Plan your Shield AI NSO exercise
Calculator · free · no signup · pre-IPOShield AI is pre-IPO. Plan your NSO exercise tax (federal, state, FICA) at any expected valuation.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your grant
Seeded from secondary-market data, as of Jun 16, 2026
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1
$413,972
Sell + invest wins by $230,179 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Bargain element (sale − strike) | $756,900 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$10,975 |
| Additional Medicare | −$6,812 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $38,620 |
| LTCG on diversified gain (fed + state + NIIT) | −$10,852 |
| Net at year 1 | $413,972 |
Sell every share immediately; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Exercise + hold 1 yr
| Sale proceeds (year 1) | |
| LTCG tax (federal + state + NIIT) | $0 |
| Net at year 1 | $183,793 |
Sold 2,607 shares at exercise to cover strike + tax; 2,393 shares held 1 yr for LTCG.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're exercising as a current employee.
Both columns are stated in year-1 dollars: sell-now proceeds compound at the market return and pay LTCG on the gain at year 1; any cash paid out of pocket on the hold side carries the same opportunity cost.
Net at year N — by hold period
Estimates only. Excludes AMT (NSOs do not trigger AMT), state-AMT, multi-state moves, and disqualifying-disposition edge cases. Not financial advice.
You calculated one NSO decision. The beta plans NSOs alongside RSUs and ISOs in a single multi-year tax plan.
Request beta access →About Shield AI
Shield AI is a privately held Aerospace/Defense company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in San Diego, CA.
Last reported secondary-market price: $161.38 per share (as of 2026-06-16). Your own 409A may differ.
$5.6B; defense autonomy.
Equity grants at Shield AI typically include incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs).
Shield AI, Inc. is an American aerospace and defense technology company based in San Diego, California, United States. It develops artificial intelligence-powered fighter pilots, drones, and technology for defense operations. Its clients include the United States Special Operations Command, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, US Navy and several international militaries. The company’s small-unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) Nova became the first AI-powered drone to be deployed for defense purposes in US military history.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Brothers Brandon Tseng (former Navy SEAL) and Ryan Tseng founded Shield AI with Andrew Reiter in 2015, headquartered in San Diego. The company builds Hivemind, an autonomy stack enabling drones and aircraft to operate without GPS or communications. Its V-BAT VTOL tactical drone sees combat use in Israel, Ukraine, and across NATO members, while the smaller Nova quadcopter handles indoor reconnaissance. In 2024, Hivemind flew an F-16 autonomously. A November 2024 Series F raised $300M at a reported $5.3B+ valuation. Major contracts include the Indian Navy and Israeli forces.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · shield.ai
Equity comp at Shield AI
- Shield AI explicitly structures all full-time RSU grants with a double-trigger requirement. Because the company is private, RSUs do not settle (and no income tax is owed) until both (1) the time-based schedule is satisfied and (2) a qualifying liquidity event occurs. This defers the tax obligation until employees can sell shares to cover the bill.
- Vesting schedule: 4-year with double-trigger: time-based vesting plus a liquidity event (IPO or acquisition) required before RSUs settle.
Sources: shield.ai
Researched 2026-05-07.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Shield AI.
Shield AI NSO exercise creates ordinary income on the bargain element (federal, state, and FICA) at the price on the day you exercise. The calculator works at any valuation, so you can model your exercise cost at the current 409A FMV, an expected IPO price, or post-IPO scenarios.
Example: at Shield AI's last reported price of $161.38, exercising 5,000 NSOs with a $48.41 strike creates a $564,850 bargain element, taxed as ordinary income on the day you exercise. Combined federal + state + FICA on that bargain typically lands between $152,510 and $254,183 depending on your bracket and state. The calculator above computes the exact figure for your situation and compares selling now vs. holding through the long-term capital-gains threshold.
All Shield AI tools → · Use the generic NSO Exercise Calculator for any company.
Shield AI equity questions
- How is a Shield AI NSO exercise taxed?
- Exercising a non-qualified stock option (NSO) creates ordinary income on the bargain element (the price on the day you exercise minus your strike), subject to federal income tax, state income tax, and FICA. The calculator above computes that tax for your Shield AI grant and compares selling the shares now against holding past the one-year mark for long-term capital-gains treatment.
- Does Shield AI grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at Shield AI typically takes the form of incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs). Incentive stock options can trigger the alternative minimum tax (AMT) when you exercise.
- Are Shield AI shares eligible for QSBS?
- They might be. Qualified small business stock (QSBS) under Internal Revenue Code Section 1202 can exclude federal tax on much of the gain when shares were acquired at original issuance from a C-corporation while its gross assets were under $50 million, and held at least five years. Whether your Shield AI shares qualify turns on when you acquired them and the company's asset size at that time.
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