Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired • Hacker News Board

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#21

Post by prostoalex » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:50 PM UTC

Important to note this applies only to unvested stock.

I'm not defending the move, but in reality the company could terminate the employees (at-will employment in California), which would terminate their further vesting anyways.

This is not the clawback scenario that Silver Lake executed with Skype.

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#22

Post by alex4nder » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

wavephorm wrote: post #7

With the unvested shares, the executives believed they could attract more top talent with the promise of stock. Not anymore they won't.

The new hires will just need 'no takebacks' written into their contracts.

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#23

Post by zem » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

cageface wrote: post #9

Is it just me or is tech particularly sleazy right now?

well, zynga in particular has been sleazy from day one. if any other company had done this, i bet people would have been a lot more taken aback - here it's still shocking, but at some level it's in line with their general business ethic.

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#24

Post by api » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:52 PM UTC

saalweachter wrote: post #15

I wonder if any early Google employees begrudge Charlie (he's the "early Google chef", right?) his millions. An army travels on its stomach. Google's chefs helped make Google the company it is today. Why is it so wrong that they be rewarded?

There is risk associated with working for a startup. Risk that you will suddenly lose your job. Risk that you will lose your health insurance two days before one of your kids requires an operation. It's a level of risk that doesn't exist if you work for the government or some big mega-corp.

There's also a level of buy-in that startups demand. You're asked to make it more than "just a job." Even the guy mopping the damn floor is asked to mop it until it shines, just because "we're all in this together."

People deserve to be compensated for that if things go well. But to your stereotypical business sociopath only executive-level individuals and their cronies are real human beings. (Actually, nobody is a real human being. It's only about winning in the shortest possible term.)

And I'd be willing to wager that these particular executives were more of the empty suit, posturing, clueless, "let's do lunch," "I'll have my people talk to your people," variety. There is a negative correlation between actual merit and this kind of behavior.

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#25

Post by utefan001 » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:52 PM UTC

Any lawyers care to explain the legal possibility of keeping the stock after being fired?

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#26

Post by pavel_lishin » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:53 PM UTC

> With the unvested shares, the executives believed they could attract more top talent with the promise of stock.

What sort of top talent will have not read this story and decided that surely, THIS TIME, Zynga won't screw their employees?

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#27

Post by fragsworth » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

News like this damages the startup community, especially in game development. Lots of potential employees already have a sense that stock is "worthless paper" and this Zynga stunt just exacerbates the problem.

This could end up like what happened with Activision and the CoD guys.

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#28

Post by tzs » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

So a company whose business model is based on the notion of ripping off actual game companies is also unethical with its own employees? What a completely unshocking development.

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#29

Post by pavel_lishin » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:55 PM UTC

api wrote: post #12

cageface wrote: post #9

Is it just me or is tech particularly sleazy right now?

Very. It's bad. I kind of got out of startups for that reason. I just couldn't take working with sociopaths anymore. I have some stories. Serious f'ing stories. And no, I'm not just "player hating." A lot of it didn't even involve me. I just couldn't take working in proximity to such sleaze. Tech's had this reputation as a place where fortunes can be made. That's going to attract a lot of ambitious and creative peopl…

Would you be willing to do an anonymous AMA, or write up some of your experiences?

Re: Zynga to employees: Give back our stock or you'll be fired

#30

Post by mtkd » Thu, Nov 10, 2011, 5:56 PM UTC

Stories like this reduce the value of stock for all companies who issue it - most with good intentions - and leave our community morally poorer.

So what if a chef in an early stage team made out with $20M later - an army marches on it's stomach - he probably contributed more to delivery than some of the management team at the time.