#4 is actually pretty clever. This way the employees are only taxed at the strike price of the grant as income vs. being taxed at the full value of the stock a

#4 is actually pretty clever. This way the employees are only taxed at the strike price of the grant as income vs. being taxed at the full value of the stock at the liquidity event. And all the profit from the liquidity event is taxed as long term capital gains. By being a loan vs. income, the stock given to the employee is not taxable until they actually sell. When the liquidity event happens, the tax from a forgiven loan is very miniscule compared the standard situation.