含羞草传媒

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Stock-Based Compensation

v3.19.3.a.u2
Stock-Based Compensation
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock-Based Compensation

(13) Stock-Based Compensation

含羞草传媒 - Incentive Plans

Pursuant to the 含羞草传媒. 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the 鈥2016 Plan鈥), as amended, the Company may grant stock options (鈥淎wards鈥) to be made in respect of a maximum of 39.9 million shares of Series A and Series B 含羞草传媒 common stock. Awards generally vest over 4-5 years and have a term of 7-10 years. 含羞草传媒 issues new shares upon exercise of equity awards.

In connection with the HSN acquisition in December 2017 (see note 4), outstanding awards to purchase shares of HSN common stock (an 鈥淗SN Award鈥) were exchanged for awards to purchase shares of Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock (a 鈥淨RTEA Award鈥). 听The exercise prices and number of shares subject to the QRTEA Award were determined based on (1) the exercise prices and number of shares subject to the HSN Award and (2) the acquisition exchange ratio. 听The exchange of such awards was considered a modification under ASC 805 鈥 Business Combinations. 听A portion of the fair value of the replacement QRTEA Awards was attributed to the consideration paid in the acquisition. 听The remaining portion of the fair value will be recognized in the consolidated financial statements over the remaining vesting period of each individual award.

含羞草传媒 鈥 Grants

The following table presents the number and weighted average GDFV of options granted by 含羞草传媒 during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017:

For the Years ended December 31,

2019

2018

2017

Options Granted (000's)

Weighted Average GDFV

Options Granted (000's)

Weighted Average GDFV

Options Granted (000's)

Weighted Average GDFV

Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock, QVC and HSN employees (1)

2,503

$

4.07

3,783

$

8.77

3,115

$

7.86

Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock, Zulily employees (1)

328

$

4.08

336

$

8.65

483

$

7.86

Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock, 含羞草传媒 employees and directors (2)

639

$

3.97

72

$

7.31

518

$

7.81

Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock, 含羞草传媒 President and CEO (3)

NA

NA

577

$

7.09

NA

NA

Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock, 含羞草传媒 Chairman of the Board (4)

2,134

$

3.44

NA

NA

NA

NA

Series B 含羞草传媒 common stock, 含羞草传媒 Chairman of the Board (4)

26

$

5.84

175

$

8.84

154

$

7.92

Series A Ventures Group common stock, 含羞草传媒 employees and directors (2)

NA

NA

NA

NA

188

$

16.52

Series B Ventures Group common stock, 含羞草传媒 Chairman of the Board (4)

NA

NA

143

$

16.55

269

$

15.41

(1) Mainly vests semi-annually over four years.
(2) Mainly vests between three and five years for employees and in one year for directors.
(3) 50% vested on December 15, 2019, and 50% vests on December 15, 2020. 听
(4) The grant made in March 2019 vested immediately, and the grant made in December 2019 in connection with the Chairman鈥檚 new employment agreement cliff vests in December 2023. Grants in 2018 and 2017 cliff vested at the end of their respective grant year. Grants were made in connection with his new and previous employment agreement (see notes 1 and 12).

In addition to the stock option grants to the 含羞草传媒 Chairman of the Board, and in connection with his employment agreement, 含羞草传媒 granted time-based and performance-based restricted stock units ("RSUs"). During the year ended December 31, 2019, 含羞草传媒 granted 19 thousand time-based RSUs of Series B 含羞草传媒 common stock. Such RSUs had a GDFV of $17.90 per share at the time they were granted and cliff vested on March 11, 2019. During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, 含羞草传媒 granted 194 thousand, 124 thousand and 115 thousand performance-based RSUs, respectively, of Series B 含羞草传媒 common stock. 听Such RSUs had a fair value of $17.90, $27.56 and $19.90 per share, respectively, at the time they were granted. 听Also during the year ended December 31, 2019, 含羞草传媒 granted approximately 191 thousand performance-based RSUs of Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock to its President and CEO. The Series A RSUs had a GDFV of $17.90 per share at the time they were granted. 听The 2019, 2018 and 2017 performance-based RSUs cliff vest 听one year from the month of grant, subject to the satisfaction of certain performance objectives and based on an amount determined by the compensation committee. 听Performance objectives, which are subjective, are considered in determining the timing and amount of the compensation expense recognized. 听As the satisfaction of the performance objectives becomes probable, the Company records compensation expense. 听The value of the grant is remeasured at each reporting period. 听This grant includes the first upfront option grant related to the Chairman鈥檚 new employment agreement. See discussion in note 1 regarding the new compensation agreement with the Company鈥檚 Chairman.

