Plan your Zapata Quantum, Inc. NSO exercise

Calculator · free · no signup · pre-IPO

Zapata Quantum, Inc. is pre-IPO. Plan your NSO exercise tax (federal, state, FICA) at any expected valuation.

Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools

Your grant

Tax inputs

Hold strategy

1 yr
20%
20%
10.0%
Pre-IPO assumption: Expected sale price assumes a liquid market at year N. In reality, pre-IPO shares clear via tender offers (priced at a discount to the 409A or last preferred round, on the company's calendar) or at IPO (subject to lockups). Use the haircut to reflect that uncertainty.

Best after-tax payout — at year 1

$199,080

Sell + invest wins by $20,783 over Hold 1 yr.

Estimates only. Not financial advice.

Your NSO exercise pushes your top federal rate from 24% to 35%. Hover the Federal value below for the bracket-by-bracket slicing.

Sell + invest

Best payout
Bargain element (sale − strike)$350,000
Federal
State
Medicare$5,075
Additional Medicare$3,150
Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0%$18,573
LTCG on diversified gain (fed + state + NIIT)$5,219
Net at year 1$199,080

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$178,297

Sold 2,678 shares at exercise to cover strike + tax; 2,322 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

Sell + investExercise + hold
$0$54K$108K$162K$216KYr 1Yr 2

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.

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About Zapata Quantum, Inc.

Zapata Quantum, Inc. is a privately held Cloud/SaaS company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Boston, MA. S-1 filed Jul 9, 2026.

Equity grants at Zapata Quantum, Inc. typically include incentive stock options (ISOs) and non-qualified stock options (NSOs).

Founded in 2017 as a spin-out from Alán Aspuru-Guzik's Harvard quantum chemistry research group, Zapata Quantum builds hardware-agnostic software for quantum computing workloads. Its flagship Orquestra platform connects problem formulation, algorithm design, and execution across multiple quantum hardware providers, with target applications in chemistry, finance, and logistics. After completing a SPAC merger (a public-market listing via merger with a blank-check shell company) in March 2024 and filing to wind down operations in October 2024, the company restructured over $18 million in debt and in April 2026 closed an oversubscribed $15 million Series D financing led by Triatomic Capital.

Sources: globenewswire.com · sec.gov · techstartups.com

Equity comp at Zapata Quantum, Inc.

  • Zapata Quantum completed a SPAC merger in March 2024 when Andretti Acquisition Corp. merged with Zapata Computing, Inc. and domesticated as a Delaware corporation. The company ceased operations in October 2024 due to debt obligations, filed for bankruptcy in 2025, and re-emerged as Zapata Quantum focused on quantum software after converting over $10 million of debt to equity. Pre-restructuring equity plans were substantially disrupted by the bankruptcy. As of year-end 2025, total unrecognized stock option compensation was approximately $1,849, indicating minimal active grants. The company has used stock options rather than RSUs as its primary equity vehicle both before and after restructuring.
  • Vesting schedule: stock options vest monthly over four years with a one-year cliff on initial grants.

Sources: sec.gov · globenewswire.com · thequantuminsider.com

Researched 2026-07-11.

OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Zapata Quantum, Inc..

Zapata Quantum, Inc. 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.

All Zapata Quantum, Inc. tools → · Use the generic NSO Exercise Calculator for any company.

Zapata Quantum, Inc. equity questions

How is a Zapata Quantum, Inc. 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 Zapata Quantum, Inc. grant and compares selling the shares now against holding past the one-year mark for long-term capital-gains treatment.
Does Zapata Quantum, Inc. grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
Equity compensation at Zapata Quantum, Inc. 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 Zapata Quantum, Inc. 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 Zapata Quantum, Inc. shares qualify turns on when you acquired them and the company's asset size at that time.
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