What happens to your RSUs when you leave a company?

Most people think of their RSU grant as one number, but the moment you leave a job, it splits into two separate pools of stock, and each pool has a completely different fate.

Under standard plan terms, unvested RSUs are almost always forfeited the instant you leave. Vested RSUs already belong to you, and nothing about walking out the door changes that.

Under standard plan terms, unvested RSUs are forfeited

At most companies, any shares still unvested on your last day are simply cancelled. There's no prorated payout for the portion of the vesting period you completed, and no cash substitute either. The unvested grant vanishes from your equity as though it had never been awarded.

Exceptions exist, but they're negotiated rather than automatic: a severance agreement that accelerates part of your vesting, a qualifying termination clause built into an executive's offer letter, or a company-wide trigger like an acquisition that accelerates vesting for everyone. Outside of one of those situations, assume your unvested RSUs are gone the day you leave. Your plan document is the only reliable source for what actually applies to you.

Vested RSUs are yours, the same as any other shares you hold

Shares that have already vested are an entirely different matter. They vested, got taxed as ordinary income at that point, and now sit in your brokerage account exactly like any other stock you own. Leaving the company that granted them has no effect on your ownership, your cost basis, or how they're taxed. You're free to hold them, sell them, or do anything else you would with any other shares.

One operational detail is worth checking: some employers run equity compensation through a specific brokerage platform, and you may need to confirm your account either transfers into your own name or converts to a standard retail account, rather than remaining tied to your former employer's plan administrator.

Why leaving tends to be when this actually hits you

Vesting happens in small increments. A grant every quarter, a modest batch of shares each time, and most people never stop to total it up. Leaving a job is often the first moment someone actually looks at the full picture, and the number can be startling: years of steady vesting can quietly build into a position worth 30% or 40% of someone's entire net worth, concentrated in a single company's stock.

That's the real reason it pays to understand what happens to your RSUs before you need to. Without paying attention, you might not realize you're sitting on a concentrated stock position.

If that's your situation, see if you qualify for Glidepath — a way to diversify your portfolio and defer the capital gains tax bill.

What to do with the vested shares

Once you know what you're holding, there's no reason to keep it tied to your former employer. If the position is small relative to the rest of your portfolio, selling and reinvesting is usually the simplest path. There's no tax advantage to holding stock in a company you no longer work for.

If years of vesting left you with a large, appreciated position, selling it all in one go means facing a real capital gains bill in a single tax year. That's where an exchange fund becomes worth considering: rather than selling for cash, you contribute the shares to a pooled fund in exchange for a stake in a diversified pool, deferring the tax instead of triggering it right away.

A quick note on stock options

Stock options work differently than RSUs once you leave. Options typically come with an exercise window, often 90 days, after which any unexercised vested options can expire. RSUs skip that step entirely. Vested RSU shares are simply yours, with no window and no deadline attached. If your compensation includes both, treat them as two separate decisions, not one.

Bottom line

Unvested RSUs disappear when you leave. Vested RSUs remain yours indefinitely, with no deadline attached.

That leaves you with a decision on the vested shares: sell for cash or to diversify, contribute to an exchange fund to defer the tax, or hold if you still believe in the company's growth.

Not sure whether your position qualifies for anything beyond a straight sale? Get started to find out.