In connection with the Option Exchange in 2017 (see below), 含羞草传媒 granted 5.9 million, 946 thousand and 1.1 million options to purchase shares of Series A 含羞草传媒 common stock, Series A Liberty Ventures common stock and Series B Liberty Ventures common stock, respectively. 听Such options had an incremental weighted average GDFV of $3.49, $8.53 and $6.94, respectively.

During the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company entered into a series of transactions with certain officers of 含羞草传媒, associated with certain outstanding stock options, in order to recognize tax deductions in 2017 versus future years (the 鈥淥ption Exchange鈥). 听On December 26, 2017 (the 鈥淕rant Date鈥), pursuant to the approval of the Compensation Committee of its Board of Directors, the Company effected the acceleration of (i) each unvested in-the-money option to acquire shares of LVNTA and (ii) each unvested in-the-money option to acquire shares of LVNTB, in each case, held by certain of its officers (collectively, the 鈥淓ligible Optionholders鈥). 听Following this acceleration, also on the Grant Date, each Eligible Optionholder exercised, on a net settled basis, all of his outstanding in-the-money vested and unvested options to acquire QRTEA shares, LVNTA shares and LVNTB shares (the 鈥淓ligible Options鈥), and:

with respect to each vested Eligible Option, the Company granted the Eligible Optionholder a vested new option with substantially the same terms and conditions as the exercised vested Eligible Option, except that the exercise price for the new option was, in the case of options to acquire shares of QRTEA or LVNTA, the closing price on the Grant Date per QRTEA or LVNTA share, as applicable, and, in the case of options to acquire shares of LVNTB, the fair market value on the Grant Date of the LVNTB shares as determined pursuant to the incentive plan under which the awards were granted; and
with respect to each unvested Eligible Option:
o in satisfaction of the exercise, on a net settled basis, of the unvested Eligible Options, the Company granted the Eligible Optionholder a number of restricted LVNTA or LVNTB shares (the 鈥淩estricted Shares鈥) with a vesting schedule identical to that of the unvested Eligible Options so exercised, and the Eligible Optionholder made an election under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to such Restricted Shares; and
o the Company granted the Eligible Optionholder a new option (the 鈥淯nvested New Option鈥) to acquire the same series of common stock and with substantially the same terms and conditions, including with respect to vesting and expiration, as the unvested Eligible Option exercised as set forth above, except that the number of LVNTA or LVNTB shares subject to such Unvested New Option was equal to the number of shares subject to the unvested Eligible Option minus the number of Restricted Shares received upon exercise of such unvested Eligible Option. The exercise price of such new option was, in the case of a LVNTA option, the closing price on the Grant Date per share of LVNTA, or, in the case of a LVNTB option, the fair market value on the Grant Date of the LVNTB shares as determined pursuant to the incentive plan under which the Unvested New Options were granted.

