In 2022 you get 10 million in A) RSU’s that vest in 5 years or B) cash in 2022 C) cash in 2027.
Of course no company actually pays people before they do work, but this does explain why Amazon’s RSU’s don’t vest 25%, 25%, 25, 25% instead the last 2 years are 40% and 40%. And people get issues new RSU’s before the old ones finished vesting.
If some company handed out RSU’s on Jan 15 2023, that vested on January 16 2023 then it’s effectively just cash, but that’s not how they are used.
A single RSU grant normally results in multiple different taxable events across several years those dates are a major factor in what RSUs are. Both in the uncertainty around actual value and when you actually pay taxes.
But, it’s better to understand them as part of a contract. A hypothetical CEO negotiates RSU and a golden parachute that’s equivalent what they would lose in RSU grant when leaving, why? What advantages does that contract have over pure cash both from the CEO’s perspective and the companies?
The advantage is simple, it allows the amount of cash given to move with the stock price. In the ceo case the board wants to align incentives (between the ceo and the share holders).
Steve Jobs is rather famous for renegotiating his contract after the stock price fell, but this is fairly common. The compensation package as a whole must be sufficiently attractive, and of course when you look into things like golden parachutes any one element of a compensation package never tells the whole story.
In 2022 you get 10 million in A) RSU’s that vest in 5 years or B) cash in 2022 C) cash in 2027.
Of course no company actually pays people before they do work, but this does explain why Amazon’s RSU’s don’t vest 25%, 25%, 25, 25% instead the last 2 years are 40% and 40%. And people get issues new RSU’s before the old ones finished vesting.