What you're describing is "single-trigger" acceleration but, at least for employees, "double-trigger" acceleration is much more common in stock option plans. In order to prevent the situation that you are describing from occurring, most agreements require a change of control plus a second event before vesting is accelerated (e.g., a merger plus the act of being fired by the acquiring company). That way management and employees have an incentive to stick around for a period of time post acquisition. Of course it's quite common for ceo's to have a separate management contract and single trigger acceleration is much more common in these agreements.
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