The Option Exchange was considered a modification under ASC 718 鈥 Stock Compensation, with the following impacts on compensation expense. 听The unamortized value of the unvested Eligible Options that were exercised, which was $14 million for LVNTA and LVNTB combined, will be expensed over the vesting period of the Restricted Shares attributable to the exercise of those options; of this amount, $6 million of expense was assumed by GCI Liberty as a result of the GCI Liberty Split-Off. 听The grant of new vested options resulted in incremental compensation expense in the fourth quarter of 2017 of $30 million for QRTEA, LVNTA and LVNTB combined. 听The grant of Unvested New Options resulted in incremental compensation expense totaling $6 million for LVNTA and LVNTB combined, which will be amortized over the vesting periods of those options; of this amount, $5.8 million of incremental compensation expense was assumed by GCI Liberty as a result of the GCI Liberty Split-Off.

The Company has calculated the GDFV for all of its equity classified awards using the Black-Scholes-Merton Model. The Company estimates the expected term of the Awards based on historical exercise and forfeiture data. 听For grants made in 2019, 2018 and 2017, the range of expected terms was 2.0 to 6.4. 听The volatility used in the calculation for Awards is based on the historical volatility of the Company's stocks and the implied volatility of publicly traded 含羞草传媒 options. The Company uses a zero dividend rate and the risk-free rate for Treasury Bonds with a term similar to that of the subject options.

The following table presents the range of volatilities used by 含羞草传媒 in the Black-Scholes-Merton Model for the 2019, 2018 and 2017 含羞草传媒 and Liberty Ventures grants.

Volatility

2019 grants

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

含羞草传媒 options

30.1

%听听

-

44.8

%听听

2018 grants

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

含羞草传媒 options

29.7

%听听

-

30.5

%听听

Liberty Ventures options

27.9

%听听

-

27.9

%听听

2017 grants

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

听听听听

含羞草传媒 options

26.9

%听听

-

32.7

%听听

Liberty Ventures options

25.9

%听听

-

28.9

%听听

含羞草传媒 - Outstanding Awards

The following table presents the number and weighted average exercise price ("WAEP") of Awards to purchase 含羞草传媒 common stock granted to certain officers, employees and directors of the Company, as well as the weighted average remaining life and aggregate intrinsic value of the Awards.

含羞草传媒

Series听A

Series听B

Weighted

Aggregate

Weighted

Aggregate

average

听intrinsic

average

听intrinsic

Awards

remaining

value

Awards

remaining

value

听听听听

(000's)

听听听听

WAEP

听听听听

life

听听听听

(in millions)

听听听听

(000's)

听听听听

WAEP

听听听听

life

听听听听

(in millions)

Outstanding at January听1, 2019

28,438

$

24.47

1,818

$

27.22

Granted

5,604

$

10.49

26

$

18.03

Exercised

(449)

$

15.43

$

Forfeited/Cancelled

(10,345)

$

24.46

$

Outstanding at December 31, 2019

23,248

$

21.28

4.1

years

$

4

1,844

$

27.09

3.1

years

$

Exercisable at December 31, 2019

13,200

$

23.74

3.1

years

$

4

1,844

$

27.09

3.1

years

$

As of December听31, 2019, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested 含羞草传媒 Awards was approximately $46 million. Such amount will be recognized in the Company's consolidated statements of operations over a weighted average period of approximately 1.7 years.

As of December 31, 2019, 含羞草传媒 reserved 25.1 million shares of Series A and Series B common stock for issuance under exercise privileges of outstanding stock Awards.

含羞草传媒 - Exercises

The aggregate intrinsic value of all options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $2 million, $28 million and $145 million, respectively. 听The aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised for the year ended December 31, 2017 includes approximately $104 million related to the intrinsic value of options exercised as a result of the Option Exchange.

含羞草传媒 - Restricted Stock

The Company had approximately 5.4 million unvested restricted shares of 含羞草传媒 common stock, held by certain directors, officers and employees of the Company as of December 31, 2019. 听These Series A and Series B unvested restricted shares of 含羞草传媒 had a weighted average GDFV of $18.58 per share.

The aggregate fair value of all restricted shares of 含羞草传媒 common stock that vested during the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was $25 million, $64 million and $23 million, respectively.