Strike Price

Definition

The price per share at which employees can exercise their stock options. Set artificially low so they can actually afford to buy their equity on the off chance it's worth something.

Example Usage

My options have a strike price of $0.50 per share, which is great until I realize I need $50K to exercise all of them.

Origin

Finance terminology from options markets, 1970s+

Fun Fact

The lower the strike price, the better for employees—and the higher the chance the company will later argue it was too generous and needs to be adjusted.

Source: Stock options terminology

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yellitocracy

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