First, What's your end goal here?
Is it to not forfeit the RSU's?
Is it to not pay the taxes upfront?
etc
You ask a lot of "is this normal questions", but it sort of doesn't matter if it's normal if you want something else.
Maybe the answers affect the chances of getting that something else, but it's really hard to give advice without knowing what you actually want to achieve.
It will quickly become a sort of academic discussion.
At the end you say you want to explore "potential solutions" - but can we start with what you want the outcome to be, actually?
Second, you say you want to "engage in a conversation with the company to explore potential solutions". Uh, okay.
Right now you have 30 days. Best case, assuming you don't have to do something before then, notification wise. Do you have meaningful legal representation?
If not, will you go that far, assuming the company offers you absolutely nothing? Or doesn't even bother to respond?
If you don't have lawyers, but are planning on going that far, you don't have a huge amount of time to get them and have them help.
Even if you aren't, you are veering quickly into territory where it sounds like you need more than just a bunch of questions answered by smart people on the internet.
You should strongly consider professional advice here, if for no other reason than the ability to have a live conversation about this.
This isn't idle internet curiosity, it sounds like it actually matters to y'all.
The best case is to not pay the taxes upfront. Say the company wants me to pay 50% tax in cash and then give me 100% of my vested RSU; I want 50% of my vested RSU without needing to pay taxes.
That's not necessarily the case. You might not want to put up money to cover taxes, but that's not advantageous in all situations, so echoing everyone else's advice here: talk in depth with a professional who's time you pay for.
I'd rather pay the taxes directly than trust someone else to do it, especially when that someone is making it as difficult to get the money from your investment. Those RSU's were earned, and the whole point is you get to share in the liquidity event.
Huh? Who's trusting some other party to pay your taxes? I'm saying keep the RSUs, pay for the taxes out of pocket, so you hold onto RSUs that may appreciate faster than, say, holding onto SP500, likes say picking up FB at 30.
I think the real issue is that only one course of action is being forced on ex-employees, while the same option isn't the one exercised by current employees. Besides that, personally, I would be very worried about "paying up front" and opting into a process that is not in my control.
First, What's your end goal here? Is it to not forfeit the RSU's? Is it to not pay the taxes upfront? etc
You ask a lot of "is this normal questions", but it sort of doesn't matter if it's normal if you want something else.
Maybe the answers affect the chances of getting that something else, but it's really hard to give advice without knowing what you actually want to achieve.
It will quickly become a sort of academic discussion.
At the end you say you want to explore "potential solutions" - but can we start with what you want the outcome to be, actually?
Second, you say you want to "engage in a conversation with the company to explore potential solutions". Uh, okay.
Right now you have 30 days. Best case, assuming you don't have to do something before then, notification wise. Do you have meaningful legal representation?
If not, will you go that far, assuming the company offers you absolutely nothing? Or doesn't even bother to respond?
If you don't have lawyers, but are planning on going that far, you don't have a huge amount of time to get them and have them help.
Even if you aren't, you are veering quickly into territory where it sounds like you need more than just a bunch of questions answered by smart people on the internet.
You should strongly consider professional advice here, if for no other reason than the ability to have a live conversation about this.
This isn't idle internet curiosity, it sounds like it actually matters to y'all.