8/15    Anyone joined VMware as an engineer recently, like, 6 months ago?  How
        many shares of option did you get, and what's the exercise price?
        \_ Normally, as an engineers, your total gain regardless of number
           will be $200K in a 4 year vest period, ON AVERAGE. That means
           some people will never make it ($0K/4 years) and some people
           will get super rich. As an engineer, don't expect anything
           because mgmt will always get 100X more shares than you.
        \_ It isn't about "how many shares".  It is about "what percentage" of
           shares.  As I've had to explain to an HR person more than once, if
           she can't tell me how many total shares exist then her offer of X
           shares is totally meaningless.  I would rather have 10 shares at a
           place with 50 total shares than 1 billion at a place with a 100
           trillion.  It is literally a "share" or slice or piece of the
           company.  Also, if you are pre-ipo, your price being 5 cents or 5
           dollars a share or whatever isn't that important if you can sell at
           50+ like vmware or at 500+ like google.  Does it really matter if
           you made $495/share or $499.95/share?  So, since they're already
           public, what does it really matter to you as a non-vmware person?
           \_ it's still important, just to see what sort of gain one might
              expect to have gotten out of this one.
              \_ no, it isn't.  because whatever your original grant is is
                 almost always 'resized' to fit the issuers need for public
                 share with splits or reverse splits as appropriate.  my 10
                 shares in a 50 share company would be millions of shares
                 when they had a financial event.  my billion shares would
                 be reduced from the trillions company.  if you just want to
                 know how much a vmware engineer made, then you need to ask
                 how much a vmware engineer made not some share count proxy
                 and you'll have to wait 6 months until they're allowed to
                 sell on the market.  right now whatever they are worth is
                 paper and worth nothing but hope and dreams until sold and
                 taxed.