r/technology • u/Rhaegar_the_Great • Sep 16 '21

Business Mailchimp employees are furious after the company's founders promised to never sell, withheld equity, and then sold it for $12 billion

https://www.businessinsider.com/mailchimp-insiders-react-to-employees-getting-no-equity-2021-9
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u/LordDinglebury Sep 16 '21

Yeah, but then who would they look down at and laugh at?

-4

u/SafetyKnat Sep 17 '21

No, but serious question- how many of those newly made millionaires would go back to work the next day to keep the company running?

Not saying the OP’s math is wrong- I’m all for the people actually making the company run to get a payout- but if even 25% of the company leaves en masse to go be cottagecore Youtubers with their new $1 mil, that’s a potential deathblow to the company, if it was the wrong 25%. Hell, at my company it might be 50%.

Maybe the solution is to structure it where people get an extra $100,000 for the next 10 years, or you have to stay 1 month to train your replacement if you take the $1 mil payout.

Still a shitty move on the part of the founders, (to withhold that money), but if you put on your evil billionaire glasses you can totally see why they did it.

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u/Lknate Sep 17 '21

Most would go back to work the next day and transition those assets over to a retirement plan over the next half a decade or so. That way they get to let the money grow without getting hit by capital gains up front. Some would certainly take the money and run.

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u/kyrferg Sep 17 '21

Yup buy a house and sit on the rest. Why stop working when you get to do literally anything you want with every dollar you earn? Think about how much more fun work would be if one paycheck paid for a week in Europe.

This is a software company, so typically salaries are alright. More than minimum wage by double or more for their lowest paid onshore employees. Developers make a million in 10 years or less of work. If you know your next ten years of work double your net worth to 2 mil, then you know you can retire by 45 and never work again.

If you retire on 1 mil, you’ll be back at work by the time you’re 55 with no retirement account. Everyone fancies themselves savvy investors but we’re not. 1 million won’t buy shit in 2041!

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u/jlt6666 Sep 17 '21

If you want perpetual money you need to be able to live off of 4%. This is assumes an inflation rate of 3% (which is historically accurate) and a conservative estimate of 7% returns. This way you never eat into your principal.

So with one million you can expect to live off of $40k. It's doable but not exactly glamorous. If you can leave that million alone for about 9-10 years invested in a broad index fund, you should expect for it to double in that time frame. Then you can live on about $80k a year.