...But New Survey Finds Pre-IPO Companies Still Favor Broad-Based Ownership

A new survey of over 120 pre-IPO technology companies shows that 96% of their employees get new-hire stock option grants and 85% get follow-on grants. At the same time, the use of equity awards in these companies has grown significantly in the last year, with stock options accounting for 18% of total company ownership in 2004, up from 14% in 2003. The data come from an annual compilation by the consulting firm Syzygy. Participants in the study either have paid to participate in the survey or are clients of law firms that pay Syzygy a fee. The Syzygy and WorldatWork findings are not necessarily at odds. Pre-IPO tech companies were a larger percentage of all companies around 2000 than they are today.