Qualtrics acquisition fucked employees?
My friend at Qualtrics said they got screwed over by the acquisition and employees with equity saw none of the upside from the 3x acquisition price relative to previous valuation. But there's been no backlash or bad pr about this. Why is that?
Wait how can a sale 3X above valuation screw common holders? Is that because there were insane liquidation preferences? Iâd be really curious to hear this one.
Probably guaranteed money somewhere else and not much was trickled down.
I havenât heard anyone complain about getting âscrewed overâ ... but there have been a good amount of employees mad about the horrible messaging from leadership. Lots of overpromise/underdeliver. They also donât have any retention plan, and RSUs vest on existing schedules (other than usual promotions and some salary bumps here and there... while at the same time misleading by saying overall itâs net neutral compensation, while tons of execs are getting $1MM annual comp they werenât before.) There hasnât been employee exodus or anything yet. Everyone seems happy, but most would have liked IPO more.
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Didnât Ryan smith still hold 92% of the company?
Lots of people just don't have as much equity as they would have liked. I have been at Q for 2 years (started as a new grad) and even after the "insane buyout premium" my equity compensation is $43k over 4 years. Now that we are part of SAP we're moving to a more salary heavy, equity light (since apparently Q was equity heavy lol) comp model. It is supposed to happen over the next couple years as existing equity vests. Anyway, I don't think many people got "screwed", but lots are disappointed. Some are interviewing. Some are planning to stay until the next refresh cycle in April (results won't come back until June ish).
This is basically the issue. Our three founders made a billion dollars *each* and this person is making less than a college hire at FAANG makes now despite two years of experience and a premium buyout. We all agreed to our offer letters so it's not fair to say we got screwed but there's no reason to stick around IMO
I wouldnât say anyone got screwed. I think the ire comes from Ryan stated he got $XXX million for employee retention and most of that went to senior execs. They messaged it as leadership fighting for the employees but only a few have seen the benefit of that.
There was no liquidation preference at all. Everyone got $35 per share. No one was screwed. The only valid complaint is that Qualtrics was (extremely?) conservative on giving out equity so most people didnât see a huge upside. When giving out grants the company was savvy and aware of current / expected valuations and made grants accordingly.
Donât forget horrible messaging from leadership. Telling 100% of employees this is great for them, and theyâve got millions for them secured in the deal, when over half of the company is lucky to see any increase at all.
The biggest issue is that you are locked into a price for 3 more years, so the npv is lower. Sap stock price has increased 8%, but we're still locked in at $35/share for the next 2-3 years
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