<prompt> Human: Hi all, sorry in advance if this is long-winded:I worked for a small start-up for just under 2 years before making a switch to the opposite: a large, publicly traded company and could not be happier. But this post is about my previous job at the start-up.When I first was hired on, my boss according to him, we all had rights to say where the company went because we were all owners, but I refer to him as boss because he owned the majority of the company enticed me to come with sizable equity and profit sharing at the end of the year, despite making considerably less in salary compared to other jobs in my industry. For the majority of the first year, everything went pretty smoothly. Despite some hiccups that a very small company goes through, we made it past the first year of being in business. My profit share was 1500 give or take, but I didnt see any of this money. The company needed the money at the time so to my knowledge, no one made a request for a dispersal. I did, however, pay taxes on this money at the end of the year. I thought it was a little weird that we didnt get any profits as a bonus at the end because thats what was implied in negotiations before I got hired, but hey, were a small company and I can understand if we really need the money. Year 2, my equity doubled from 5 to 10 because of the departure of another employee. I thought it was weird that this other employee was giving his equity back, and that it set a bad precedent, but that was his prerogative. At the end of year 2, with no real growth and just stagnation in the company, I received a good offer from my current employer and took the job. Heres where things start to get murky:First, I asked my boss for a full dispersal of funds for my profit sharing. He declined, saying something that I still dont know for sure what he meant, that everyone has a little account and that even though the money stays in the company, it is ours. However, its also to help the company grow and taking a dispersal is not really an option at this point because the company still needs the money. Its worth mentioning that we have NO shareholders agreement outlining when people take a dispersal, only a piece of legitimate looking paper saying I own X I get K-1 tax forms after each year. Second, my boss told me that the person who left previously didnt give any equity back; they just issued more shares to everyone except him, effectively lowering his ownership percentage. And that was what he was going to do to me: quarter my ownership for 2015, and half it from there on until my ownership was negligible. At that point the company would issue me a dispersal for all my profits and we would part ways.Is this even legal? What comes to mind is that whole Facebook thing. The company is ran by really smart people, but as anyone knows, making a small company into a giant is very difficult. So statistically I have to expect that this company wont grow to a billion dollar market cap, and therefore, I should take my profits now is my mindset.I asked my boss at the time of my departure, what if I dont want to be a silent partner? What if I want a buyout of my shares? He responded that since there was no shareholders agreement, the value of the shares would be deemed by the rest of the company, and would be a very nebulous valuation his words.What are my options here? I just received my W-2 for this company and made around 5k in profits that I will be taxed on. There is no way I am going to pay this tax out of my pocket, out of principle. But should I go along with my boss master-plan of slowly diluting my equity, hoping that someone buys them out while I still have a chunk? Why do I feel like my boss doesnt want to give me my profits? Is it rude for me to ask for this given that the company is small and needs every penny it can get? Well, if you do the math, my 10 equity 5k in profits, so the company isnt doing THAT bad if they made 50k or so last year. Thanks for any guidance and sorry again if this was super long winded.TLDR: When I get hired to a start-up, was offered equity and profit-sharing in lieu of big salary at another company in my industry. After quitting, have not been able to see a dime from my supposed profit sharing, and on top of that, am getting diluted out of my equity.EDIT: I know it seems like Im splitting hairs here over 6500 dollars, but hey, thats money that I could invest.  <response>: I was part of a small company that did shady stock tactics. The company charter or rules or whatever said any vote needed only 51 to pass. The CEO had 51.He would dilute the stock pool to kick anyone he wanted out of the company or bring new people in at whatever ownership he wanted. He always maintained 51 though.I was offered stock as part of incentive pay. I laughed at it. They used it as a carrot on a stick to justify paying their employees a bit less while appearing to pay them more than normal. It was a sham, no ones shares were ever worth anything. 