I somehow was _immensely lucky_ to have joined a company that IPO'd shortly after joining. As a mid level engineer I sold my shares for literally $140,000 after

I somehow was _immensely lucky_ to have joined a company that IPO'd shortly after joining. As a mid level engineer I sold my shares for literally $140,000 after tax, in total (as in, from selling all of my vested shares as they vested) despite not staying for all vesting rounds. This being despite receiving a salary of only around $80-90k. I've never once considered shares to be something to depend on, but man can they be life-changing if you're in the right place at the right time.