There are two primarily legal structures for an acquisition. The first is a stock purchase, where the negotiated terms of the various classes of stock all apply. The second, is an asset purchase, sometimes called an intellectual property purchase.
In an talent acquisition structured as an asset deal, the acquirer doesn't actually purchase the company's stock. Instead, the buyer gives the seller money for the purchase of the company's IP and other assets and the seller then lays off it's staff with a somewhat informal agreement that all of the employees will sign negotiated employment contracts with acquirer. The result is that the percentage ownership doesn't come into play directly for the employees.
Generally, the acquiring company has an interest in optimizing their position for the repeated game (ie. they don't want to piss off investors, so they keep getting deals like this). The minimal required to avoid pissing off the investors is to give them their money back, although smart entrepreneurs will push to get return for their investors (often at the founders' expense) to strengthen their own position if they ever plan to raise money for a future venture.
Now, since an asset deal isn't actually purchasing stock, they aren't really establishing a value for the company. There's this indirect valuation, which is somewhat advertised as the "total deal size". So when you hear about a X million dollar talent acquisition, you're often hearing about the total amount of money that the acquirer expects to pay to all parties over the vesting period.
In an talent acquisition structured as an asset deal, the acquirer doesn't actually purchase the company's stock. Instead, the buyer gives the seller money for the purchase of the company's IP and other assets and the seller then lays off it's staff with a somewhat informal agreement that all of the employees will sign negotiated employment contracts with acquirer. The result is that the percentage ownership doesn't come into play directly for the employees.
Generally, the acquiring company has an interest in optimizing their position for the repeated game (ie. they don't want to piss off investors, so they keep getting deals like this). The minimal required to avoid pissing off the investors is to give them their money back, although smart entrepreneurs will push to get return for their investors (often at the founders' expense) to strengthen their own position if they ever plan to raise money for a future venture.
Now, since an asset deal isn't actually purchasing stock, they aren't really establishing a value for the company. There's this indirect valuation, which is somewhat advertised as the "total deal size". So when you hear about a X million dollar talent acquisition, you're often hearing about the total amount of money that the acquirer expects to pay to all parties over the vesting period.