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I don’t know if I’m misreading it but did OP include the value of the options or did they just leave them unexercised? Box did IPO, and obviously Yahoo was liqu

I don’t know if I’m misreading it but did OP include the value of the options or did they just leave them unexercised? Box did IPO, and obviously Yahoo was liquid the entire time. What was the total compensation be like with these numbers?

jacquesm 8y ago
The message buried is: stock options, even of large companies are most of the time worthless. The exceptions are a position at a company that strikes it big, or safe bets such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. The latter also have the advantage that once you do have stock you can relatively easily dispose of it if you want to. Other than that is a complete lottery.
- C1sc0cat 8y ago
  For the FSTE 350 and up in the UK the common share save's are a one way bet in favour of the employee The problem with share options is the vicious way the IRS taxes them its almost like the USA isn't set up to support individual's getting rich. We are just getting an EMI where I now work will be interesting to see how that plays out.
ethikal 8y ago
Box IPOed at $14/share but spiked to $23/share on the first day of trading. Assuming 50K shares (and ignoring the strike price / any upfront cost he might have paid), total additional compensation was ~$700K to $1.150M.
- dmitrygr 8y ago
  first day of trading makes no difference whatsoever. Employees are usually locked in for about 6 months, by which point the stock will have probably crashed to below IPO levels
  - jonathankoren 8y ago
    Week of January 23, 2015: $23.23 (IPO Week) Week of June 26, 2015: $19.10
- nostrademons 8y ago
  You can make a pretty good guess at strike price from Box's financing history. They raised a Series F in 2013 at $2B post. There are currently 141M shares outstanding, of which 12.5M were offered in the IPO and roughly 10% of the company (13M) shares was sold in the Series F & Series G, so figure 120M shares outstanding at the time of his option grant. That implies a strike price between about $10 (@ the $1.225 Jul 2012 Series E valuation) and $17 (@ the Dec 2013 Series F valuation). At the end of the 6-month lockup Box's shares were worth $17, so that would imply his options were anywhere from +$175K (he'd only have vested half of them, with standard 4-year grants) to just slightly underwater. If he held to the $28 peak this May, he'd be anywhere from +$500K -> +$900K, but if he kept holding them, he could potentially be underwater today. It's a nice additional bonus (particularly if he got in at the Series E valuation), but not enough to make one rich.
- sethammons 8y ago
  why assume 50k shares?

jacquesm 8y ago

The message buried is: stock options, even of large companies are most of the time worthless. The exceptions are a position at a company that strikes it big, or safe bets such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. The latter also have the advantage that once you do have stock you can relatively easily dispose of it if you want to. Other than that is a complete lottery.

C1sc0cat 8y ago
For the FSTE 350 and up in the UK the common share save's are a one way bet in favour of the employee The problem with share options is the vicious way the IRS taxes them its almost like the USA isn't set up to support individual's getting rich. We are just getting an EMI where I now work will be interesting to see how that plays out.

ethikal 8y ago

Box IPOed at $14/share but spiked to $23/share on the first day of trading. Assuming 50K shares (and ignoring the strike price / any upfront cost he might have paid), total additional compensation was ~$700K to $1.150M.

dmitrygr 8y ago
first day of trading makes no difference whatsoever. Employees are usually locked in for about 6 months, by which point the stock will have probably crashed to below IPO levels
- jonathankoren 8y ago
  Week of January 23, 2015: $23.23 (IPO Week) Week of June 26, 2015: $19.10
nostrademons 8y ago
You can make a pretty good guess at strike price from Box's financing history. They raised a Series F in 2013 at $2B post. There are currently 141M shares outstanding, of which 12.5M were offered in the IPO and roughly 10% of the company (13M) shares was sold in the Series F & Series G, so figure 120M shares outstanding at the time of his option grant. That implies a strike price between about $10 (@ the $1.225 Jul 2012 Series E valuation) and $17 (@ the Dec 2013 Series F valuation). At the end of the 6-month lockup Box's shares were worth $17, so that would imply his options were anywhere from +$175K (he'd only have vested half of them, with standard 4-year grants) to just slightly underwater. If he held to the $28 peak this May, he'd be anywhere from +$500K -> +$900K, but if he kept holding them, he could potentially be underwater today. It's a nice additional bonus (particularly if he got in at the Series E valuation), but not enough to make one rich.
sethammons 8y ago
why assume 50k shares?