Money and stocks would be fungible if all companies were public, all investors had perfect information, and no employee could make a difference in the stock pri

Money and stocks would be fungible if all companies were public, all investors had perfect information, and no employee could make a difference in the stock price of their employer. All three of those conditions are false. You may be working for a private company that you would not otherwise be able to buy the stock of; sometimes, employment is the only way to get ownership of it. You often have better information about how your own employer is doing than you do about random public companies. And for smaller companies, you can often make a difference in the company's bottom line. This is why companies offer stock compensation in the first place, as an incentive for you to have a stake in the company's success. If your company is a shithole or fraud, then you absolutely do not want to be receiving company stock. But then, if that's the case you may want to re-evaluate working for it at all.