The 'valid argument' is that if you're kicked out of your job as part of a large downsizing, all of that equity has essentially turned to scrap paper simultaneo

The 'valid argument' is that if you're kicked out of your job as part of a large downsizing, all of that equity has essentially turned to scrap paper simultaneously. This is completely endemic to having equity in the company you work for: there's a tight linkage between the thing that pays you monthly and your investment portfolio. Put another way, you're right that the equity is the only way that you are exposed to the company's success, but there are catastrophic ways you can be exposed to its failure.