Since Bezos is in the news today here is a quick story.
I have an employee that has been with one of my other companies for about 10 years. When Bezos first started he needed a programmer to keep inventory. My employee a freelancer at that time gave Bezos a price of $50k. Bezos was strapped for cash and offered to give 5% of his company if he didn't charge him the $50k for the program. This employee needed cash himself so he declined.
Ruff!