Shopify lets staff decide cash-stock pay mix as shares dive

Re:Shopify lets staff decide cash-stock pay mix as shares dive by travisjungroth on Friday September 16, 2022 @05:14PM (#32872076)

They asked if you could "end up in the same boat" by getting paid the same amount in cash as RSUs. You can't. There's a common misconception that RSUs are only more restrictive than cash, that if you got paid in cash you could just use the cash to buy the stock and end up in the same position. This is just not true.

RSUs have downsides. That was never in question in this thread (as much as people keep affirming it).

RSUs also have financial upside over the equivalent amount of cash. That's the thing people keep trying to explain but also seems to get brushed off.

$100k cash and $200k RSUs per year in a stock that increases by 10% each year: after 4 years I have $400k cash and $1.171mm in stock.

$100k cash and $200k cash given to me at the beginning of the year to buy the same stock for 4 years: $400k cash and $1.021mm in stock.

They're just not the same. RSUs have leverage. They have upside and downside.

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Re:Shopify lets staff decide cash-stock pay mix as shares dive by tharkun__ on Friday September 16, 2022 @06:07PM (#32872623)

Fair enough on the exact same boat. Very unlikely given the companies that usually have RSUs in that value range. You would have to get RSUs in a company that is less likely to go up than what you could invest in with the cash.

For a less sky rockety company that still offers RSUs I would take my chances with the cash and actually ending up in a better boat.

[ Parent | on HN ]