There are necessary protections in place for minority shareholders in public companies. For example, I can't just buy up 51% of a company and then vote that the

There are necessary protections in place for minority shareholders in public companies. For example, I can't just buy up 51% of a company and then vote that the company is now going to give all of its profits to me. The same situation should apply here. Employees are typically minority shareholders and as such, should get some basic protections. Early liquidity has significant value. I'd bet that plenty of employees would give up a percentage of their equity in order to cash out at least some of their shares early. Giving this ability to larger shareholders and not to smaller ones is very similar to saying that only large shareholders get to share in profits.