The Incredibly Rare Financial Benefit Of Top Companies

This video segment explains refresher equity grants, a powerful and rare form of compensation offered mainly by top-tier tech companies like Facebook and Google. These grants serve as both a performance incentive and a retention strategy.

• Refresher grants are annual RSU awards, given in addition to the initial offer. Their size is determined by an employee's level and most recent performance review.
• Compensation structure is formulaic at big tech companies, including the calculation of refresher amounts, which often outpace inflation even in challenging economic climates.
• Grants stack over time, meaning employees may have multiple overlapping equity packages (original + yearly refreshers), significantly increasing total stock-based compensation over the years.
• Year four marks a peak, where compensation from the initial grant and up to three refreshers overlap—this is why many employees leave after their fourth year, as compensation often drops after the original grant fully vests.
• Refresher grants are a major retention tool, helping extend average tenure at top companies from around two years closer to four.