[xp84]

Wow. I wonder (genuinely) how such a mammoth payout will affect retention? I guess the option vesting will serve the purpose?

I guess if I found my already-vested shares were worth $4 million, I'd still be motivated to get the remaining $8M by working a couple more years. How surreal that would be, to find yourself extremely "FIRE" (Financially Independent, Retire Early) but also kind of obligated to yourself to keep working hard for a few more years, as walking away from that kind of money seems crazy.

[vl]

Usually the grants are restructured. Ie instead of what was vested and unvested rank-and-file gets new 4 year grants. And then it works exactly the way you would expect: everyone works for 4 years and then leaves.