated 4x from your strike price.
How about ISOs? The situation is a little different, but danger still lurks. Unfortunately, ISOs can tempt you in to these types of situations if you’re not careful. In the best case, ISOs are tax free on exercise and taxed as capital gains on sale. However, that best case is very difficult to actually achieve. لماذا ا؟ Because while ISO exercise is free of ordinary income tax, the difference between the ISO strike price and value at exercise is treated as a “tax preference” and taxable under AMT. In real life, you will likely owe 28% on the difference between strike price and the value when you exercise. Further, any shares which you sell before you have reached 2 years from grant and 1 year from exercise are “disqualified” and treated as NSOs retroactively. The situation becomes more complex with limits option value for ISO treatment, AMT credits, and having one tax basis in the shares for AMT purposes and one for other purposes. This is definitely one on which to consult a tax advisor.
If you’d like to know if you have an ISO or NSO (sometimes also called NQSO), check your options grant paperwork, it should clearly state the type of option.
Illiquidity and being trapped by stock options.
I’ll discuss one more situation: being trapped by illiquid stock options. Sometimes stock options can be “golden handcuffs”. In the case of liquid stock options (say, in a public company), in my opinion this is exactly as they are intended and a healthy dynamic: if you have a bunch of “in-the-money” options (where the strike price is lower than the current market price), you have strong incentive to stay. If you leave, you give up the opportunity to vest additional shares and make additional gains. But you get to keep your vested shares when you leave.
In the case of illiquid options (in successful private companies without a secondary market), you can be trapped in a more insidious way: the better the stock does, the bigger the tax bill associated with exercising your vested options. If you go back to the situation of the $5 per share options in the stock worth $100 per share, they cost $5 to exercise and another $33.25 per share in taxes. The hardest part is the more they’re worth and the more you’ve vested, the more trapped you are.
This is a relatively new effect which I believe is an unintended consequence of a combination of factors: the applicability of AMT to many “ordinary” taxpayers; the resulting difficulties associated with ISOs, leading more companies to grant NSOs (which are better for the company tax-wise); the combination of Sarbanes-Oxley and market volatility making the journey to IPO longer and creating a proliferation of illiquid high-value stock. While I am a believer in the wealthy paying their share, I don’t think tax laws should have perverse effects of effectively confiscating stock option gains by making them taxable before they’re liquid and I hope this gets fixed. Until then to adapt a phrase caveat faber .
Can the company take my vested shares if I quit.
In general in VC funded companies the answer is “no”. Private equity funded companies often have very different option agreements; recently there was quite a bit of publicity about a Skype employee who quit and lost his vested shares. I am personally not a fan of that system, but you should be aware that it exists and make sure you understand which system you’re in. The theory behind reclaiming vested shares is that you are signing up for the mission of helping sell the company and make the owners a profit; if you leave before completing that mission, you are not entitled to stock gains. I think that may be sensible for a CEO or CFO, but I think a software engineer’s mission is to build great software, not to sell a company. I think confusing that is a very bad thing, and I don’t want software engineers to be trapped for that reason, so I greatly prefer the VC system.
I also think it is bad for innovation and Silicon Valley for there to be two systems in parallel with very different definitions of vesting, but that’s above my pay grade to fix.
What happens to my options if the company is bought or goes public?
In general, your vested options will be treated a lot like shares and you should expect them to carry forward in some useful way. Exactly how they carry forward will depend on the transaction. In the case of an acquisition, your entire employment (not just your unvested options) are a bit up in the are and where they land will depend on the terms of the transaction and whether the acquiring company wants to retain you.
In an IPO, nothing happens to your options (vested or unvested) per se, but the shares you can buy with them are now easier to sell. However there may be restrictions around the time of the IPO; one common restriction is a “lockup” period which requires you to wait 6-12 months after the IPO to sell. Details will vary.
In a cash acquisition, your vested shares are generally converted into cash at the acquisition price. Some of this cash may be escrowed in case of future liabilities and some may be in the form of an “earn-out” based on performance of the acquired unit, so you may not get all the cash up front. In the case of a stock acquisition, your shares will likely be converted into stock in the acquiring company at a conversion ratio agreed as part of the transaction but you should expect your options to be treated similarly to common shares.
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It’s hard to sell a company if there is a log of acceleration. That could actually be counterproductive for option holders.
Agree, that’s one of the reasons I think it is warranted only in a few specific cases.
What happens to unvested stock in the case of a cash/stock acquisition? (for a generic Silicon Valley VC funded startup)
Lot of it depends (including whether they keep the employees at all). But often they are converted to options in the new company.
What happens if the company is bought before I was granted my options?
In my employment agreement the granting is subject to board approval and that never happened.
I got new options of the acquiring company (at a SHITTY strike price ) , anything to do about that?
Probably nothing to do about it besides quit (though I am not a lawyer and you might ask one if there is a lot of money involved). How long did you work there without the options being granted? Up to a few months is normal, past that is unusual.
I worked there for 6months part time and another 6months full-time.
Basically the board of directors probably didn’t meet to approve the options of the new employees and when it did it discussed the buyout.
I assume that they said to themselves, let’s not grant these options and grant options of the buying company instead.
أوتش. Can you ask/have you asked asked a few questions: 1. Did the board meet during the time after you accepted the offer and started and prior to the acquisition and how many times? Did it review your proposed grant at the meetimg and if not why not? If it reviewed your proposed grant why did it not approve it? 2. On what basis was your new grant determined? Did they convert the grant in your offer letter based on the terms of the purchase or did they just give you stock in the acquiring company as a new employee of that company?
I am assuming your options dated from joining full time, so it was a 6 month delay, not a year?
While I might be popular online for saying they hosed you and they’re evil, situations like this can be complex. It is possible/likely that the board was in serious discussions about an aquisition for a number of months before it occured. This could have been ongoing from the time you joined, or started shortly afterwards but have been in progress at the first board meeting after you joined.
If this was the case, the board may have been in a very hard situation with respect to valuing the stock options. If the acquisition discussion was credible enough, it would be material information that could force a re-evaluation of the fair market value of the shares. To avoid the risk of grantees (you) being liable for huge tax penalties, they would likely have wanted to retain a third party to do the valuation. Hiring the firm takes time, the valuation takes time, and board approval of the valuation takes time. During that time, the discussions might gave progressed – maybe they got a second higher offer. That could restart the clock.
In any case, even if they were able to complete the valuation and grant the options, the valuation may well have been quite similar to the price offered by the acquirer and those options might have been converted to options in the acquiring company at a similar strike price to the price of your grant. So quite possibly what is at issue is whether your grant could have been granted at a somewhat (say 20 or 30%) lower strike price.
If the value of the stock underlying your new grant (number of shares times strike price) is well in to the six figures or beyond, it may be worth consulting an attorney just in case, but my guess (and I am not a lawyer) is they are going to say that you just had bad timing. If it’s five figures or less, I don’t think its worth spending the legal fees for a small chance at a medium settlement.
What I described is the way this happened in completely good faith with everyone involved trying to do what’s fair and legal for you in a complex situation. That’s not always the case, but I’d start by asking.
You’re thinking the same as I do.
Since the company have been planning an IPO and this buyout came in I’m sure the board have met several times since I joined.
I too think that I should have gotten either an approval or decline of my options , neither was delivered to me, hence I believe this is a direct violation of my employment agreement.
My options never materialized, I basically got the buying company options at a strike price which is the share price in the day of the buyout which means zero profit!
I’m getting really pissed here and I think that this might even have legal implications.
This is 5 figures but I think that the determining factor is that I think this isn’t completely legal , I don’t think they can just ignore this term of the contract just because they’re busy or not sure about the price.
My guess is that you make some enemies with this post. It is clearly to the advantage of the company that the terms of stock options and vesting periods remain opaque.
What if there were liquidity in options? That would be interesting, and wildly dangerous, I imagine, because such liquidity would be so predominantly speculative in the absence of knowledge of company fundamentals.
Possible I suppose, but.
Possible I suppose, but only ill advised companies and VC’s that I’m happy to stay away from.
A successful growing company grants millions of dollars worth of options each year, and I think it works to their advantage to have people understand their value and thus make rational decisions about them.
Re: liquidity, the illiquidity of the _options_ stems from the fact that they are subject to cancellation if you quit as well as some specific contractual terms. Your _shares_ should you exercise your stock can sometimes be liquid even before the company is public. That is certainly the case for well known private companies (eg, Facebook), and sometimes is the case for smaller companies as well; question is can you find an investor who wants to buy the shares.
The biggest issue in liquidity of pre-IPO shares is the company’s cooperation in allowing a potential buyer to see the books. Often this will be restricted for current employees but more open for ex-employees. This can be very complex and the SEC has rules about shareholder counts, how the shares can be offered etc.
Hello, I just received an employee stock option that would allow me to buy shares within five years. Do I have to buy the shares right away? or wait until my company goes public or another company (that is currently in stock trading) will aquire us? If I buy the shares now and after 2 years I left the company or they fired me, do I still have the right for my shares? If still have the right for my shares then I’m willing to expend few thousand dollars for it. I really appreciate your advice.
Really sorry for the delayed reply. Usually you have all 5 years. Usually you can buy some now and some later. Tax issues vary, research them carefully.
well written, and easy to understand…thanks very much.
Well written for sure. An scenario I’d appreciate your feedback on. A small company was bought by a larger one and the employee was given her recalculated options. There are 2 years left on this employees vesting schedule. Without any prior negotiation at time of hire regarding acceleration of vesting, is there any way receive acceleration in case of termination?
Unfortunately for the subject of your story, probably not.
Most folks in small companies are employed “at will”. That means that their employer is under no obligation to keep them employed until the end of their vesting period or for any other reason. They can be fired because of a lack of work for them to do, a desire to hire someone less expensive to do the same job, a desire to restructure and eliminate their job, or because the company is unsatisfied with their work. The same holds true once they’ve joined the big company.
Sometimes companies will offer “packages” to employees that they lay off. This is not done out of obligation but rather to help retain the employees who aren’t being laid off – who might otherwise fear being laid off with nothing and instead take another job. By treating the terminated employees nicely, the remaining employees are less likely to panic.
Normally one should expect to vest only as long as their employment continues. The most common exceptions where acceleration can make sense but usually needs to be negotiated up front are positions where the individual is directly involved in selling the company (CEO, CFO etc) and/or is very likely not to be retained after the acquisition.
كيف تعمل الخيارات غير المكتسبة بعد الاكتتاب العام؟ Is an IPO an event that can trigger acceleration, or is this reserved for acquisition typically? Can unvested shares be canceled post-IPO?
Usually they continue vesting through the IPO as normal, with restrictions on selling them for some period of time (
6 months is normal) post-IPO.
