Eric Gullichsen, an early member of Nvidia's Technical Advisory Board, says he is owed roughly $1 billion in Nvidia stock because a 1993 option grant was meant to vest in one year, not four. He posted supporting documents on his blog, including a grant cover sheet dated September 9, 1993, signed by Jensen Huang, which states that all 25,000 shares vest after one year. But an undated invitation letter also signed by Huang says the options vest over four years, and a 1996 letter from Nvidia's CFO counted 15,625 vested shares, which matches the four-year schedule.
The cover sheet says any discrepancy with its attached legal provisions is governed by those provisions, but Gullichsen did not post the attachments. After about a year of correspondence between his lawyers and Nvidia's counsel, the two sides met. Gullichsen says he proposed settling for a far smaller number, but Nvidia declined. He and his lawyers concluded that the statute of limitations was against them, making a lawsuit unlikely to survive a motion to dismiss.
If the one-year vesting schedule were correct, an additional 9,375 shares would have vested. After accounting for stock splits, that would be 4.5 million shares, worth about $1.01 billion at Nvidia's recent closing price. Nvidia has not publicly responded to the claim. Gullichsen's advice to others: "Read the contracts. Carefully."