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A side effect is avoiding dilution from RSU grants. Poster is correct: that is not the reason for them. We can confirm this. Compare RSUs granted/year -- $150

A side effect is avoiding dilution from RSU grants. Poster is correct: that is not the reason for them. We can confirm this. Compare RSUs granted/year -- $150M -- to buybacks this quarter -- $70B. ~700x as much.

Mg6yDfjp5U 3y ago
Where are you getting that $150M spent on RSU grants per year from? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see that in the report and it seems way too low. Let's say the average engineer gets $100k/year in RSUs. (I would guess the actual number is higher.) That would only cover 1500 engineers.
- refulgentis 3y ago
  You're right, it's too low, see link at bottom: my guess is the $2B number, inclusive of all granted but not vested, is the correct #. In general people way overestimate the # of SWEs at Google relative to the employee #, even within Google. I don't wanna get too cute in public but some fermi estimates including, say, number of employees per engineer at a 100 person startup, and a jaundiced yet correct view of how much is outsourced at a company with a lot of grunt level SWE work common to every company, bridges the multiplier from there. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364742/000156459021008796/R27.htm#:~:text=The%20Company%20initially%20values%20performance%2Dbased%20RSUs%20at,million%2C%20$117%20million%20and%20$121%20million%2C%20respectively https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364742/000156459021....
  - lanza 3y ago
    It's in the earnings. It was $5.2B this quarter against $15.7B repurchased.
    - refulgentis 3y ago
      [deleted]
derf_ 3y ago
According to https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001652044/000165204424000022/goog-20231231.htm https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001652044/0... their stock-based compensation expense was $15.539b in 2023 (and actual repurchases were $2.324b).
- refulgentis 3y ago
  Brief notes after spending 10 minutes figuring out how to get this, not nitpicking or saying you got anything wrong. Source was page with "54" at the bottom - Unvested grants over 4 years vs. buybacks this year - #s are for 2020, not 2023 - # excludes tax witholdings (i.e. shares they'll never grant). - For 2020, grants of 15.539 - 10.273 witholding = ~5B, matching sibling comment's correction - $2.324B is one of 4 columns, real number is $50.274 B - so for 2020, real #s are 5.26B in unvested grants over 4 years versus 50.274B in buybacks that year. - for 2023, 22.578 - 10.164 = 12.4B in unvested grants over 4 years, versus 62B in buybacks that year

Mg6yDfjp5U 3y ago

Where are you getting that $150M spent on RSU grants per year from? Unless I'm missing it, I don't see that in the report and it seems way too low. Let's say the average engineer gets $100k/year in RSUs. (I would guess the actual number is higher.) That would only cover 1500 engineers.

refulgentis 3y ago
You're right, it's too low, see link at bottom: my guess is the $2B number, inclusive of all granted but not vested, is the correct #. In general people way overestimate the # of SWEs at Google relative to the employee #, even within Google. I don't wanna get too cute in public but some fermi estimates including, say, number of employees per engineer at a 100 person startup, and a jaundiced yet correct view of how much is outsourced at a company with a lot of grunt level SWE work common to every company, bridges the multiplier from there. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364742/000156459021008796/R27.htm#:~:text=The%20Company%20initially%20values%20performance%2Dbased%20RSUs%20at,million%2C%20$117%20million%20and%20$121%20million%2C%20respectively https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364742/000156459021....
- lanza 3y ago
  It's in the earnings. It was $5.2B this quarter against $15.7B repurchased.
  - refulgentis 3y ago
    [deleted]

derf_ 3y ago

According to https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001652044/000165204424000022/goog-20231231.htm https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001652044/0... their stock-based compensation expense was $15.539b in 2023 (and actual repurchases were $2.324b).

refulgentis 3y ago
Brief notes after spending 10 minutes figuring out how to get this, not nitpicking or saying you got anything wrong. Source was page with "54" at the bottom - Unvested grants over 4 years vs. buybacks this year - #s are for 2020, not 2023 - # excludes tax witholdings (i.e. shares they'll never grant). - For 2020, grants of 15.539 - 10.273 witholding = ~5B, matching sibling comment's correction - $2.324B is one of 4 columns, real number is $50.274 B - so for 2020, real #s are 5.26B in unvested grants over 4 years versus 50.274B in buybacks that year. - for 2023, 22.578 - 10.164 = 12.4B in unvested grants over 4 years, versus 62B in buybacks that year