It is very unusual for an IPO to trigger acceleration. While it is easy to see an IPO as a destination for a startup, it is really the beginning of a much longer journey. An IPO means that a company is ready to have a broader base of shareholders – but it needs to continue to deliver to those shareholders, thus it needs to continue to retain its employees.
Most options are not cancelable other than by terminating the optionee’s employment or with the optionee’s consent. Details vary and there are some corner cases, but the typical situation is if the company doesn’t want you to collect any further options they’ll fire you. Occasionally companies will give people the option to stay for reduced option grants but that is unusual.
By the way when I say “most” or “usually” I am referring to the typical arrangements in startups funded by reputable silicon-valley-type VCs. Family businesses and business that exist outside that ecosystem of startup investors, lawyers, etc may have different arrangements. If you read some of my posts on private equity owned companies and options, you’ll see that they have a somewhat different system for example.
What happens if you exercise pre-IPO stock options (within 90 days of quitting) and the company never goes public?
Then you own shares that may be hard to sell. The company may be acquired and you might grt something for your shares, or in some circumsances you can sell shares of private companies. But the money you pay to exercise the shares is at risk.
Thank you Max! This entire article and your answer to my question has been the best write up on this topic that I could find on the Internet. شكرًا لك مرة أخرى!
Great summary Max, i found it very useful.
wow i personally know someone (well i guess many people do) who lost everything in the bubble and still owed $$$ in tax due to the exercise and hold you described here. he went bankrupt and had to flee out of state but still writes a hefty check to the IRS each and every month.
Excellent…very well explained. Thanks Max.
مادة كبيرة! I’m trying to learn more about employee stock options. I was granted options 4 years ago and now I’m being laid off so I wanted to make sure I’m taking advantage of the benefits (if there are any.) I received the agreement, signed it, and got a copy of it back signed by the corporate secretary. I never received any other documentation since. The company isn’t doing well, but the options were priced at a penny in the agreement. Should I contact HR or a financial advisor? Just slightly concerned since the company seems a little secretive to me. I have been with them for over 6 years. Thoughts are appreciated 🙂
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
Usually after you sign your options agreement, there’s no further paperwork until you exercise.
Usually you have 90 days after leaving until you have to exercise the options, but this varies from plan to plan and the details should be in the paperwork you signed. HR or Finance should be able to help you exercise your options if you want to; If you exercise you’ll pay a penny per share and the shares turn out to be worthless or may turn out to be valuable.
If your instinct is that the company isn’t doing well and the shares will likely not be worth much, the question is whether its worth a gamble. If for example you have 20,000 options at $.01 each, its only $200 to exercise them so it may be worth it even if the odds are against you.
One data point that you will need to finalize your decision is the FMV (fair market value) of the shares for tax purposes. The company should be willing to tell you this; if it is quite a bit more than a penny some taxes will be due on exercise but the shares are more likely to be worth something.
If you can get more specifics about number of shares outstanding, debt, preferences, revenue, cash etc a financial advisor may be able to help; without that they’d would probably be shooting in the dark.
I hope this helps,
Thanks Max, I really appreciate it. After reading your article and doing some research I found out I was looking at the par value, not the exercise price. So in my case, I would be severely underwater. Now I understand! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!
Max, thanks for the great info. I am considering joining a tech startup and wonder if there are enough benefits for both the company and myself for me to be brought on as an independent contractor vs. an employee? Any info you have or can refer me to would be helpful. شكر!
Sorry for the delay. There are quite a few qualifications that you must meet to work as an independent contractor; I don’t have them handy but a quick google search might turn them up. If you plan to work there full time for the long term, usually employment makes the most sense – though sometimes companies have more leeway to pay much more money to contractors; if that’s the case and they’re willing to do it and you qualify, it might make sense. But even then, you will probably not get benefits or stock options. حظا موفقا في قرارك.
Why shareholder needs to pay again 50% the difference between of subscription price Convertible Prefered Stock (pre-IPO) and common stock IPO price?
The terms of preferred stock vary, not only from company to company but also across different series of preferred stock in a company. I am not quite sure what you’re referring too but it may well be specific to the structure of those securities at your company. A bit of context could help, but the answer is probably going to be some form of “because that’s the rule defined for this form of stock in this situation”.
Very informative post, thank you for sharing! May I contact you off-post for questions?
Sorry for the delay. I may not have time to answer but feel free to try me first initial last name at gmail.
Hi Max – thanks for the insightful article. I work for a private company (PE owned) that’s expecting an IPO in about 12 months. Half of my stock options have vested. I got them at a price of 3 and the current valuation is now at 4.5 or so. What happens if I leave AFTER the IPO but BEFORE the employee lock-up ends. Do I get to leave with my vested (as of departure date) options or do I need to pay the company to buy them at the granted strike PLUS pay the tax on the gains etc. Thanks.
Putting aside any idiosyncrasies of your specific options agreement, typically you have 90 days after departure to exercise. So within that 90 days you need to pay the strike price and you incur a tax liability. Keep in mind the stock could decline before you can sell, so its not just acash flow exposure, you may wind up selling for less than you paid to exercise. Waiting until you are less than 90 days from the lockup ending reduces risk a lot, but I don’t know the opportunity cost to you.
شكرا للمساعدة! Question – I purchased stock and then my company got purchased. by another private company. My understanding is that the main investors lost money on their sale (they sold below what they put into the company). I had common shares, is that why I haven’t seen any payout?
Also, the purchaser then got purchased by a public company…how crappy.
Sorry to hear you didn’t get anything for your shares. Without knowing all the details, it sounds like you’re correct; typically if there isn’t enough to repay the investors, the common shareholders won’t get anything.
Max thank you for the terrific article.
Do you have any experience with seeing employees receive additional option grants with promotions? Is this common or only at key-level positions? I joined the sales team of a 50-person startup at an entry level position about 2 years ago. We’re now at about 100 employees and I’ve been promoted about 1.5 times (first from a lead-gen position to an Account Executive, then after good performance had my quota raised and salary increased, though no title change). I haven’t received any additional option grants but also haven’t asked. Is it reasonable to ask?
Also, say they’ll agree to give me more, what are typical steps that have to happen until they’re officially granted? Is this something that needs to be discussed at the next board meeting, or does the CEO/Exec team have discretion to do this on an ad-hoc basis?
Great question. It is common but not universal to receive additional grants with significant promotions, but there is wide variety in how these are handled:
& # 8211؛ Some companies give them shortly after the promotion (approvals take some time)
& # 8211؛ Some companies review follow-on grants on a semi-annual or annual basis; people who are promoted are typically good candidates to get them.
& # 8211؛ Some companies (unfortunately, in my view) operate on a squeaky wheel basis where they are only given when people complain.
I would ask your employer what the process is to ensure that your stock is commensurate with your current contribution to the company. Without knowing all the details, it sounds like it may not be given the progress you’ve made.
One situation to consider is that if the value of the company has increased dramatically, it is possible that the grant you got earlier in the company’s history for a more junior position is larger than the grant someone in your current position would get today. For example, if when you joined an entry level employee received 1000 shares and an account exec received 2500, but today an entry level employee receives 250 shares and an account exec receives 600. If this is the case, many companies would not give you additional shares to go with the promotion (but would increase your salary). While this example may sound exaggerated, if the company has twice as many employees, grants may be half the size per employee – often the board will think about how much stock should go to all employees as a whole per year, and now there are twice as many to share the same number of shares. Also often the grants for different roles aren’t nearly as precise as I described, but the principle remains valid even if the grants per level are ranges.
Options grants almost always have to be approved by the board.
Good luck; it sounds like you’re doing well at a growing company so congratulations.
Thanks again Max, very helpful.
i got an offer to work for a startup on a part-time basis keeping my full time job at my current employer. i will be paid only in the form of stock options (0.1%). not sure if this is a good deal.
I’d look at it 2 ways:
1. What is the startup ‘worth’? If its an unfunded early stage idea it may be something like $1-2 million, in which case .1% is $1-2k for example. Of course if the ‘startup’ is Twitter its worth a lot more. In any case whatever that value is, is it fair compensation for your time? How long do you have to stay to vest the options? 1 month? 1 year? 4 years? And how much work are you expected to do?
2. How does your stake compare to other participants and their contribution? Did your two roommates found it in their garage two weeks ago and they’ll each own 49.95 to your 0.1? Or are there 100 full time employees sharing 50% and investors share the rest?
the startup is in a very early stage with about 13 employees. the options vest at 1/48th of the total shares every month for 4 years. i think i need ask more details before i start the work.
this is my first time working for a startup so i am not very clear..
I am new to this whole equity & stock options.. your article is the only basis for my reasoning.. I need your help! My company is a Green Sustainable clothes recycling company.. relatively new Green field.. not sure what are the general vesting schedules like.. any advice?
we negotiated $1k / week + 5% vested equity.. initially when i started back in Oct/ Nov.. now that its time to draft the actual contract, they are saying how 1%/ year vesting is standard, while for whatever reason i thought the 5% would vest over 1-2 years.. how do i approach this? as of now company is worth $1 million. we are constantly loosing $, it will take at least 6 months - 1 year until we start being profitable..
does the evaluation of what i think im worth from what the company is worth today, or based on projections of what we will make in the future?
we only have 1 kind of stock.. any provisions you are recommending to include?
can i ask for a provision to protect myself from taxes and have it be deducted from my equity instead of paying for it our of my pocket?
Thank you soo much.
Sorry for the delay. I think 4 years is most common, maybe 5 next most, 1-2 years is unusual. I am not sure what else you are asking. If you are asking about taxes on the equity, if it is options there is typically no tax on vesting if the plan is set up properly (which will almost certainly require an attorney).
The IRS will require cash for your tax payments, they don’t accept stock 🙂
How often should a company revalue their privatly held stock options? Any guidelines around that in the accounting standards?
I am not a tax lawyer but I think for tax purposes the valuations are good for a year. If things change (eg, financing, offer to buy the company, or other significant events) you may want to do it more frequently, and for rapidly growing companies that might go public soon you may want to do it more frequently.
Terrific article thank you !
With startups becoming a global tendency, it becomes complicated to create one model that fits all.
Any thoughts on adjusting vesting schedules, cliff periods and accelerations to ventures occurring in high-risk geographical areas? i. e High-risk understood as high volatility & political unrest.
One thing that I do see adjusted globally is some of the details to fit local tax laws – even US-based companies have to administer their plans differently in different jurisdictions.
I am not expert at all but it may make sense to adjust some other parameters; I don’t know how much they vary from the US. Maybe a reader knows??
