Liquid Compensation
For employees at publicly traded companies — Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple — Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are effectively deferred cash. They vest on a schedule (typically quarterly after a one-year cliff), and the moment they vest, you can sell them at the current market price. There is no guessing, no lock-up period for employees, and no dependency on a future liquidity event.
How RSUs work mechanically:
- You are granted X shares at hire, vesting over 4 years.
- Each quarter (or year), a portion vests and appears in your brokerage account.
- You pay ordinary income tax on the value at vest, not at grant.
- You can sell immediately or hold (holding introduces market risk).
The negotiation trap with public RSUs:
Recruiters will say: "The stock could double — this $100k RSU grant could be worth $200k!" This is technically true but irrelevant to negotiation. It could also halve. When evaluating and negotiating a public offer, treat RSUs at today's price. Do not discount them (they are liquid) and do not inflate them (future price is unknown).
Negotiating RSU grants:
RSU grants are often more negotiable than base salary, especially at large companies where base salary bands are rigid. If a recruiter says base is capped, ask: "Can we increase the RSU grant to close the gap?" A $20k increase in annual RSU value is equivalent to a $20k salary increase in Year 1 purchasing power.