Private companies preparing for an IPO are granting discounted stock options to top executives shortly before going public, taking advantage of the flexibility in pricing and disclosure rules. This practice, known as "11th-hour options discounting," allows companies to issue options at a significant discount, as revealed by a research paper analyzing biotech companies' IPOs. The study found that 74 out of 121 companies granted options at an average discount of 48% of the IPO price in the 90 days before going public. This strategy has been observed in companies like Zoom, Beyond Meat, and Eventbrite. The findings were based on filings and nonpublic correspondence obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.