Great article, now for my question. Been working for a company 3 years, been vested, for example, 100,000 shares, at 5 cents a share. Leaving company, It looks like the period to exerci se, buying the shares will have about 7 more years. When I leave, how long does one usually, have to buy the shares, if they choose. I am a little confused about the 90days mentioned ealier in the article.
Usually the option period is 10 years but only while you are employed. When you leave, the unvestef options go away and you have 90 days to exercise the vested options. Of course it depends on your specific option plan which may be completely different.
I have some vested preferred shares. I’m not sure if or when the company will be acquired or go IPO. What are my options to liquidate them before any event ?
Your option may be to find someone who wants to buy the stock in a private transaction with limited data. Or it may be that the company has to give permission even if you find a buyer. Trading private stock is difficult. Also if you have options, typically you will have to exercise them before you can sell them.
How would you explain this scenario?
Employee shall be entitled to 25,000 Company common share stock options at an exercise price of $6.25 per common share. These stock options shall be deemed to have been granted January 31, 2018 and shall have a term of 3 years from the effective date granted. These stock options shall remain vested for a period of 24 months in which Employee remains in his current position with the Company.
It sounds like you have between 2 and 3 years in which to exercise them. The vesting language is a bit unclear to me. You may want to get some legal advice, I cannot interpret that clearly.
Let me elaborate on this as I am in the middle of an asset acquisition (a division of the company is being bought) that will close on Jan 31, 2018. I am still trying to understand the language above and below and what my options will be once the transaction is complete. The strike price above given seems a bit high. The division is $5mil and was sold for 7x $35mil. How does this work in terms of an asset being acquired as opposed to the entire company?
“In the event that the Company is acquired or successfully undertakes an initial public offering or reverse takeover, the vesting period relating to the stock options shall be removed and Employee shall have the full and unrestricted ability to exercise the stock options.”
As Twitter is going public soon and I am in the last round of interview. If they offer me a job, will there be any impact to my equity offering if I join before they go IPO or will it be the same after they go IPO? Which will be most beneficiary to me?
Typically people expect the price to increase on I and thus try to get in prior. Predicting what actually happens is hard, for example Facebook went down. But generally joining before IPO is viewed as a better bet.
On the day of my 7hrs in person interview conclusion, HR mentioned that they are not the highest paid company around, they come in like 60th percentile… But their RSU are at great offer. So I am guessing RSU is equal to Stock option they are referring to?
Also, if they offer me RSU/Options, is that something I have to pay for at the evaluation of the company even prior to they going IPO?
Great article, I didn’t know anything about stocks, vesting, options, shares until reading this so it’s helped me understand a bit better! I have been working for a start-up for 5 months and am on the typical vesting schedule of 25% after 1 year and another 6% each month after that. I have been offered just over 5000 shares for .0001.
Our company is expecting to be acquired in the next 90 days so I could end up with no vested options… What happens if we get acquired before I am vested? I am sure there a few different scenarios that could play out depending on who buys us but I’d like to know what COULD happen so I can approach HR about it and see what their plan is. I have read on other ‘stock options explained’ websites that my shares could be wiped out, I’ve read they could be accelerated and I have read they could be absorbed into the new company that acquires us… هل هذا صحيح؟ The other thing that complicates it is that our company has a few different products we offer and the one that is getting acquired is the one I work on.. so I’ve heard that when that product/company is acquired in 90 days, our team is going to ‘break off’ and move to a different product (within the same company) and continue on as normal. هل لهذا معنى؟
هذا يعتمد. Typically if the acquiring company does not want to keep you they can terminate you and your unvested options will not vest. If they want to keep you they would typically exchange your options for options in the new company. They will have some discretion in how to do this. Hopefully they will want to keep you and will treat you well.
Hi Max.. great article.. a quick question.. after 4 years in a startup i changed the jobs and bought all my vested incentive stock options. Now after 6 months the company is acquired by another company for cash buyout. Since I exercised my stock options just 4 months ago, will I be not considered for Long term Capital gain taxes? Or can I hold on to my share certificates for 9 more months and then will I eligible for Long term capital gain tax rate?
My strong suspicion is that you can’t wait 9 months. Check with an attorney to be sure, it could depend on the details of that specific transaction but usually they close faster than that.
Interesting article! Question for you: I was part of a startup that was acquired and had ISO’s. We received an initial payout and had a subsequent release of the escrow amount withheld. This escrow payout was received over 1 year after the sale of the company. What is this payout considered? Is it a long term capital gains? We were paid out through the employer via the regular salary system (taxes taken) and it was labeled as “Other bonus” but it was clearly part of the escrow. Also, what about a milestone payout that falls under similar circumstance? شكر!
I am not a tax attorney so I am not sure. If it came through regular payroll as a bonus my guess is that it is not long term capital gains. If it is a lot of money I would talk to a CPA and / or a tax attorney.
Hi Max – مادة كبيرة! شكرا لكم. عندي سؤال. I joined a company as one of the first 3 sales directors hired and was told in my offer letter I have 150,000 stock options pending board approval. I have now been working for the company for 18 months and have not received any documentation regarding my options. I am continually told that they will be approved at the next board meeting but that has not happened and I was recently told they would be approved after the next round of funding but that did not happen either. What is happening here and what is your recommendation? Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Something is not right. Sometimes the approval will be left out of a board meeting. With really bad luck you could be skipped twice. There is no good explanation for 18 months. The ‘best’ situation from a they-are-not-screwing-you perspective that I can think of is that the next round of funding will be a ‘down’ round and they are waiting to give you a lower price. But something is wrong with your company and I would be looking hard for something new. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. If the CEO has an explanation that really makes sense feel free to share it and I will let you know what I think, maybe I have missed an innocent explanation but this does not sound right.
Thanks so much for confirming what I was thinking, Max. To my knowledge the board has met several times and our CEO repeatedly states the valuation of our company is going up so I have not heard about a down round. We have had the same original investors for a few years and have recently had a new influx of cash in the form of loan but are still seeking that outside VC investment. I may have another start up offer coming soon and this information will help when I make the decision whether to accept the new position. Thank you again for your help!!

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09 August 2017.
Legislative Update: Empowering Employees Through Stock Ownership Act Resurfaces In The Senate.
Alert: A version of this bill was enacted as part of the Tax Cuts & Job Act, though with a five-year deferral period. See our blog commentary on the adopted legislation.
While stock options continue to be popular at startups and other pre-IPO companies, employees cannot sell stock at exercise to pay the exercise price and the taxes on the income. Moreover, under current law those taxes cannot be delayed. Last year, an encouraging legislative proposal was introduced in the House of Representatives to address this issue. Approved by a House vote in September 2018, the Empowering Employees Through Stock Ownership Act (HR 5719) sought to give employees in pre-IPO companies extra time to pay federal income taxes on the spread at exercise with nonqualified stock options and on the income at vesting with restricted stock units. (See the myStockOptions blog commentaries in July 2018 and October 2018.)
Under the proposal, the permitted deferral of taxation would be considerable. The legislation would allow an employee to defer taxes for up to seven years as long as the company's equity awards met certain conditions (for example, "Qualified Equity Grants" would need to be made to at least 80% of employees). In the feedback we at myStockOptions receive from stock plan participants and financial advisors, we understand that the current tax treatment does deter employees from exercising options and becoming true company owners. Although the proposal appears to be good news for employees at private companies who have equity comp, some provisions in the law could hinder its effectiveness, as we explained in our commentary on HR 5719 last October.
After its House approval last year, the Empowering Employees Through Stock Ownership Act went to the Senate, which did not take it up. However, in late June 2017, it was reintroduced as a separate bill with the same title in the Senate (S.1444). The Senate legislation is very similar to the House bill of last year and has bipartisan support: Its sponsors are two members of the Senate Finance Committee, Mark Warner (D–VA) and Dean Heller (R–NV), and two members of the House Ways and Means Committee, Eric Paulsen (R–MN) and Joseph Crowley (D–NY). Details of the proposals are available in the press release on it that was issued by Senator Warner's staff.
Although more than 70 companies have expressed support for the legislation, the prospects for its enactment remain somewhat uncertain in the current Congress, which seems to be preparing for a major effort at comprehensive tax reform (see the myStockOptions FAQ on how that could affect stock compensation). One obstacle could be finding a way to offset the cost of the proposed tax provisions. Although the legislation would allow only the deferral of taxes, not their elimination, the delay in tax payment would impose a revenue cost on the federal government.
20 أكتوبر 2018.
Legislative Update: Senate Considering Tax Change For Options And RSUs In Pre-IPO Companies.
We wrote a blog commentary in July about the Empowering Employees Through Stock Ownership Act (HR 5719), which was subsequently approved by the House of Representatives, through a vote of 287 to 124. The bill is now in the Senate for consideration. In short, HR 5719 seeks to give employees in privately held companies extra time to pay taxes on the income they recognize at option exercise or RSU vesting. Instead of paying taxes at the exercise of nonqualified options or at the vesting of stock-settled RSUs, employees would be allowed to elect to defer the resulting income, and thus the taxes on that income, for up to seven years.
A staff member for Congressman Erik Paulsen (R–MN), the bill's leading sponsor in the House, told myStockOptions that "Rep. Paulsen is hopeful that the Senate will pass the legislation soon and that it will make its way to the President's desk sometime in the lame-duck session, either as a standalone bill or as part of a larger package." He added that Rep. Paulsen is not aware of any timetable for Senate consideration. When we checked with the office of Senator Mark Warner (D–VA), a leading sponsor of the bill in the Senate, his staff confirmed that the legislation had just been introduced. With Congress now in recess ahead of the general election on Nov. 8, it is very unlikely that anything will happen with the legislation until after the election. There is a chance that the bill will be adopted during the lame-duck session, a busy time when many laws with populist intentions tend to be hastily enacted while the outgoing president is still in office. At Congress. gov, you can follow the progress of the legislation in the House and the Senate.
Details Of The Proposed Law Could Unintentionally Discourage Its Effectiveness.
In general, we support a beneficial tax-law change for equity awards at pre-IPO companies and favor broad-based stock plans. However, in the report on the bill from the House Ways & Means Committee (see pages 10–14, "Explanation of Provision"), we do see some aspects of the legislation that might somewhat dampen enthusiasm for the proposed tax-qualified grants. The tax deferral would not apply to Medicare, Social Security, or state taxes. It would not apply to early-exercise options. As we interpret it, the deferral election apparently would turn ISOs into NQSOs. Furthermore, clarifications are needed on various aspects of the proposed law. For example, the House report states that an "inclusion deferral election" would be required within 30 days of vesting but does not mention that for options the election would need to be 30 days from exercise (not vesting). Also, the numerous rules that companies would have to follow to grant what the bill calls "qualified stock" might make these awards appealing only to large pre-IPO companies and not to true early-stage startups.
