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The employees that get their shares stolen can sue for extortion, which is exactly how I and most people would describe this situation. Unfortunately the law g

The employees that get their shares stolen can sue for extortion, which is exactly how I and most people would describe this situation. Unfortunately the law generally favors those with more money and resources.

Androsynth 15y ago
Bullshit, this is a free market economy. If I feel you are overpaid for what you contribute, I can fire you. This is not extortion, they are readjusting their compensation to the market-going rates. Whether it is moral or whether it will hurt them in the future are different questions.
- wavephorm 15y ago
  They aren't being fired for being overpaid, they're being threatened with termination unless they surrender their equity in a privately owned company. Definiton of extortion (from wikipedia): Extortion (also called shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person(s), entity, or institution, through coercion. What Zynga is doing IS extortion. Perhaps it is a form of extortion that is legal in California.
  - Androsynth 15y ago
    That is an inaccurate view of the situation. Unvested shares are not equity. You are acting as if they are being asked to give away something that they own; they are being asked to give up future compensation. I put this in another comment: "However the problem with your math (and most others in this thread) is this: lets say Zynga values me at 4 shares, and I get 1 vested per year. However after two years, and a few splits, I have 128 shares. The company hired me to work as a 4 share employee, then it grew like crazy and I became a 128 share employee. This is normal in tech nowadays, most people take it for granted that you just get lucky and accept your windfall. But the fact is that you are a 4 share employee being paid 3000% of what you were hired at." I know this goes against the way it's always been in the tech industry, but it is not extortion.
    - wavephorm 15y ago
      Now you're just descending into pedantry. Yes, unvested shares are not technically equity, that doesn't mean they cannot be the basis of extortion.
    - ootachi 15y ago
      The company didn't hire you to work as a 4-share employee, they hired you to work as a 4-share employee with significant upside potential. That is how early startup employees are compensated for the increased risk and lesser salary they take on.
      - Androsynth 15y ago
        Yes, you and your sibling threads are all correct, but it's not extortion. It's immoral and will certainly hurt them in the future, but it's not extortion. I am simply trying to explain why this is a moral issue and not a legal issue. This is the equivalent of saying: 'your gonna have to take a pay cut or were gonna have to let you go'. It is morally repugnant and goes against everything we believe in the startup community, but it is not illegal, nor should it be.
        rhizome 15y ago
        You don't know whether or not it's a legal issue.
        Androsynth 15y ago
        I am saying it shouldn't be a legal issue. It is the equivalent of saying 'you need to take a cut in pay or you will be laid off'.
        _delirium 15y ago
        If we're talking about what should be illegal, I find it hard to argue that it shouldn't be. If you hire someone on the promise that they'll get a bonus at 5 years, and purposely fire them at 4 years, 11 months solely to avoid paying them the bonus, that should be illegal. In any reasonable interpretation of the contract, that isn't good-faith upholding of the contract--- you promised them something at certain milestones, and then purposely acted in a manner intended for the sole purpose of sabotaging the milestones, which is acting in bad faith. In most other kinds of contingent pay that's tortious: if you promise a building contractor contingency bonuses upon meeting certain deadlines, and then you purposely interfere to make them miss the deadlines so you can get the work cheaper (and admit doing so!), you're probably acting illegally. Heck, even basketball players have sued over instances where a team kept them out of a few games solely to cause them to miss performance targets.
- nobody3141592 15y ago
  In a startup stock options are a future promise to make up for lower salary. You are gambling on the company doing well. What they are doing is like hiring a salesman on low salary + commission and then firing them the day before the commission is paid.
- dylangs1030 15y ago
  The "different questions" are relevant. If this were merely a question of what the company can and can't do as a capitalist enterprise, the article would not have been written. Ethics are important. Would you be as dispassionate about this if you were a Zynga employee?
- danssig 15y ago
  All your posts here make you sound like a really ignorant person, in regards to the subject at hand. The best thing for you would probably be to stop posting and start reading instead.

Androsynth 15y ago

Bullshit, this is a free market economy. If I feel you are overpaid for what you contribute, I can fire you. This is not extortion, they are readjusting their compensation to the market-going rates. Whether it is moral or whether it will hurt them in the future are different questions.

wavephorm 15y ago
They aren't being fired for being overpaid, they're being threatened with termination unless they surrender their equity in a privately owned company. Definiton of extortion (from wikipedia): Extortion (also called shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person(s), entity, or institution, through coercion. What Zynga is doing IS extortion. Perhaps it is a form of extortion that is legal in California.
- Androsynth 15y ago
  That is an inaccurate view of the situation. Unvested shares are not equity. You are acting as if they are being asked to give away something that they own; they are being asked to give up future compensation. I put this in another comment: "However the problem with your math (and most others in this thread) is this: lets say Zynga values me at 4 shares, and I get 1 vested per year. However after two years, and a few splits, I have 128 shares. The company hired me to work as a 4 share employee, then it grew like crazy and I became a 128 share employee. This is normal in tech nowadays, most people take it for granted that you just get lucky and accept your windfall. But the fact is that you are a 4 share employee being paid 3000% of what you were hired at." I know this goes against the way it's always been in the tech industry, but it is not extortion.
  - wavephorm 15y ago
    Now you're just descending into pedantry. Yes, unvested shares are not technically equity, that doesn't mean they cannot be the basis of extortion.
  - ootachi 15y ago
    The company didn't hire you to work as a 4-share employee, they hired you to work as a 4-share employee with significant upside potential. That is how early startup employees are compensated for the increased risk and lesser salary they take on.
    - Androsynth 15y ago
      Yes, you and your sibling threads are all correct, but it's not extortion. It's immoral and will certainly hurt them in the future, but it's not extortion. I am simply trying to explain why this is a moral issue and not a legal issue. This is the equivalent of saying: 'your gonna have to take a pay cut or were gonna have to let you go'. It is morally repugnant and goes against everything we believe in the startup community, but it is not illegal, nor should it be.
      - rhizome 15y ago
        You don't know whether or not it's a legal issue.
        Androsynth 15y ago
        I am saying it shouldn't be a legal issue. It is the equivalent of saying 'you need to take a cut in pay or you will be laid off'.
        _delirium 15y ago
        If we're talking about what should be illegal, I find it hard to argue that it shouldn't be. If you hire someone on the promise that they'll get a bonus at 5 years, and purposely fire them at 4 years, 11 months solely to avoid paying them the bonus, that should be illegal. In any reasonable interpretation of the contract, that isn't good-faith upholding of the contract--- you promised them something at certain milestones, and then purposely acted in a manner intended for the sole purpose of sabotaging the milestones, which is acting in bad faith. In most other kinds of contingent pay that's tortious: if you promise a building contractor contingency bonuses upon meeting certain deadlines, and then you purposely interfere to make them miss the deadlines so you can get the work cheaper (and admit doing so!), you're probably acting illegally. Heck, even basketball players have sued over instances where a team kept them out of a few games solely to cause them to miss performance targets.
nobody3141592 15y ago
In a startup stock options are a future promise to make up for lower salary. You are gambling on the company doing well. What they are doing is like hiring a salesman on low salary + commission and then firing them the day before the commission is paid.
dylangs1030 15y ago
The "different questions" are relevant. If this were merely a question of what the company can and can't do as a capitalist enterprise, the article would not have been written. Ethics are important. Would you be as dispassionate about this if you were a Zynga employee?
danssig 15y ago
All your posts here make you sound like a really ignorant person, in regards to the subject at hand. The best thing for you would probably be to stop posting and start reading instead.