Higher Base vs RSUs for public co down from ATH
I’m negotiating an offer at a public company and was wondering whether the current dip (down >50% from 2021 ATH) means it’s better to get more RSUs over base I know cash is king but if this is the bottom or near it, RSUs could 🚀 by 1 year cliff if stock partially recovers. Wall Street types say it’s already oversold. the exchange is not 1:1. They offered me 70k more RSU (17.5k/yr) if I was ok with base 5k below my higher ask TC: 240k if you count stock options 🤪, 🥜if not YOE: 4
Higher base. You can always buy your choice of stocks that seem like a discount, rather than being locked in for the ride at your company.
Why is this even a question? It's a public company and they're offering you 70k for a 5k reduction in base. Take the 70k extra. Even if it drops by another 50%, you'll still have 35k spread of over 4 years, which comes out to more than $5k x 4.
I thought it was obvious until I talked to some other engineers and they all said cash is king ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ my thoughts were “yes cash is king but…70k RSU over 4 years vs 20k extra cash…seems like a no brainer?? Even if stock drops another 50% I still come out ahead
Only logical argument I heard for taking less comp for higher base was “what if they lay you off before one year cliff or a vesting date?” VS higher base I benefit from all the way up until a layoff if it happened. I’ve been laid off 1 week before a quarterly vest so that did give me pause
This seems like an easy choice. $5k vs $70k. Unless you can’t pay your bills and are really dying for that $400/mo for groceries, take the RSUs
I’m already living well below my current base which is below the lower one. I thought the choice was easy until a ton of people I know IRL all said cash 🤔
The people you know IRL either don’t know how numbers work or they believe “cash is king” to their own detriment. Inflation being the way it is right now is actually extra points in favor of RSUs
Don’t want to dox myself by giving company name but relevant: it’s not a company that has recently been announced to be losing users / growth or been acquired by a billionaire.