Moreover, companies currently already have a way to structure pre-IPO RSU grants so they do not trigger taxes until there is a liquidity event. Without liquidity and the ability to trade their stock, employees who exercise options in pre-IPO companies face the risk of tying up their money in stock that could be worthless. The proposed tax-deferral feature includes a seven-year period before taxes are owed, but for some employees this may not be long enough to encourage them to exercise options and create the widespread employee ownership that the bill wants to promote.
For additional analysis on the bill and the issues it raises, see a commentary from the consulting firm Compensia and an article by columnist Kathleen Pender in the San Francisco Chronicle .
18 July 2018.
Stock Options In Startup Companies Could Become More Popular Than Ever Under Proposed Tax Change.
Stock options continue to be very popular at startups and other pre-IPO companies, where they are often broadly granted to most or all employees. While these options can have wealth-creating potential, one big challenge is lack of liquidity: employees cannot sell the stock at exercise to pay the exercise price and any taxes owed. As the IRS confirmed in regulations issued during 2018, the tax measurement date (at exercise for options and at vesting for restricted stock) is not delayed by any lack of liquidity or securities law restrictions on resales of stock.
The fact that the tax treatment for stock grants at pre-IPO and large publicly traded companies is identical seems oddly unfair when you consider the vastly differing liquidity situations of private and public companies. Seeking to address this imbalance, recently proposed bipartisan legislation could provide a new optional tax treatment (pun intended) and make stock options more appealing than ever at startups and other pre-IPO companies. Introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate on July 12, as explained by an article at The Hill , the Empowering Employees Through Stock Ownership Act seeks to give employees in privately held companies extra time to pay taxes on the income they recognize at exercise. The proposed extra time is considerable. Instead of paying taxes at exercise with nonqualified options (or at RSU vesting when settled in stock), this legislation would allow tax deferral for up to seven years.
Senators Mark Warner (D–VA) and Dean Heller (R–NV), members of the Senate Finance Committee, sponsored the bill in the Senate, while Representative Erik Paulsen (R–MN) is the sponsor in the House. In the press release supporting the bill, Sen. Warner states that "extending employee stock programs to a broader universe of workers will strengthen business growth and create new economic opportunities, especially for rank-and-file workers." For his part, Sen. Heller asserts that "it's important to give employees the flexibility to pay their taxes on stock options."
Company And Employee Requirements.
To make the new deferral election available (under Section 83 of the Internal Revenue Code), a company would have to issue what the bill calls "Qualified Equity Grants." These grants would need to be made to at least 80% of the company's employees annually. The company would have to provide information or a warning about the tax impact, especially if the share price should decline, and it would be required to report future tax liability on each employee's Form W-2. Qualified grants would be unavailable to major owners, corporate officers, and the highest-paid executives.
Sounding in some ways similar to the procedure for the Section 83(b) election, the deferral election for qualified equity grants would need to be made by employees within 30 days of either when the shares became transferable or when they were no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, whichever occurred earlier. If the company were to go public or the employee were to sell the shares for cash during the seven-year period, taxes would have to be paid at the time of the liquidity event. The deferral election could also be revoked by the employee at any time, triggering taxes at that point.
Details Still Need To Be Worked Out.
Open issues remain. A few questions that occurred to us:
How, exactly, would these grants be structured? Why is the deferral for seven years? What information would be required in the election, and how would it be filed? How would this deferral election apply to early-exercise stock options that result in restricted stock which must then vest? Would Social Security and Medicare taxes be deferrable as well as income tax?
Nevertheless, this bill is a good way to start a discussion about changing the tax treatment of stock options and restricted stock units in startups and other pre-IPO companies. The approach of this legislation is more understandable than that of the Expanding Employee Ownership Act of 2018, which recently proposed another new type of stock option (covered at the end of a recent commentary elsewhere on this blog).
08 أيلول / سبتمبر 2018.
Test Your Equity Comp Knowledge: New Quizzes Expand The Fun Interactive Content Of myStockOptions.
Put your books away, class. Time for a pop quiz:
Can you define a corporate change of control? In what ways can equity awards be handled in a corporate merger, acquisition, divestiture, or spinoff? How can a pre-IPO company create liquidity for its stock other than being acquired? Why do some privately held companies grant early-exercise stock options? How soon after an IPO can you sell company shares? What is a lockup, and how do the lockup requirements differ from those under Rule 144?
The current back-to-school climate makes this an appropriate time to announce two new quizzes at myStockOptions. Bringing our total number of quizzes to a dozen, the recent additions test your knowledge of equity compensation issues in M&A transactions and pre-IPO companies.
Our quizzes are free to all users of our website (companies can license and customize them for their stock plan participants). All 12 are available by links from our home page, and each quiz also appears on the landing page the relevant content section. The answer key of each quiz has links to relevant articles and/or FAQs, making the quizzes not just gateways to our award-winning content but also helpful learning tools in themselves—and much more fun than homework.
Our short quizzes are separate from our Learning Center, which has in-depth courses and exams offering continuing education credits for Certified Equity Professionals (CEPs) and Certified Financial Planners (CFP). Our quizzes are also part of our growing body of interactive and multimedia content, which includes podcasts and videos.
03 June 2018.
Here We Grow Again: myStockOptions Expertise Expands With New Articles On Diversification, IPOs, And Foreign-Asset Reporting For Employees With Equity Compensation.
At myStockOptions, our array of award-winning articles on all aspects of equity compensation has grown. In recent weeks, we have welcomed new contributions from expert authors on three crucial topics.
Importance Of Diversification For Employees With Equity Awards And Company Stock.
Through its author's personal example, a new article at myStockOptions presents the dangers of a concentrated stock position, discusses why diversification may be hard for employees with shares from equity compensation, and explores strategies for preserving your net worth. In Your Company Stock: The Importance Of Diversification , CFP Laura Tanner recounts her experience with stock compensation at a company where she used to work as a research scientist, and she explains the lessons she learned.
To read the article and find more insights into investment diversification for employees with stock options, restricted stock/RSUs, or ESPPs, see our section Financial Planning: Diversification.
Careful Planning For Pre-IPO Equity Comp When The Company Goes Public.
Initial public offerings (IPOs) are on the rise. The high-profile IPOs of Facebook and Twitter are just two of many IPOs that have been launched over the past couple of years, including several in Silicon Valley. In the newest installment of our Stockbrokers' Secrets series, our pseudonymous financial advisor W. E.B. Bantling provides a pep talk about smart planning for pre-IPO stock options, restricted stock, or RSUs when the company goes public. At the time of the IPO, when the company finally pours long-awaited liquidity into those grants, planning considerations must be carefully weighed.
In the author's experience, clients at companies preparing for an IPO are often giddy with thoughts of the wealth and opportunities it will provide. Many of them have worked at these companies since the startup stage, and the IPO represents a long-awaited event that may be life-altering for both their company and them. However, the author always emphasizes five planning points that may help to manage employee expectations in an IPO situation. He shares some of this wisdom in the new article, Stockbrokers' Secrets: Financial Planning For Equity Compensation At IPO Companies , available in our section Pre-IPO: Going Public.
International Equity Awards And Company Stock: Tricky Rules Of IRS Reporting For Assets And Income In Foreign Financial Accounts.
United States citizens and resident aliens are taxable on their worldwide income. The related IRS reporting rules are complicated, and mistakes can lead to costly penalties. In fact, the IRS has launched an aggressive initiative to identify taxpayers with unreported foreign income and/or assets in foreign financial institutions. Charges of tax evasion stemming from unreported foreign income have been brought against dozens of individual taxpayers, including bankers, lawyers, and advisors.
In a new article at myStockOptions, compensation and tax expert Richard Friedman presents the rules and related issues of IRS reporting for assets and income that an international US taxpayer may hold in a foreign financial account—including those acquired through stock options, restricted stock, RSUs, or other equity awards. The article, International Equity Awards And Company Stock: The Confusing World Of IRS Reporting For Overseas Assets And Income , is available in our section Financial Planning: High Net Worth.
License Our Expertise For Your Employees.
For companies, education is vital for ensuring that stock compensation motivates and retains highly valued employees and executives. All of our expert yet reader-friendly articles, FAQs, and other content are available for licensing by companies that want to improve their stock plan education and communications for participants. Content licensing is just part of the suite of corporate services that we offer.
22 أكتوبر 2018.
Stock Compensation At Twitter: IPO Registration Statement Reveals Twitter's Extensive Use Of Restricted Stock Units.
When a high-profile company prepares for an initial public offering (IPO), its SEC filings provide an opportunity to analyze the company's stock compensation practices. The IPO of Twitter—about as high-profile as you can get—is expected to occur by mid-November. Twitter's Form S-1 (Amendment No. 1, filed on Oct. 15, 2018) discloses its extensive use of restricted stock units over stock options (see the table on page 88). Apart from awarding stock options to its senior executives (see page 128) and using options in relation to acquisitions (see pages 136–138), Twitter seems to exclusively grant RSUs.
Under Twitter's 2007 equity incentive plan, RSUs granted to domestic employees before Feb. 2018, and all RSUs granted to international employees (the pre-2018 RSUs), vest upon the satisfaction of both a time-based service condition (mainly four years) and what Twitter considers a "performance condition," which is actually more like a vesting condition based on a liquidity event for the company. The performance condition is satisfied on the earlier of either (1) the date that is ( a ) six months after the effective date of this offering or ( b ) Mar. 8 of the calendar year after the effective date of the offering (which the company may elect to accelerate to Feb. 15), whichever comes first; and (2) the date of a change in control. (Details about the company's prior RSU grants appear in a letter Twitter submitted to the SEC in September 2018 to request a Section 12(g) exemption from registering its RSU plan under the Securities Act of 1934.)
While the vesting of these RSUs will cause dilution (see page 47), the amount of dilution will be is much less than it would have been with stock options. (Grants of options have to be much larger to deliver the same compensation grant-date value as RSUs.) The vesting of the post-2018 RSUs is not subject to a performance condition. Instead, the grants have just the standard time-based vesting over a period of four years (see page 86). For future grants after the IPO, Twitter is adopting a stock plan for 2018 that will be effective on the business day immediately before the effective date of the registration statement; it will then no longer make grants under its 2007 plan (see pages 130–132). Twitter is also planning to roll out an ESPP with appealing features (see pages 133–134).
Earnings Charge For Stock Grants.
