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Company guide · AMZN

Amazon ESPP: how it works and whether to max it

If Amazon offers an ESPP, here's how to value it against an RSU-heavy comp package.

About Amazon equity

Amazon (AMZN, HQ WA) grants RSUs to employees. No ESPP. with a other vesting cadence. Back-weighted vesting schedule (5/15/40/40 or variants); sign-on cash offsets early years.

Whether to max it

If Amazon's ESPP has a 15% discount with a lookback, participation is typically the highest-return use of cash available to you (roughly 17-30% pre-tax per offering period). The cap is the IRS $25,000 contribution limit per calendar year.

What to do next

Other Amazon guides