Право владельца привилегированных акций определенной серии получать при ликвидации компании большие суммы в расчете на акцию, чем владельцы других серий привилегированных акций и тем более — владельцы обыкновенных акций. Обычно это право оговаривается и реализуется с помощью специальных коэффициентов.

Liquidation preference determines the payout order in case of a corporate liquidation. More specifically, liquidation preference is frequently used in venture capital contracts to specify which investors get paid first and how much they get paid in the event of a liquidation event, such as the sale of the company.

They also analyze the pricing implications of a number of contractual features, such as liquidation preferences, for most important securities used in the VCbacked transactions.

Many unicorns make their most recent investors senior to all other shareholders, so that their liquidation preference must be satisfied before other investors receive anything.