> The restricted stock is not tradeable for at least 180 days after it was issued
ESPP and RSUs are two different and unrelated things. Your original comment I responded to mentioned only ESPP.
As for RSUs they're tradeable as soon as they vest, which is typically a year+ after they're granted. The stock can certainly go down between when they were granted and when they vest but it's more accurate to say you made less money then that you lost money. If I buy a painting for a million dollars and give it to you (at no cost) and you then sell it for $800K you didn't lose $200K.
Don't get me wrong I (and every other VMW employee) would much rather see our stock go up then down, but I think you're being a bit unfair to the ESPP and RSU programs. Even when our stock goes down (and it's done pretty much only that since I started...which I hope is just coincidence, ha) it still works out better than the stock options employees at other companies (particularly startups) get.
ESPP and RSUs are two different and unrelated things. Your original comment I responded to mentioned only ESPP.
As for RSUs they're tradeable as soon as they vest, which is typically a year+ after they're granted. The stock can certainly go down between when they were granted and when they vest but it's more accurate to say you made less money then that you lost money. If I buy a painting for a million dollars and give it to you (at no cost) and you then sell it for $800K you didn't lose $200K.
Don't get me wrong I (and every other VMW employee) would much rather see our stock go up then down, but I think you're being a bit unfair to the ESPP and RSU programs. Even when our stock goes down (and it's done pretty much only that since I started...which I hope is just coincidence, ha) it still works out better than the stock options employees at other companies (particularly startups) get.