Stock Swap and Withhold Methods

Stock Swap is a strategy in which an employee uses already-owned company stock to cover the cost of exercising stock options. Rather than paying for the exercise cost in cash, the employee exchanges existing company shares they already own to cover the exercise price and any associated taxes. The number of shares exchanged depends on the current value of the shares and the exercise cost. This strategy allows the employee to leverage their existing holdings to fund the exercise of new stock options. 

Withhold to Cover is a strategy used by employees to cover the tax obligations associated with exercising stock options. When an employee exercises stock options, they often incur taxes based on the difference between the exercise price and the market price of the shares. With this strategy, the company withholds a portion of the acquired shares to cover these taxes. The employee receives the remaining shares after the withholding has been applied. This helps the employee manage their tax liabilities without having to sell shares in the open market.