As of Sept. 30, 2018, no stock-based compensation expense had been recognized for the pre-2018 RSUs because a qualifying event meeting the performance condition was not probable (i. e. the grants had not fully vested). In the quarter during which the offering is completed, Twitter will begin recording a stock-based compensation expense based on the grant-date fair value of the pre-2018 RSUs. If this offering had been completed on September 30, 2018, the company would have recorded $385.2 million of cumulative stock-based compensation expense related to the pre-2018 RSUs on that date; and an additional $199.6 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to the pre-2018 RSUs would have been recognized over a weighted-average period of about three years. In addition to the stock-based compensation expense associated with the pre-2018 RSUs, as of Sept. 30, 2018, the company had an unrecognized stock-based compensation expense of approximately $698.3 million related to other outstanding equity awards (see pages 24 and 86–87).
See myStockOptions for additional information on restricted stock units, pre-IPO stock grants, and the rules on the timing of employee stock sales after the IPO.
14 August 2018.
Facebook Stock Comp: A Status Update.
Earlier this year, we blogged about the potential stock comp wealth (and related tax issues) that seemed certain to blossom for Facebook employees amid the company's much-hyped initial public offering in May. Time and the market have popped these balloons of expectation. Although investors were predicted to "like" Facebook stock in huge numbers, skepticism about the company's valuation and prospects has prompted significant investor flight over the past few weeks. The surprising plunge in the stock price has created unexpected difficulties for the company's equity compensation.
Angst among Facebook employees about their equity awards has been widely reported (e. g. by Reuters and Business Insider ). While the expiration date of the lockup on most employee shares (almost 50% of total shares outstanding) is still fairly far off (Nov. 14), Reuters notes that some employees are already adjusting their expectations because of the poor post-IPO performance. Many now plan to sell a smaller portion of their stake in the company than they otherwise would have if the stock price had risen or even just stayed flat. "I will definitely take some," said an employee anonymously quoted in the news report. "But my debate is how much." The article in Business Insider wonders whether Facebook may develop problems with employee retention, at least in the short term.
Additionally, Facebook needs to raise cash for the taxes ($2.5–4 billion) incurred by its share withholding at RSU vesting, and it has been planning to sell shares to cover this. Because of the fallen stock price, financing that tax bill will now be more difficult than expected.
Facebook employees who joined the company during the past 18 months (perhaps half its workforce) were granted restricted stock units (RSUs). This is fortunate for them. Unless the underlying stock price drops to zero, RSUs always have some value. Stock options, by contrast, would be well underwater, as the exercise price would reflect the pre-IPO stock valuation—much higher than the current depressed price. Before the IPO, various option-valuation models gave Facebook stock a worth of $24.10 during the first quarter of 2018 and around $31 in the first quarter of 2018. Now that the stock price is below these thresholds, the golden handcuff would have lost its lure for restless employees.
In this blog we have also discussed Zynga's pre-IPO demand for nonproductive employees to give back large unvested stock grants. Bloomberg has revealed that Zynga is now broadly granting stock options to retain staff after a fall in the company's stock price. Like Facebook, Zynga had previously granted mostly RSUs. The reasoning behind the switch seems clear. Stock options have much more upside than restricted stock. In short, you get more options per grant, and the fixed purchase (exercise) price provides investment leverage. As a result, options have the power to generate much greater wealth from stock-price appreciation than restricted stock/RSUs do. This, in turn, may help to keep employees at the company.
If Facebook believes its stock is unreasonably depressed, we wonder whether it too will start proffering the golden carrot of stock options to motivate and retain employees. This move could also signal some much-needed optimism about Facebook stock. If or when the stock price does rise, these options would be much more valuable and attractive than RSU grants.
25 May 2018.
Million-Dollar Question: A Week After The IPO, What's The Latest On Facebook's Stock Comp?
It's been one week since Facebook's initial public offering. Last month, this blog provided various insights into the company's stock grants and the related tax issues for Facebook employees.
As we mentioned then, and as Facebook's registration statement (page 48) explains, the restricted stock units granted by the company before 2018 will not pay out and fully vest until six months after the IPO. They face two vesting hurdles: time worked at company and a liquidity event (i. e. the IPO). We have seen these types of vesting requirements in grants made by some other pre-IPO companies, such as Twitter (see an FAQ at myStockOptions).
Facebook continues to rely on the broad use of RSU grants, though these will vest in the standard time-based way. In the 6th amendment to its S-1 registration statement, the company disclosed that in early May it awarded more than 25 million RSUs in what it termed "employee refresher grants" (see page 78 of the S-1 and an article at the blog TechCrunch ).
Now for the million-dollar question (literally). How much wealth has the IPO created for employees at Facebook? How many are now millionaires? According to Aaron Boyd, Director of Research at the compensation research firm Equilar, at the time of the IPO the average paper value of equity per employee was $4.9 million (excluding CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vast holdings). Equilar used the information in the prospectus for the most recently completed quarter for the number of options and restricted stock outstanding as of March 31, 2018, and calculated the values with the IPO price. In an article on May 21, The Washington Post reported that 600 of Facebook's 3,700 employees and 250 former employees will become millionaires, according to PrivCo, a research firm.
The wealth created for senior executives will be much greater. An insider of a company registering stock for the first time under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act must file Form 3 under the SEC's Section 16 rules no later than the effective date of the registration statement. It's worth looking at the data in these fillings by Facebook insiders for the stock grants and outright stock holdings and how they are reported with the SEC on Form 3.
For example, the Form 3 for CFO David Ebersman shows he holds 1.2 million RSUs that vest quarterly between early 2018 and early 2019, along with options to buy 4.5 million shares at $3.23 per share. These began vesting in 2018, starting with a fifth of the grant, followed by monthly tranches that will bring the grant to full vesting by 2018. In a footnote, the Form 3 also discloses that the RSUs he holds in which vesting is based on both continued service and liquidity (additional 6.75 million RSUs) are not considered reportable under SEC rules. The Form 3 for COO Sheryl Sandberg also contains new details on her options and RSU grants, such as the vesting provisions. Mark Zuckerberg's Form 3 discloses his stock options, along with the company stock he owns through various trusts (an estate-planning technique to minimize taxes).
When these executives and other senior executives at Facebook get more stock grants or sell company stock, they will have to make filings on Form 4. In addition, sales will also need to follow the SEC's Rule 144 requirements. These will be worth following, as they may reveal some information about individual financial planning, such as whether sales are made under Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, along with showing any changes in Facebook's stock compensation practices after the IPO.
[For more on Facebook stock compensation, see our blog entry of October 29 about the end of the lockup.]
23 April 2018.
Stock Compensation At Facebook: What Facebook's SEC Registration Statement Reveals.
With Facebook planning to go public next month, its S-1 registration statement is worth perusing for details about its stock plans and some of the tax issues the company and its employees face (other than the obvious fact that they will be very rich and can thus afford the best tax and financial advisors!).
Below are a few of the tidbits that can be gleaned from the SEC filing to go public.
Switch To RSUs; Tax Bill Due.
Facebook initially granted stock options to employees during its early days but switched almost entirely to restricted stock units in 2007. RSUs granted by Facebook before January 1, 2018, vest after two conditions: a specified length of employment at the company plus a liquidity event such as an IPO (see page 48). Grants made after that date do not have this liquidity condition, as they vest over four or five years (see page 60). We have been seeing this two-part vesting grant structure at other large pre-IPO companies.
Vesting will occur six months after Facebook's IPO. At that time, employees will owe taxes on the income from these pre-IPO RSUs at ordinary income rates. (In comparison, employees who had stock options before the move to RSUs will see most of the stock's appreciation taxed at capital gains rates, assuming they exercised them more than one year ago.) The company expects that many of its employees with RSUs will see 45% of the value of their shares withheld for taxes (see page 56).
Facebook intends to net-settle the shares at vesting, instead of leaving employees to sell shares for the taxes they owe. To come up with the cash needed to meet its withholding obligations and remit the funds to the IRS, the company plans to sell stock near the settlement date in an amount that is roughly equivalent to the number of shares of common stock that it withholds for taxes (see page 21).
Stock Option Grant Held By Mark Zuckerberg.
In 2005 Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and founder of Facebook, received nonqualified stock options to acquire 120 million shares of Facebook class B (voting) stock (see page 113). These have all vested, and the option term is scheduled to expire on November 7, 2018. With the exercise price of 6 cents per share and Facebook's valuation of over $100 billion, he will owe a giant amount of taxes at exercise. Some of the tax issues he faces are covered in The Federal Taxation Developments Blog.
Company's Tax Deduction & Earnings Charge.
The company's tax deduction for the income realized by employees, from both RSU vesting and NQSO exercise, could generate a tax refund of up to $500 million in the first six months of 2018 (see page 63). This attracted attention when Senator Carl Levin again proposed his bill to limit the corporate tax deduction for stock compensation. According to an article on this in The Washington Post , some analysts calculate that the tax savings from stock compensation at Facebook could be much higher than the figures mentioned in the company's registration statement. (Estimates run up to $7.5 billion in deductions, translating into $3 billion in federal and state tax savings.)
According to Amendment 4 of Facebook's S-1 registration statement, as of March 31, 2018, Facebook had $2.381 billion in unrecognized stock compensation expenses on its income statement, with $2.319 billion for RSUs and $62 million for restricted stock and options (see page 53 of Amendment 4). For pre-2018 RSUs that met the first vesting trigger of a service condition on or before March 31, 2018, Facebook will recognize a $965 million expense when it goes public at the start of the IPO (see page 53), though net of income taxes this amount will be $640 million (see page 37 in Amendment 4).
Would Stock Options Have Been Better?
The move to granting restricted stock units instead of stock options may have been better for the company for many reasons, including the prospect of minimizing share dilution, along with the relief of having fewer post-IPO multi-millionaire employees to retain and motivate (well, fewer with gains of $10–$100 million, anyway). Depending on the size of the RSU grants relative to previously made stock options grants at Facebook, a basic calculation shows that, given the stock-price appreciation, employees with RSUs would be sitting on much larger gains if they had received stock options.
Example: Regardless of whether employees exercise options earlier or later after the IPO, the following example shows the potential magnitude of their gains from receiving stock options instead of restricted stock (pre - and post-tax calculations are easy to do with the tools on myStockOptions). For this example, let's use the exercise price of 6 cents for the options Mr. Zuckerberg received in 2005 (other employees would have received grants at same price at that time, assuming these were not discounted stock options). Let's assume Facebook granted four times as many stock options as RSUs (the actual ratio may have been much greater). With the current value of Facebook stock at $30.89 (see page 77 of Amendment 4), the following shows the pre-tax gains: Current gains/spread for grant of 400,000 stock options made in 2005 ($0.06 exercise price): $12.332 million (400,000 x [$30.89 – $0.06]) Grant of 100,000 RSUs: $3.089 million.
The blog Inside Facebook also wonders whether Facebook employees would have been better off with options, at least from a tax perspective. While employees would have had the opportunity to exercise shares earlier, when the spread was small, and to start the capital gains holding period sooner, they would also have had to come up with cash to hold the stock while risking the possibility that a liquidity event did not occur.
