[seanmcdirmid]

You either own the stock or you don’t. If you paid federal income taxes on it, they have to let you sell it as you get it if you want, otherwise it isn’t real income. They can restrict when you sell it afterwards, but only in the cause of avoiding insider trading, and you can set up a plan to sell it blindly if you’d like.

[eru]

It's not nearly as simple as that.

Look up eg a 'poison pill' for an example where you don't "either own or stock or you don't". (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareholder_rights_plan)