Yes, but RSUs aren’t actually stocks, and I don’t think of them as a very effective way of unifying the interests of an RSU holder with the shareholder per se.
Restricted Stock Units, also called RSUs, are not stock. When RSUs are granted, no share certificates are issued. The executive actually owns nothing. RSUs are not restricted stock. There are no shares then issued that are subject to forfeiture. Again, no stock is issued, restricted or otherwise. Nor are RSUs options. There is no strike price. No company commitment to sell the executive shares once they vest. So, what are RSUs? RSUs are restricted stock units that represent a company’s promise to issue to you shares of the company’s stock or to pay you the cash value of that company stock, at some date in the future. The company enters a contract with you that if the conditions of the contract are met, you will then get stock or the cash equivalent. Thus, one RSU equals the right to receive one share of the company’s common stock at a later time, or the right to receive the cash value of one share of the company’s common stock at a later time. The number of RSUs you are granted tells you how many shares of stock (or the number of shares of stock used to determine your cash payment) you will receive when they are “settled.”