Vest Fleece

A slang term used to describe a situation in which a company's executives accelerate the vesting of their employee stock options. Usually, accelerated vesting is preceded by a period of excessively high employee stock option grants. The result of vest fleecing is that shareholders' ownership is reduced, and option holders are able to turn their options into stock in a shorter time period than if they had not accelerated vesting.


A vest fleece results in option holders being given an increased share of ownership in their employers' companies.

This term was coined by Jack Ciesielski, founder of The Analyst's Accounting Observer.