Chapter: 6446

Although Nate had made this decision with a bold confidence, Jimmy's brow furrowed at that moment.

Because he had calculated it out quickly, Jimmy came to a conclusion: he needed more cash now rather than stock options.

Stock options were like a bet on whether the company would take off or not.

If the company took off rapidly, today's $1 million stock option might be worth several millions or even higher next year. But if the company started going downhill, today's $1 million stock option might only be able to exercise at a price of $100,000 or lower.

The board members sitting there felt that Ellis Law Firm's future development would definitely take off, not just because they had the best team in America and the biggest reputation, but also because their main competitor, Smith Law Firm, had shifted its focus to Asia, although it didn't give up its American business. Since then, its American business volume has naturally decreased, which was an opportunity for Ellis Law Firm to grow.

But Jimmy was very clear-minded that when he took ten senior partners away from here, Ellis Law Firm would inevitably enter a period of rapid decline. In such a situation, what good were stock options? Of course, cash was the most stable.

So he opened his mouth and said: "I'm a short-sighted person. When my big brother and sister-in-law founded Smith Law Firm, they offered me 30% shares to join them. I felt that startup failure rates are high, and there's no stable income every month. So I didn't agree. Now you're giving me stock options, but I still think it's not as stable as cash."

As he finished speaking, he added: "Let's make an agreement for ten years from now on. But I won't want any stock options. I'll return all the previous stock options given to me, and Nate just said that these twenty thousand shares of stock options could bring in at least $12.2 million a year, with the dividend increasing further in the future. That's okay. These twenty thousand shares of stock options are yours, but from now on, you only need to pay me $1 million every year for ten years. Even if the company's performance gets better and better, these twenty thousand shares of stock options might be worth two million or even more a year, I won't regret it and come back to change the agreement again in the future. For the next ten years, I just want cash."

Nate listened to this and looked somewhat surprised at first but quickly regained his composure.

He understood Jimmy's character, saying it nicely was cautious, but saying it roughly was extremely stingy.

In the myths of China, you can find a prototype that's almost identical to him - namely, the Pi Yao.

In other words, this person will never spend money on options, no matter what.

Don't look at his previous position as a high-level partner in a law firm; he has always been unwilling to spend money to buy even one option.

Generally speaking, partners usually obtain options through either directorship incentives or the sale of options by directors, with most of them being distributed to a portion and then sold out. This way, partners can participate financially, and once they actually put in their money, they will truly consider themselves part of the law firm and work harder.

This approach applies to almost everyone except Jimmy.

Jimmy's investment philosophy is that anything except money can be invested, but not money.

He won't invest $1 million; he'll definitely choose to make a profit from investing $10,000, which has a high probability of earning $2 million. So it's indeed consistent with his character to want cash rather than options.

After understanding this point, Nate didn't have much fuss about this issue and thought to himself: "Regardless of whether he wants options or cash, as long as he signs a 10-year agreement with me, I can ensure that he won't regret it and leave me for 10 years. Since Steve Rossiter is behind him, as long as I keep him here at Ellis, I'll be sleeping soundly! Now that the company is developing rapidly, he doesn't want options - that's his loss; if he regrets it later, it can't come back to haunt me."

Therefore, Nate quickly agreed and said: "No problem, Jimmy! Since you insist on taking cash, we'll follow your suggestion and sign a 10-year agreement. I'll pay you an additional $1 million in bonus each year to offset all your options."

Jimmy reminded him, "Besides, I've already agreed to double my salary, which is $4 million per year. My guaranteed income will be $14.4 million."

Nate waved his hand dismissively and said, "Jimmy, you're being a bit too conservative, aren't you? The 400 million is your salary guarantee, the 1 billion is the value of your options. If you perform well, there'll be specific performance bonuses and project bonuses. Given your abilities, making $20 million per year isn't out of the question."

Jimmy shook his head humbly and said, "I know my own situation, I'm very clear about it. Let's just forget about the bonus for now, as long as you put this 1.44 million in the contract, I'll sign it anytime."

"That's it!" Nate laughed. "Let's get the contract ready right away!"

Jimmy reminded him, "Oh yeah, we haven't discussed the clause on breach of contract yet."

Nate hastened to say, "Ah, Jimmy, I trust you 100%, there's no need for a breach-of-contract clause." JrNovels.com