Mountain View, Calif. – Google Inc., in a move to attract and retain talent, will let employees sell their stock options through an online auction hosted by Morgan Stanley.
The program is available to all employees except for the top 13 executives, said Dave Rolefson, Google’s equity and executive compensation manager. They will be able to sell options that are vested, or eligible for sale.
The exchange, which Google says is the first of its kind, will give employees a way to put a value on their options and a chance to sell them in a competitive market. Allowing options to trade may help Mountain View, Calif.-based Google – owner of the most-used Internet search engine – attract and motivate employees at a time when the stock is trading at almost $500.
Stock options give holders the right to buy shares at a future date, usually at the market price on the day they were granted. Starting in April, Google will let employees transfer options to banks, the equivalent of selling them for cash.
