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Ask HN: What happens with stock grants for Twitter employees?

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Re: Ask HN: What happens with stock grants for Twitter employees?

#3
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/25/technology/twitter-employ...

"At the meeting with employees on Monday, executives tried to assure employees that they wouldn’t be shortchanged by Mr. Musk’s acquisition. Mr. Agrawal told employees that their stock options would convert to cash when the deal with Mr. Musk closes, which he estimated would take between three and six months. Employees would receive their same benefits packages for a year after the deal was finalized and there were no immediate plans for layoffs, he added."

Re: Ask HN: What happens with stock grants for Twitter employees?

#5
Depends on the deal, I’ve been a part of a deal where unvested stock converted as if it had vested: depending on how much is outstanding, and the value of the ongoing relationship between the company and employees, you could expect all outstanding options (vested, unvested) to be paid.

That said, in this situation, it’s unclear how Musk will behave: on the one hand, to ensure a smooth transition, it makes sense to maximise the chance that employees stay on — even if he intends to cut them eventually — but also this is Musk and so maybe he’ll see people who won’t be loyal to him self selecting to leave as a bonus and he’ll make it as easy for them as possible (by behaving in the least good way) even if it hurts the company.

Re: Ask HN: What happens with stock grants for Twitter employees?

#6
Depends on the buyer and nuanced details of how the awards actually work at Twitter. For existing shares vested those will most likely just be paid out in cash into a brokerage account for any shares still held. If the acquisition is a traditional pure cash transaction employees would cease to be shareholders.

On things not vested it’s typically up to the buyer. Obviously some incentive to not just annoy everyone to the point that they all quit, but the new buyer will generally quickly decide who they want to keep and won’t be too fussed if others just get pissed and leave. Reality is in transactions like this the employees are just another company asset for the new owner to sort out what to do with.

Re: Ask HN: What happens with stock grants for Twitter employees?

#7
They will be paid out on the same schedule, but as cash (at $54.20). I assume this will also be true of promised grants with a number attached to them that have not yet been converted to a fixed number of shares yet, but that hasn't been fully clarified yet.

Re: Ask HN: What happens with stock grants for Twitter employees?

#10

Since they haven't vested then they're lost, unless the buyer is very generous.

That very much depends on how twitter structured their options and the details of the contract for purchase. I've seen setups where all unvested options vest immediately with a purchase and I've seen setups where the options are gone just like that. There is a whole range of options in the middle that are possible as well.
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