股东再吃亏，阿里高层也不会亏

    上市完全不会影响阿里巴巴大肆授股的传统。该公司招股书在这一点上极为明确。2011年至今，阿里巴巴通过期权、受限制股份和受限股票单位将9980万股股票送到了员工手里，占该公司上市后总股本（25亿股）的4%。按每股68美元计算，这些股份和实值期权的价值将超过60亿美元，平均到每位阿里巴巴的员工头上约有30万美元。要知道，阿里巴巴的员工可不是生活在曼哈顿下城区，而是在中国杭州。

    那么，公众股东应该有哪些期许呢？在招股书第74页，阿里巴巴表示，它为新的授股行动保留了2660万股股票。在第246页，该公司介绍了“2014年上市后计划”。阿里巴巴表示，所有“在已经到期的授股计划”中赠送但没有行权的股份都将纳入今后的授股行动，这又是一个不同寻常的规定。这似乎意味着，因为员工离职而取消以及由于其他原因未转换成股票的赠送股份，都会留给那些继续在阿里巴巴工作的人。该公司招股书还披露，2011年以来，取消的期权和受限制股份共1880万股。加上这些已过期股份，阿里巴巴可赠送的股票数量将达到4500万股，占上市后总股本的1.8%。

    这4500万股是目前阿里巴巴储备的待赠送股份，而且该公司每年都会对储备股份进行补充。阿里巴巴的上市后计划显示，从2015年4月1日开始，董事会有权每年以期权和受限制股份的形式发行2500万股新股。这相当于阿里巴巴全部流通股的1%，将用于每年的授股行动。当然，并不是所有赠股都会转换成股票。但可以肯定，它们将极大地稀释股本，因为相比只有当股价上涨才具有价值的期权，阿里巴巴更愿意赠送稳赚不赔的受限制股份。

    如果这2500万新股中，有80%以受限制股份的形式授予员工，按每股68美元的价格计算，在为时4年的授予期中一直留在阿里巴巴的员工，每年将得到总价值14亿美元的股票。下一年，他们得到的股票价值会再增加几亿美元——当然，这取决于阿里巴巴届时的股价。

    很难把这些股份称为“激励性报酬”，它们的主要作用，就是将阿里巴巴的股票数量不断扩大，导致其利润摊薄。如果该公司可以用流通股来支付收购对价，其股本数量很可能激增。阿里巴巴管理层分到的份额太大。事实胜于炒作，而这些事实无疑在告诫投资者对阿里巴巴敬而远之。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    Alibaba’s new status as a public company will do nothing to discourage the tradition of epic stock grants. That’s abundantly clear from the F-1A. From 2011 to the present, Alibaba dispensed 99.8 million options, restricted shares, and restricted stock units (RSUs) to employees. That’s 4% of the 2.5 billion shares that will exist after Alibaba goes public. Those shares, along with in-the-money options, will be worth over $6 billion at $68 a share. That’s the equivalent of almost $300,000 per Alibaba employee. Remember, that’s for an employer based not in lower Manhattan, but Hangzhou, China.

    So what can public shareholders expect? On page 74, Alibaba discloses that it has reserved another 26.6 million shares for new grants. Then, later on page 246, we’re introduced to the “2014 Post-IPO Plan.” In yet another unusual provision, Alibaba states that all the shares granted under “all our previous plans [that] have expired without being exercised” will be added to the pool for future grants. That seems mean that the awards cancelled when people left Alibaba, or were not turned into shares for any other reason, will now go to folks still working at Alibaba. The filing further reveals that since 2011, 18.8 million options and restricted share grants were cancelled. Reviving those expired shares brings the number of shares in the existing pool to 45 million. That represents 1.8% of the total shares that will be outstanding starting when Alibaba debuts.

    Those 45 million shares represent the stock that’s currently in the hopper, earmarked for grants. But the hopper will refill every year. The Post-IPO provision states that the board will have the authority to issue an additional 25 million shares in options and restricted stock every year, starting on April 1, 2015. That’s equal to 1% of all Alibaba shares in circulation, to be granted annually. Of course, not all of those grants will turn into shares. But you can bet that the stock’s dilution will be substantial because Alibaba strongly favors restricted stock that’s always in the money over options that are worthless unless the stock price increases.

    If 80% of those 25 million shares are awarded in restricted stock, employees will get $1.4 billion a year in shares, at $68, if they remain for the four-year vesting period. Then, the next year, they’ll get a couple of billion dollars more, depending, of course, on Alibaba’s stock price at the time.

    It’s hard to call that “incentive compensation.” The main effect is to spread Alibaba’s earnings over a relentlessly expanding number of shares, a number that’s likely to balloon when the company is able to deploy publicly traded shares to pay for acquisitions. Alibaba’s managers are getting a cut that’s far too big. The facts trump the hype. And the facts are imploring investors to stay away.