What happens to vested stock options when a company goes public?

As long as your company is private, all those options (and company stock, if you’ve exercised) are usually worth nothing. There’s no market for it. The only “person” you can sell the stock to is the company itself. Once your company goes IPO, it means you can sell that stock for actual money.

How do stock options work when you join a company?

A stock option gives an employee the ability to buy shares of company stock at a certain price, within a certain period of time. Employees who exercise their options and sell their shares when the company’s stock is trading significantly higher than the grant price have the potential to make a lot of money.

Why do employers offer stock options?

Stock options are a benefit often associated with startup companies, which may issue them in order to reward early employees when and if the company goes public. They are awarded by some fast-growing companies as an incentive for employees to work towards growing the value of the company’s shares.

When do vested stock options have to be exercised?

And you can only exercise vested stock options (unless your company allows early exercising). If your company gives you RSUs, on the other hand, they’re giving you stock in the future. You may have to stay at the company for a certain amount of time, and sometimes you or the company must hit a stated milestone in order for these shares to vest.

Can a company terminate a vested stock plan?

Your company cannot terminate vested options, unless the plan allows it to cancel all outstanding options (both unvested and vested) upon a change in control. In this situation, your company may repurchase the vested options.

How does stock vesting work in a company?

Instead, you’re getting the right to exercise (buy) a set number of shares at a fixed price later on. You usually have to earn your options over time—a process called vesting. And you can only exercise vested stock options (unless your company allows early exercising).

What happens to vested options in a merger?

Those obligations include vested options. Therefore, your vested options should remain intact in a merger/reorganization scenario. Check the agreements to be sure, though. In an asset acquisition, the buyer purchases the assets of your company, rather than its stock.