An RSU grant of 400,000 dollars over four years at a US-listed employer, vesting quarterly, held by a UK-resident additional-rate taxpayer, produces income tax and National Insurance at each vest of roughly 47 per cent on the market value that day, withheld by selling shares, then capital gains on any growth from that value when the remainder is eventually sold. The sterling exposure sits unhedged the whole time. Very few people holding such a grant have modelled it. This site is for those who should.

500K CTO covers pay and equity compensation for senior technology staff in the UK: CTOs, VPs of Engineering, staff and principal engineers, and founders at the point of an exit. It assumes you know what a vesting schedule is and why a preference stack matters. It skips the basics and gets to the detail: RSU taxation and section 431 elections, EMI versus CSOP versus unapproved options at exercise and sale, Business Asset Disposal Relief eligibility, the tax on an exit for option holders and founders, tax-efficient sale planning across tax years, deferred compensation, and negotiating a senior package clause by clause.

Tax is cited by section. Figures are dated and worked at the level of someone holding a grant now.

500K CTO is edited by James Whitfield, who has spent many years in senior technology roles and on both sides of equity negotiations. It is an independent UK publication and does not give personal financial or tax advice.