Vesting period is meaningless, you get them as a part of a salary package. If I get shares vesting over 4 years then it just means that they are a part of my sa

Vesting period is meaningless, you get them as a part of a salary package. If I get shares vesting over 4 years then it just means that they are a part of my salary. If I leave after a year I didn't lose 3 years of shares, in the same way as I didn't lose 3 years of salary. The only time shares are different is stock growth, and since stock on average grows the shares will on average be worth more in year 4 than year 1. And in some rare cases with huge stock growth you can see extremely large compensations as a result, but otherwise they are just like normal salary.