How a grant becomes shares
Each GSU becomes one share of Alphabet’s Class C stock (GOOG) within 30 days of its vest date. You’ll get fewer shares than the number that vested, because Google keeps some to cover taxes.
You can see the share count and vesting dates for each grant on the GSU Details page in your Morgan Stanley or Schwab account. Your new-hire grant and each refresh grant vest on their own schedules, so it’s worth adding them all up to see what’s coming each month. Until a grant vests it isn’t yours, so I’d keep unvested GSUs out of your budget.
Grant
You’re told how many GSUs you’ll get and when they vest.
Vest
Shares land in your account within 30 days, minus what’s withheld for taxes.
Hold or sell
The shares are yours, and you decide what to do with them.
The vesting schedule
New-hire grants vest over four years, and Google front-loads them. There’s no one-year cliff, so shares start arriving in your first few months.
| Year of the grant | Share that vests | On a $400,000 grant |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 38% | $152,000 |
| Year 2 | 32% | $128,000 |
| Year 3 | 20% | $80,000 |
| Year 4 | 10% | $40,000 |
Dollar amounts assume the share price stays where it was at grant. Refresh grants vest evenly over four years, and grants from before 2023 used 33/33/22/12 or an even 25% a year. Bigger grants vest monthly and smaller ones quarterly.
The thing to notice is how much smaller the later years are. On a $400,000 grant you’d get $152,000 of stock in year one and $40,000 in year four, so unless your refresh grants fill the gap, your pay drops quite a bit. I’d plan your spending around the later years and treat the early ones as a chance to get ahead on savings.
What your award agreement says
These are the main terms in Google’s standard GSU agreement. Your own agreement can differ, so read it before you take a leave or resign.
- Settlement
- You receive shares within 30 days of each vest date. They’re Class C shares, which trade as GOOG and don’t carry a vote. GOOGL is the voting Class A stock.
- Withholding
- Google holds back some of your shares to pay the taxes due at vesting, so you receive fewer shares than vested. If your stock plan asks you to make any tax arrangements, do it promptly. If the taxes on an award are still unresolved two and a half months after year-end, you can lose the award.
- Dividend equivalents
- When Alphabet pays a dividend, your unvested GSUs earn extra units instead of cash. Those extra units vest along with the original grant, and you lose them if you forfeit the grant.
- Leave of absence
- Whether your GSUs keep vesting during a leave depends on the leave policy for your country, so check with HR before you start a long leave.
- Leaving
- You forfeit any GSUs that haven’t vested by your last day. The one exception is if you die while employed, in which case all of your unvested GSUs vest and go to your beneficiary within 30 days, or to your estate if you haven’t named one.
- Transfer
- You can’t sell, pledge, or give away GSUs before they vest. Once they’ve vested, the shares are yours to sell or give, as long as you follow the trading policy.
- Purchase plan
- Google doesn’t have an employee stock purchase plan, so any ESPP advice you read for other tech companies doesn’t apply.
Company-wide figures from Alphabet’s 2025 annual report. Alphabet had 190,820 employees at year end and 534 million Class C shares reserved for future awards.
When grants are dated
Google usually dates grants on the first Wednesday of the month. If you’re a new hire, your grant is typically dated the month after you start.
- October 2026
- Wednesday
- November 2026
- Wednesday
- December 2026
- Wednesday
Upcoming dates based on that pattern. Your award shows your actual dates.
