Hi Manny
I think you are taking a very rose-coloured glasses approach to the way that RSU's work.
Don't quote me on this as I have not looked at the remuneration reports from the latest set of accounts for some time, but Sean's salary is circa gross $400K. On top of this, Sean is eligible to receive performance shares which are issued on meeting KPI's.
We are not provided information surrounding the KPI's that need to be met. Some KPI's might be walk ups such as 'attend all 12 monthly meetings', others will be 'expand ecosystem by x% or 'generate net sales of $500m'.
Some KPI's will be met, some will not. The restricted shares are issued upfront and then ordinary shares are awarded upon KPI's being met, or cancelled at the conclusion of the KPI period set by the board.
You've previously posted the narrative that Sean is accumulating because he is selling 'some' of his shares to cover tax obligations, but not all of them.
Sean's shares are issued to him for FREE. $0. Nothing. He then has to pay tax on the discount (full value of the shares at date of issue). I therefore understand why directors then sell some of those shares to fund their tax obligations.
It is a big reach to then argue Sean is accumulating because his shareholdings have increased.
Sean has no skin in the game with respect to the performance share's he's issued. He isn't buying $50K shares on market like we would have to. He has received them for FREE. He then sells $10K worth of shares to cover an upcoming $10K tax liability in relation to those shares. Ergo, Sean has FREE-CARRIED $40K worth of shares. With tax having been paid by share sales, he's literally out of pocket $0 for the remaining shares.
If he received $50K worth of shares for FREE and then paid the corresponding tax liability from his own cash, it would be fair to argue that he has $10K skin in the game. This simply is not the case. Sean and the other directors always sell shares to cover the tax liability.
As far as I'm aware, Pia is the only director to have purchased shares on market in the last few years.
All of the above aside, we want to attract top talent and it would be fair to say that US based CEO's of tech company's would receive significantly more than $400K for their role, so I do understand the need to include performance shares in the overall salary package. This works well for shareholders as the directors have a long term incentive to increase the value of the company and therefore shareholders capital.
The one painful point for people like Sean is that shareholders tend to jump on them when they sell shares to cover tax, however, there's no announcement when a director chooses not to sell shares and personally wears the tax, leaving the decision a thankless one.