Given the big tax bills that employees at Facebook will incur, along with the much larger upside they would have realized if they had received stock options instead of RSUs, we wonder whether other pre-IPO companies will rethink whether to grant stock options again. Some private companies use a special type of stock option grant that allows immediate exercise, after which the stock received is subject to vesting. One reason for granting this type of option is to let employees start the capital gains holding period earlier and to allow them to decide when they want to pay the taxes (i. e. early if the options are granted with little or no spread, or later if employees are certain the stock will eventually have real value).
[For more on Facebook stock compensation, see our blog entry of October 29 about the end of the lockup.]
28 December 2018.
Looking For Data On Stock Grants At Privately Held Companies?
We all are. However, in-depth information about specific stock comp practices at private companies seldom comes to light. This is why we like the 2018 Private Company Equity Compensation Survey, recently published by the National Center for Employee Ownership. It amasses data from 201 privately held companies with equity plans, broken down by industry, company age, and number of employees (57% had over 100 employees, while 53% had fewer). Assessing grant practices at all levels, from senior executives to hourly employees, the report gives a detailed narrative description of its key findings. It even comes with an Excel spreadsheet containing all the raw data, so you can sort and analyze the data according to your own research criteria.
Among the findings of interest:
93% of companies give at least some of their C-level employees equity; 81% of companies give all of these employees equity. 82% of companies give at least some managers equity grants, while 50% give equity to all managers. 48% of the companies provide equity to at least some hourly/nonsupervisory employees, and 65% give equity to at least some supervisory/technical employees. C-level executives receive an average of 56% of the awards, other management 19%, supervisory and technical 11%, and hourly/nonsupervisory 4%. 74% of companies grant equity to C-level personnel upon hiring, and 61% do so for other managers, but only 44% grant equity upon hiring supervisory employees and only 29% upon hiring hourly/nonsupervisory employees. About half of the companies make occasional or periodic grants to eligible groups. Two thirds of the companies use stock options. Restricted stock was far less common, at just 29%. Phantom stock, stock appreciation rights, and restricted stock units are all used by under 10% of the companies. The mean percentage of equity held by nonfounders through awards was 15%.
For summaries of other surveys on stock grants at privately held companies, including grant practices at pre-IPO companies before and after they go public, see the FAQs in the section Pre-IPO: Basics at myStockOptions.
06 ديسمبر 2018.
Griping About IPOs: Too Much Upside?
After a formerly private company has gone public, new riches among employees can cause problems, as noted by a recent piece in the San Jose Mercury News (IPOs Give Companies Instant Wealth But Lots Of Headaches, Nov. 13). The article chronicles some of the distractions: excessive scrutiny of the stock price, envy among employees, or disengagement at work by the newly wealthy. Things can be even worse at companies with broadly granted stock options and restless investors (angels and/or venture capital) who do not see an opportunity to realize any liquidity from their equity grants or investment.
Not surprisingly, the article considers the need for a pre-IPO company to educate employees on the various financial-planning issues they face when the company goes public, along with quickly teaching them the rules against insider trading. At myStockOptions, employees and their financial advisors can find educational material on both financial planning with equity awards and the securities laws that apply to people with stock compensation.
21 November 2018.
Zynga's Zinger: Reducing The Size Of Grants Already Made To Employees.
As the online-games company Zynga approaches its initial public offering, it has garnered attention for reasons far removed from the innocent fun of FarmVille and Mafia Wars 2. When the headline Zynga Leans On Some Workers To Surrender Pre-IPO Shares appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 10, observers across the worlds of compensation and pre-IPO business sat up and took notice. Allegedly, Zynga is demanding that certain unproductive employees with large early-stage stock grants give back some of their unvested grants. If they don't return these grants, they will be fired.
The WSJ article does not make it clear why the company is taking this hard-line approach. Its share pool for grants may need replenishment to make new grants to more skilled employees. However, the article seems to imply another reason: the company may find it unfair that certain employees should greatly profit from the upcoming IPO merely because they started working there before better-performing employees were hired.
Avoiding the temptation to criticize Zynga's move, some observers have proposed the consoling idea that through the giveback Zynga is actually making an effort to keep some employees it otherwise might have fired. This was the view put forth by Dan Primack of CNN Money on Nov. 10. He finds it reasonable that Zynga is willing to give these employees another chance, perhaps in another position, as long as they give back some of their unvested stock.
However, much of the reaction to Zynga's move has been grumpy. The reasons become clear when you read some of the internet comment forums frequented by tech employees with experience in the startup arena. See, for example, the remarks at HackerNews in response to the WSJ report. As one commenter points out, "getting a chance of a huge upside is one of the reasons employees take lower salaries and work longer hours at startups in the first place. A company that abused its bargaining position like this should not expect to be able to hire good employees in the future."
Zynga's move underscores the risks that many employees joining startup companies may not consider or fully understand, whether they receive stock options, restricted stock, or outright grants of pre-IPO shares. The risk of company failure at a startup is obvious enough. Less well understood, however, may be the problems of share dilution and the demands of cash investors (preferred shareholders) who want most of the sale proceeds in an acquisition. A recent informal employee survey that we found at another blog indicates some of these issues in pre-IPO companies, and shows that employees often don't know enough about them.
In the Pre-IPO section of myStockOptions, articles and FAQs cover some of the risks with suggestions on how to handle them. The steps employees can take with their equity grants depend on their leverage and what the company is willing to negotiate. Whatever the case, they should set foot in the pre-IPO employment world with a realistic understanding of the risks as well as the potential upside.
23 August 2018.
With IPOs On The Way, Questions Arise On Post-IPO Stock Sales.
As fast-growing young companies such as Facebook, Groupon, and Zynga prepare to follow their peer LinkedIn down the road of an initial public offering (IPO), we at myStockOptions expect lots of questions in the coming months about post-IPO stock sales. In particular, shareholding employees often want to know how soon after the IPO they can sell their company stock, given SEC rules and contractual restrictions.
The answer depends on:
the registration exemption the company used to issue the pre-IPO company options or restricted stock whether a form S-8 registration statement is now filed with the SEC for the stock-plan shares the terms of the lockup period.
If the company went public without filing an S-8 registration form for the shares under the stock plan, employees will have to adhere to the waiting period and other requirements for resales under Rule 701. This federal securities-law registration exemption, used for stock plans in privately held companies, allows post-IPO resales without the need to follow certain requirements of Rule 144, such as the holding period.
Therefore, 90 days after the date when the company becomes subject to the ongoing SEC reporting requirements, usually the public offering date, employees can sell their shares. Almost all companies try to fit their pre-IPO option and stock grants into Rule 701. Otherwise, the company would need to make a rescission offer, as Google did before its IPO. (See its SEC filing amendment and later SEC settlement, which explain what happened.) If there is no lockup or if the shareholder is no longer an employee, the holding period rules can be different under Rule 144.
In addition, even when the company registers the stock-plan shares on Form S-8, employees must hold shares for the duration of any contractual lockup agreement with the underwriters. Regardless of when the company went public, your sales will also be limited by company policy for preventing insider trading.
Finally, people considered affiliates of the company for the purposes of securities laws will be generally required to sell shares in accordance with the volume restrictions and notice requirements of SEC Rule 144.
As even this brief explanation showed, stock compensation issues surrounding an IPO can be complex. A full suite of clearly written articles and FAQs on these topics, see the section Pre-IPO at myStockOptions.
08 أيلول / سبتمبر 2018.
From The Files Of Frequently Asked Questions.
However, some questions really do come up repeatedly. One of these recurring inquiries prompted an FAQ we published just today: Do I need to sell my shares at the vesting of restricted stock, RSUs, or performance shares?
In short, no. The vesting of restricted stock, RSUs, or performance shares is separate from the sale of the shares. Whether you sell the shares at vesting depends on various factors, some of which you can control:
Methods of tax withholding available to you through your company's stock plan, or any mandatory share surrender. The shares can be a source of the proceeds needed to pay the taxes. Tax planning. Whether you hold the shares and for how long will affect your capital gains tax at sale. Any holding period after vesting does not affect the amount of income tax due for the value of the shares at vesting. Your needs for the cash proceeds and other financial-planning goals, such as diversification, dividends paid on your stock, and alternative investments. Whether your company is publicly traded or privately held. In a privately held company, you will not be able to sell the shares immediately at vesting because of restrictions that are likely to exist in your grant and/or because of the SEC rules on resales.
تحميل لدينا مجانا.
الأسهم كومب مسرد التطبيق!
احصل على تحديثات رسس، أو أدخل عنوان بريدك الإلكتروني أدناه لتلقي تعليقات المدونة في بريدك الوارد.

قيمة خيارات الأسهم: مكون رئيسي في اقتراح قيمة الموظف قبل الاكتتاب العام.
Stock options have often been the carrot on the stick for cash-strapped private venture-backed companies (i. e., start-ups). But like the San Francisco skyline, times are changing. Are stock options still the golden ticket to employee attraction, motivation and retention – or are we in need of an equity plan tune-up?
Stock Options at the Early Stage Start-up Company: “That New Car Smell”
A recent graduate with a masters in Software Engineering and currently employed by a large Bay Area tech company (“BigTech”), Jane is considering a job change. She’s been offered a position as a database engineer at a small private venture-backed company in San Francisco generating a lot of buzz (“StartUpCo”). The offer includes base salary of $100,000 — less than what she is making at BigTech — along with 20,000 stock options in StartUpCo.
While Jane isn’t excited about the pay cut, she is attracted to the offer because of what could be . The stock options give Jane “skin in the game”, allowing her to become an owner in a growing company. StartUpCo looks like it could be the next hot IPO. She would share the potential upside growth potential with the founders and other shareholders. There could be a big check in Jane’s future, upon acquisition of the company or transition to a publicly-traded company. This could be Jane’s big chance.
But stock options are not perfect. The absence of an exchange upon which to trade the shares makes it difficult for Jane to evaluate the potential dollar value of those 20,000 shares, nor does she know when she would ever be able to realize the value of (i. e., sell) her stock options. Additionally, Jane knows that as more capital is raised, her ownership percentage will decrease, potentially reducing future upside potential of the stock. And, if she ever is able to sell her stock options, Jane will have to pay income tax on the “spread” (the difference between grant and strike price) and may not be able to afford the tax bill due to rising valuations.
Recently having completed its second round of funding, StartUpCo is an early stage company needing to invest in product development, marketing and sales, and growing a staff of talented employees to drive revenue growth. StartUpCo recently extended an offer of employment to Jane. Market rate salaries for talented resources such as Jane are expensive and a drain on cash resources. As a trade-off for paying somewhat below-market salaries, stock options are commonly provided to employees of young companies as a primary method of compensation in order to minimize cash costs. Additionally, StartUpCo likes that stock options align their employees’ interests with those of their shareholders’: take on some of the risk and reap in the reward.
