It appears to be adding up a lot of different things into one number: - base salary (cash) - sign-on bonus (typically a large one-time equity grant that vest

It appears to be adding up a lot of different things into one number: - base salary (cash) - sign-on bonus (typically a large one-time equity grant that vest over 3-4 years) - a raise each year (cash) - an accompanying equity grant (which also vests over 3-4 years) Where the whole thing seems weird to me is that they seem to be comparing pre-IPO options/RSUs to actual stocks as if they were apples-to-apples. This matters because the fraction of an amount that is attributable to equity is typically large (sign-on total value is a few times the amount of base salary for a year, for example, so I wouldn't be surprised if these numbers were 50-75% equity)