Yes I know this is not just a SV thing, but it is still a con. About the only rational reason for granting stock in a company the size of Google is for tax reas

Yes I know this is not just a SV thing, but it is still a con. About the only rational reason for granting stock in a company the size of Google is for tax reasons, but there is not even a good case here. If you want to tie compensation to long term performance then do this, don't just grant stock that can be sold straight away. The reason it is used by lots of companies is it is a very effective way of stealing the shareholders money without them squawking.