StartUpCo hopes Jane will be attracted by the potential upside they can offer her, but also realizes it may be difficult to pitch the value of their stock options. The slowest IPO market in two decades[1] coupled with extended periods of private funding[2] mean that employees may have to wait a lot longer to cash out stock options. People are impatient: the longer the time between grant date and equity liquidity, the more difficult it is to continue to generate excitement and anticipation about the potential future value of the stock options. Additionally, StartUpCo may not have the reserves to grant Jane more stock down the road and her initial option may no longer hold retention value once it is vested. Lastly, StartUpCo will need several more rounds of capital funding to sustain its growth, and while intended to enhance the value of the company and its share price, some employees see funding events as limiting the potential future cash in their pocket.
Stock Options at the Later Stage Company: “Not Running Like It Used To”
Enter Jane (+ five years) :
Against the advice of her parents to stay with the stability offered at BigTech, Jane accepted the job at StartUpCo! She determined that a reduction in cash compensation was worth the potential upside opportunity. However, much has changed for Jane in five years. In addition to being promoted to Director as recognition for her outstanding contributions to the company, Jane also has had a child. She now needs cash to purchase a larger home. After several rounds of funding at StartUpCo, Jane no longer feels the same sense of ownership and is frustrated that her stock options still have no actual value. She begins to wonder if she should look for a new job at a publicly traded company, one that could offer either higher salary or stock with existing value.
Enter StartUpCo (+ five years) :
Raising $100 million in capital, StartUpCo has grown from 50 employees to 500 but has done little to change its employee value proposition. StartUpCo still provides its employees with stock options upon hire, but has been forced to reduce grant levels due to a shrinking share pool. StartUpCo is struggling with its growing pains: increased turnover, changing culture, and general unhappiness as stock options vest but there is no way to sell them. Now at a critical juncture in its growth cycle, it needs to address issues with its equity plan to keep compensation packages attractive and motivational. StartUpCo cannot afford to lose talented and experienced employees like Jane.
With limited cash, what could StartUpCo do to at this stage to improve employee retention?
Our Perspective – “Time for a Tune Up”
Despite longer time horizons to capital events, stock options remain a good value proposition, regardless of a company’s future. Like any car, its effectiveness is a product of how effectively it’s used and how well it’s maintained. The key is to develop, and communicate to your employees, a thoughtful plan.
Suggestion 1: Focus on communicating the value to the participant.
We believe regular communication paired with stock valuations and a few key messages can assist in emphasizing the importance and effectiveness of stock options:
It is an incentive and an investment, not an entitlement. The stock option holder is motivated to see the company turn a profit. Success generates potential dividends and stock value gains but is balanced with the risks associated with any investment. We are all in this together. A typical start-up grants stock options to all employees, not just the top executives. Share the risk, share the upside. Granting stock options is in line with prevailing market pay practices. Stock options are competitive practice for start-up companies because they align employees, management and shareholders alike with the goal of creating value. Potential for growth and value realization. There is potential for tremendous upside for all levels of employees upon a liquidity event. Nothing is guaranteed, but keeping “eyes on the prize” orients everyone toward the same goal.
Suggestion 2: Consider liquidity alternatives.
Creating recurring liquidity opportunities for employees dramatically increases the perceived effectiveness of a company’s equity program but may not be appropriate until later stages of business. Depending on a company’s cash situation there are several alternatives:
Consider a private tender offer . As companies stay private longer and valuations increase, the demand to provide partial liquidity to employees has grown[3]. Broad-based private tender offers have grown in popularity, allowing eligible employees to “relieve liquidity pressure” through partial sale of shares to a third party. Consider stock repurchases. As a private company matures and transitions away from granting broad-based stock options, share ownership tends to transition from exit-focused value creation to “retirement plan.” One alternative for private companies is to provide opportunities for employees to “cash-out” their shares upon termination through company repurchase. These repurchases typically are limited to owners (i. e., employees with exercised options or owned shares) and may be purchased at a fraction of current valuation price.
Suggestion 3: Consider other forms of equity depending on stage of business.
While a minority practice at start-up companies, other forms of long-term incentives could be considered depending on the stage of business:
High-valuation late stage start-ups have less emphasis on growth. Consider including Restricted Stock Units (“RSUs”) as part of the new hire and promotional grant practices. RSUs provide immediate equity (as opposed to an option to purchase equity) and are particularly effective at late state pre-IPO companies with valuations not likely to increase dramatically. RSUs emphasize retention by preserving the value of equity (i. e., by definition cannot go “underwater”), allowing employees to become owners without having to “buy-in,” and reducing stock dilution. However, RSUs do not have the same emphasis on stock price growth and have an immediate tax implication to employees upon vesting. Mature private companies with no exit strategy have no liquidity options. Long-term incentive cash plans are the most prevalent[4] form of long-term incentive for mature private companies, used exclusively for executives. Freed from the direct tie to company valuation, these incentives are paid in cash based on the achievement of multi-year operating performance measures such as profitability and revenues. Long-term incentive cash plans allow for immediate cash flow to the participant and flexibility to focus on near-to-long term (often 1-3 years) operating objectives. However, many companies find it difficult to set multi-year performance goals and to distribute the amount of cash needed for market-competitive payouts. Frequent regular grants of long-term incentives to executives emphasize retention. While it is common for start-up companies to provide a one-time grant upon hire, many mature private companies provide regular cyclical long-term incentive grants to executives[5] in order to retain high value employees. It is not common to provide recurring long-term incentive grants to employees below the executive level.[6] Creation of a private exchange. Private exchanges allow owners to have a liquidity event by selling their shares to other owners.
Stock Options At Any Stage: “The Family Wagon”
It’s taking longer to get rich quick. Once thought as the key to success for attracting talent to start-up companies, stock options are taking longer to see value and are worth less. But the potential upside of stock options is still tremendous. If a start-up company makes it to an IPO or acquisition event, employees can be richly rewarded based on the growth in value of the shares they are entitled to purchase.
Stock options are still a great device for any start-up. Here is our summary for how to retain star-performers like Jane, as the start-up company grows up:
Emphasize value to employees . Jane needs to clearly understand the vision for the future and emphasize how stock options are a component of a market competitive pay package. Create liquidity . Create recurring opportunities to create cash flow for employees like Jane and other shareholders. Don’t be afraid to use different tools . As business objectives change over time, review your equity program to gradually include a portfolio of long-term incentive vehicles.
Careful planning and implementation of the right plan will keep highly valued employees like Jane motivated. The right plan will keep Jane engaged in working hard while she waits for that hoped-for big check – the share of company value Jane helped create.
[1] “Tech Startups Feel an IPO Chill.” وول ستريت جورنال. 19 أكتوبر، 2018.
[2] “Is The IPO Outmoded? Why Venture Backed Companies Are Waiting Longer To Go Public.” Forbes. December 24, 2018.
[3] “Private Tender Offer Best Practices. How to Deliver Controlled Liquidity as a Private Company.” 2018 SecondMarket Holdings, Inc.
[4] WorldatWork and Vivient Consulting . “ Incentive Pay Practices Survey: Privately Held Companies. ” February 2018.
[5] WorldatWork and Vivient Consulting . “ Incentive Pay Practices Survey: Privately Held Companies. ” February 2018.
[6] WorldatWork and Vivient Consulting . “ Incentive Pay Practices Survey: Privately Held Companies. ” February 2018.

Pre ipo stock options tax

إذا كنت تخطط لممارسة ما قبل الاكتتاب العام خيارات الأسهم الموظف، تفعل ذلك في اسرع وقت ممكن.
تنويه: أنا لست محترف الضرائب، وأنا لا أعرف المالية الشخصية الخاصة بك. هذا هو مجرد فهمي للمخاطرة خيار الأسهم؛ إذا كنت تتبع نصيحتي تأخذ كل المسؤولية عن الاستماع إلى آراء بعض الرجل على شبكة الانترنت.
تيل؛ دكتور: بالنسبة لخيارات الأسهم غير المؤهلة (نسو أو نسو)، يجب عليك على الأرجح شراء خياراتك بأسرع ما يمكن إذا كان كل ما يلي صحيح:
1. كنت تعتقد أن شركتكم سيكون لها الحدث الخروج جديرة بالاهتمام مثل اكتساب كبير أو الاكتتاب العام.
2. لديك النقدية على يد لشراء الخيارات.
3. يمكنك أن لا ترى أن النقدية مرة أخرى لفترة غير محددة من الوقت، وفهم أنه إذا كانت شركتك الأداء الضعيف لك خطر فقدان كل شيء.
بالنسبة للنوع الأكثر شيوعا من خيار بدء التشغيل، نسو، والرياضيات هي بسيطة جدا: لأن معدل ضريبة الدخل الخاص بك هو أعلى من معدل ضريبة أرباح رأس المال الخاص بك، ويعد عليك الانتظار لممارسة (شراء) خياراتك، وكلما سيكون لديك لدفع على الفور خارج الجيب للحصول عليها وأقل ربحك النهائي سيكون.
لنلقي نظرة على مثال. أنت موظف في يونيكورن، Inc.، شركة خاصة مع طموحات الاكتتاب العام، وتم منحك (عرض الحق في شراء) خيارات الأسهم. وهذا يعني أنه في المستقبل قد تختار (لديك "الخيار") لشراء أسهم الشركة بسعر السهم في تاريخ منحك (ويشار إليها عادة باسم "سعر الإضراب"). دعونا نقول أيضا أنك تعيش في الولايات المتحدة، معدل ضريبة الدخل الفعلي (ما تدفعه على الدخل العادي مثل الراتب الخاص بك) هو 35٪، ومعدل ضريبة الأرباح الرأسمالية طويلة الأجل (ما تدفعه عند بيع الأسهم التي القيمة منذ الشراء) هي 15٪. يوضح هذا المخطط التكاليف التي تتكبدها عند ممارسة (شراء) خياراتك وبيع أسهمك في النهاية:
على افتراض أن سعر السهم يستمر مع مرور الوقت، وكلما طال انتظارك لممارسة الخيارات الخاصة بك، وأكثر سوف تدفع على الفور من جيبه في ضرائب الدخل. وبصفة عامة، عند ممارسة الشركة سوف يطلب منك لشيكتين، واحدة أن يدفع للسهم نفسه:
واحد يغطي فاتورة الضرائب:
أحد الآثار الرئيسية هو أنه اعتمادا على مقدار سعر السهم قد ارتفع منذ تلقيت منحة الخيار، فاتورة الضرائب المباشرة قد تكون أعلى بكثير مما تدفعه للسهم! على سبيل المثال، إذا كان سعر المخالفة 0.25 دولارا أمريكيا وسعر السهم الحالي هو 10.25 دولارا أمريكيا (أو ما يعادله بالعملة المحلية)، مع أرقام الضرائب على سبيل المثال، ستدفع 0.25 دولارا أمريكيا (أو ما يعادله بالعملة المحلية) لشراء كل سهم و 3.50 دولار أمريكي للسهم الواحد لدفع فاتورة ضريبة الدخل.
