Glossary · Equity

Early Exercise

Exercising options before they vest.

Definition

Early exercise allows option holders to exercise unvested options, starting the long-term capital-gains clock and potentially minimizing tax — at the risk of forfeiting the cash if the company fails.

How SalaryScopePro uses this term

We surface early exercise across salary results, occupation pages, city pages, and Premium Reports — with consistent definitions and methodology. See methodology and data sources for how the underlying numbers are computed.