1. I'm talking about equity, not options. Aka, part of the company is yours. With voting rights, or in the case of e.g. Google, at least worth cash 2. In a startup, it is a lottery ticket. If the company is public, you can include it in compensation as there is a market value

If the company actually gives you a meaning number of shares, they can expect you to care about the company beyond the paycheck... because it's your company. If they are Google and the stock is a way to chain you via vesting...at least it's golden chains