[ojn]

Ex-Tesla employee here. I'm not going to comment on any of the statements because I know nothing of it, but I wanted to give one angle to the "performance bonus not paid out":

Like most employers, Tesla gives out a mix of raises, bonuses and equity renewals at times based on reviews/merit/etc. Some of them, like equity, vest over 4 years.

That's normal, etc. But, Tesla is the only employer I know of where you had an option to pick stock, options, or cash, as the vesting entity. Cash wasn't always offered, but I know it to have been an option at least once.

I don't know if that's what happened here, but it might be part of why someone thought of it as "earned bonus with delayed payout" when in reality it might not have been. I can't tell, but I wanted to mention the possibility.

[droithomme]

> Some of them, like equity, vest over 4 years. That's normal, etc.

It is absolutely not normal to have raises and bonuses "vest over four years". I've never encountered that or heard of that at any company at all. The only reasonable way to describe that would be "highly abnormal", not normal.

[ojn]

I said that there was an option to get retention grant as stock, options or cash (usually just the two former but at least once all three were available). Nothing about raises or bonuses being over 4 years.

I actually can't remember getting any bonuses, just salary adjustments and retention/equity refresh.

[minhazm]

It definitely is normal. It's how equity grants work in tech. At annual review time you may get a salary increase and an equity "refresher" that also has a 4 yr vesting period.

[ssgao]

It is pretty normal in Bay Area. All tech companies package are like that.