I think pay is the only reason. Those big tech companies seem to pay a lot. They don't offer much stability, stock is only interesting for small but growing companies, and if you want fulfilling work, look for a company where you can really make a difference, and not a behemoth.
I don't think the difference is all that relevant for this discussion. They go up if the company does well, they go down if it does poorly. Receiving them instead of money is only really interesting if the stock price will go up a lot.
Sure, but big tech pay is comprised substantially of RSUs (like 20-80% of total comp in most cases), which are liquid, and those prices do swing quite a bit which dramatically impacts your take-home. There are tons of people who joined Meta in 2021 who are still making substantially less than the figures their offer letters, while some who joined in 2022 who are now making 7 figures based on the stock appreciation over the last half. At the end of the day, big tech gives you the highest floor, plus solid upside.
This is arguably a lot more interesting than ISOs or private RSUs, where you might have more upside, but dramatically more downside as well, including many scenarios where the equity is effectively worth zero.
