Re: How many worthless stock options do yo

[Peter <pnewman1 -at- home -dot- com>]

Bruce Byfield wrote:
> Seriously, it's interesting to tally the responses I received to my innocent
> question. About one in seven or eight got any money from stock options from new
> companies, and nobody was even a paper millionaire.
> 
> It's a different story, of course, with options from well-established companies. Not
> that a writer will become rich from them, either. However, keep them long enough,
> and they can be a very welcome nest egg, especially when they build up over a decade
> or two.

A very different story. I know a retired UPS truck driver. When he
retired, his option stock was worth over 2.5 million, dollars that is.
Despite cynicism to the contrary, a lot of company owners give out
options to instill a sense of participation in ownership in the company
employees. They prefer to have employees who show up to work, as opposed
to showing up to get paid. Early Microsoft employees, even writers, have
a large paper net worth. Some owners have learned the hard way that
stock options and ownership can have the originally unintended side
effect of conferring real rights upon the grantee. Even to the extent of
giving them a say in management. Thus, the beginning of dilution of
rights and the creation of illusory options. Options can be a good
substitute for current pay. In the "hang the future, I want it now,"
climate they are no incentive. The real value of options lies in a
combination of management skill, luck and good intentions of all
concerned.


-- 
Peter
Mailto:peternew -at- optonline -dot- net

Adapting old programs to fit new machines
usually means adapting new machines to
behave like old ones.

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