Q: In this task you are given an anecdote, which recount a complex ethical situation. The question you are given is, has the author of the anecdote acted ethically? answer this question with "RIGHT" or "WRONG".
For those who dont know a vesting cliff is basically the moment a startup founder receives a portion of his equity. Like lets say you started a company with someone, but you didnt know them that well, youd give them equity gradually after theyve been with the company awhile. That way they dont just claim ownership and then leave the first week without contributing.

In this case the CTO of my company had a vesting schedule of 4 years, with his cliff at 1 year. So this means if he is with the company a year, he immediately receives 25% of his equity. So if his equity is 20%, he receives 5% ownership right there. Then for the next 3 years he gets equity every month, gradually until he gets all of it after 4 years. Thats how its supposed to work.

Now, if you dont make it to the cliff for whatever reason, you get nothing.

So now that that is explained, I am the COO of a startup headed into series a funding. The CTO is someone whose been with the company for 10 months. The issue is, he doesnt have much in the way of qualifications or education. I mean he is educated but theres nothing special or unique on his resume besides one small project before us and our project.

The investment group interested in funding us is trying to free up as much equity as possible, so theyre looking to trim the fat and prevent issues down the line. We are of the opinion that they want a superstar genius as CTO. The CEO of my company, along with the CVO both met with me to discuss cutting the CTO loose before his cliff.

He would basically leave with nothing after 10 months of work. They asked for my input and I recommended firing him and replacing him with someone with a wider skillset and a better pedigree.

I am the one who broke the news. He did not take it well obviously as we did basically deny him potentially millions of dollars down the line and a high paying job to boot. He also lost any claim on his prior work, naturally.

AITA? Should I have kept him through his cliff?
A:
WRONG