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There’s a qualitative difference between having a couple thousand RSUs and having a voting stake in a company. Tech workers are well off, but they’re nowhere near as well off as C-level execs and even less well off than major shareholders in the companies they work at. It’s the difference between being upper middle class and rich.

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All stockholders have a "voting stake" in a company. C-level execs may get a lot more shares, but their voting power is tiny compared to the institutional investors. Board of Directors have voting power, but often token salaries.

But you said it's the difference between "upper middle class" and rich? So I ask again, what's the cut off?

In 2019, SF Gate found a household income of around 200k a year was still “middle class” (https://www.sfgate.com/expensive-san-francisco/amp/SF-househ...). I’d wager that’s a fair bit higher now.

Even among those making over 200k, there’s a qualitative difference between needing to work and being able to live off passive income. To say someone making 500k a year has more in common with someone who has immense generational wealth just misses the point. The political incentives are different.

I’m obviously aware that all shareholders have a voting stake - but most of their stakes are so small as to be negligible.

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