في انتظار الشراء ليس فقط يعني أنك تدفع أكثر على الفور في الضرائب، وهذا يعني أيضا أن تدفع المزيد من الضرائب بشكل عام: لأنك تدفع فقط انخفاض معدل ضريبة الأرباح الرأسمالية (15٪) على أي زيادة سعر السهم الذي يحدث بين ممارسة وبيع في نهاية المطاف الأسهم الخاصة بك ، وكلما كنت تنتظر لممارسة الرياضة، والمزيد من الضرائب التي تدفع للسهم الواحد، وهذا يعني أقل ربح تدرك للسهم الواحد.
دعونا توسيع يونيكورن، وشركة سبيل المثال أكثر من ذلك بقليل:
لديك معدل ضريبة دخل 35٪ ومعدل ضريبة أرباح رأس المال 15٪ لقد تم منحك 48 خيارا، الاستحقاق (قابلة للشراء) بالتساوي على مدى 48 شهرا المنحة الخاصة بك ليس لديها منحنى الاستحقاق (معظم المنح الخيار لديها شرط التأخير شراء أي خيارات حتى تصل إلى سنة واحدة من العمل - انها شائعة للغاية ولكن يعقد هذا المثال فقط) خياراتك لديها سعر ضربة $ 1 (سعر الشراء) في الشهر 48، يونيكورن سوف الخروج، وبيع ل بيغكورب ل 5 $ للسهم الواحد سعر سهم يونيكورن ويزيد بصورة متساوية على مدى ال 48 شهرا من 1 إلى 5 دولارات.
إذا كنت ستشتري كل خيار بأسرع ما يمكن، فسيبدو تدفق الدفعات لكل سهم (لاحظ أن صافي الأرباح يأخذ في الاعتبار الأموال المدفوعة لشراء هذا الخيار):
كما ترون، كنت في نهاية المطاف الجيب المزيد من الأرباح من الخيارات التي تم شراؤها في وقت مبكر. كلما كان السعر أقرب إلى 5 دولارات، كلما زاد إجمالي الضريبة التي تدفعها للسهم الواحد، وكلما كان عليك أن تدفع من جيبك لشراء خياراتك.
إذا قررت بدلا من ذلك شراء جميع الخيارات الخاصة بك عندما يخرج يونيكورن في الشهر 48، فإنك لن تدفع أكثر مباشرة على الفور في ضريبة الدخل، ولكن سوف تفقد أيضا جزءا من الربح المحتمل الخاص بك لضريبة الدخل (المبينة من قبل المثلث):
تذكر: بالنسبة للموظفين في وقت مبكر خاصة، أن ضريبة الدخل الإضافية يمكن أن تكون كبيرة. إذا كنت تنتظر وقتا طويلا، قد تكون غير قادر على شراء جميع الخيارات الخاصة بك بسبب فاتورة الضرائب عالية جدا. إذا وجدت نفسك في هذا الوضع، قد تكون ملزما بالانتظار حتى الحدث خروج لشراء الخيارات الخاصة بك بحيث يمكنك بيع على الفور الأسهم لتغطية فاتورة الضرائب الخاصة بك، تماما مثل مارك زوكربيرج فعلت في عام 2018 لدفع فاتورة الضرائب 1.1 مليار $ ضريبة .
تتفاقم مخاطر عدم الشراء في وقت مبكر إذا كنت لا تخطط للبقاء في تلك الشركة لحدث الخروج. معظم الشركات لديها شرط الذي يجبر لك لتحديد ما إذا كان لشراء كل ما تبذلونه من الخيارات المكتسبة في غضون 90 يوما من مغادرة الشركة. إذا كنت تنتظر، سيكون لديك لاتخاذ قرار مالي كبير في الوقت الذي لم يعد لديك تأثير على الاتجاه المستقبلي للشركة، وفي حال كنت قد أطلقت كنت قد تكون غير آمنة من الناحية المالية جدا لممارسة الرياضة.
فلماذا لا تريد شراء الخيارات الخاصة بك في أقرب وقت ممكن؟
لا تعتقد أن الشركة سوف يكون لها حدث الخروج، أو كنت تعتقد أن حدث الخروج سيكون بسعر منخفض جدا.
من الواضح، إذا كنت لا تعتقد أن أسهمك سيكون يستحق أي شيء، إما في السوق المفتوحة أو عن طريق الاستحواذ، يجب أن لا شرائها. وبما أن 80٪ من الشركات المدعومة من المشروع تفشل في الخروج بشكل مجد، فهذه إمكانية خطيرة للنظر فيها. بشكل عام، فإن الشركة الأصغر سنا، وارتفاع خطر الفشل. لا أستطيع أن أعطيك أي نصيحة حول هذا واحد - والامر متروك لكم لقياس المخاطر التي سوف تفشل شركتك للخروج عند اتخاذ قرار الشراء.
كنت غير مرتاح مع احتمال عدم رؤية هذا النقد مرة أخرى.
إذا كانت الدبابات الشركة، لا تحصل على رد على ما دفعته للخيارات الخاصة بك. قد تحصل على خصم الضرائب في السنة أسهمك تصبح لا قيمة لها، ولكن هذا ليس حقا شيء للاحتفال. وبالمثل، عندما يحدث حدث خروج يكاد لا يمكن التنبؤ بها تماما، وكنت قد تنتظر لتحقيق ربح من بيع الأسهم الخاصة بك لبعض الوقت. حتى إذا كانت شركتك تجعل من الخروج، لا يوجد ضمان سعر السهم سيكون أعلى من الآن. فمن الممكن جدا خيار الشراء الخاص بك قد يكون أعلى من سعر السوق في المستقبل من الأسهم، وهو ما حدث لموظفي زينغا، مذهب، وعدد لا يحصى من الشركات الأخرى.
يعتبر من المحفوف بالمخاطر أن يكون لديك نسبة كبيرة من أصولك استثمرت في شركة واحدة، مضاعفة حتى إذا كنت تحصل على راتبك منهم أيضا - إذا فشل الشركة قد تفقد كل من عملك والمدخرات الخاصة بك. لا تتخذ قرارا حيث فشل الشركة سوف يمسح بطانية الأمن الخاص بك أو صندوق التقاعد.
لم يكن لديك النقدية على يد لشراء الخيارات.
هذا هو "الأصفاد الذهبية" الوضع الذي ينطبق على موظفينا في وقت مبكر مع فاتورة ضريبة عالية. إذا كنت لا تستطيع شراء جميع الخيارات الخاصة بك، قد تحتاج إلى التمسك حتى مخرج للقيام بذلك. ما زلت أبحث في شراء مجموعة من الخيارات الآن - كلما طال انتظارك، وأكثر تكلفة على الفور سيكون لشراء، وهذا يعني الخاص بك من جيبك سوف تكون أعلى تكلفة إذا قررت مغادرة قبل الخروج. إن فترة 90 يوما للشراء بعد مغادرته ليست طيبة للعاملين (ولكننا بدأنا نرى هذا التغيير: انظر سوينباس و بينتيريست).
كنت ترغب في استخدام تلك النقدية للاستثمارات الأخرى مع الفوائد المحتملة أعلى.
تذكر تكلفة الفرصة البديلة لشراء الخيارات الخاصة بك - قد ترى عائد أعلى مع الاستثمارات الأخرى. $ 100 المدفوع في خيارات يمكن أيضا شراء لك 100 $ في S & أمب؛ P، والتي مع متوسط ​​العائد 10٪ يعني في خمس سنوات هل يمكن أن صافي شيء مثل 61 $ في الربح. سوف تحصل على عائد أعلى من الأسهم في نهاية المطاف سعر بيع؟ ضع في اعتبارك أنه نظرا لأن أسهم ما قبل الاكتتاب تفتقر إلى سوق (قانوني)، فإن أي أموال تستثمر في أسهم ما قبل الاكتتاب العام غير سائلة، مما يعني أنه من غير الممكن تحويل استثمارك بسهولة إلى النقد.
الخيارات الخاصة بك ليست من مكاتب الإحصاء الوطنية، ولكن بدلا من ذلك إسو (خيارات الأسهم الحوافز).
إسو، والتي يتم تقديمها في بعض الأحيان للموظفين في وقت لاحق في حياة الشركة مرة واحدة وقد تم تأسيس ممارسات المحاسبة قوية، ولها فائدة ضريبية لطيفة - طالما كنت بيعها أكثر من عامين بعد تاريخ المنحة وبعد عام واحد من ممارسة هذا الخيار، كل ما تبذلونه من المكاسب بين سعر الإضراب وسعر البيع تخضع للضريبة على معدل ضريبة الأرباح الرأسمالية، وهذا يعني أنك لم يكن لديك لدفع أي ضريبة الدخل عند ممارسة إسو. هذا يلغي إلى حد كبير العقوبات الضريبية من شراء الخيارات الخاصة بك في وقت لاحق طالما كنت على استعداد للاستمرار في أسهم قليلا. لاحظ أنه عند ممارسة إيسوس قد يؤدي بعض الأشياء البديلة الحد الأدنى الضرائب المعقدة التي ليس لدي الكثير من الألفة.
أنا لا أعرف أي شيء عن قوانين ضريبة خيار الأسهم الأجنبية. أنت وحدك هنا.
ويعكس هذا القرار فيما إذا كان سيتم شراء خيارات أسهم مكتب اإلحصاءات الوطنية الخاص بك املقايضة املالية األساسية للمخاطر واملكافأة - كلما زادت املخاطر التي تتحملها) شراء خيارات األسهم مبكرا في حياة الشركة عندما يكون املستقبل غير مؤكد بشكل كبير (، . إذا كنت تمارس الخيارات الخاصة بك هو قرار شخصي، ولكن إذا كنت قد قررت بالفعل أن كنت ذاهبا لشراء الأسهم الخاصة بك، وخاصة إذا كنت تخطط لمغادرة الشركة قبل حدث الخروج، يجب عليك على الأرجح ممارسة الخيارات الخاصة بك في أقرب وقت ممكن.
عن طريق التصفيق أكثر أو أقل، يمكنك أن تشير لنا القصص التي تبرز حقا.