BACKGROUND OF THE 2020 PLAN AND AMENDMENT
Our employees, non-employee directors, consultants, and our affiliates are eligible to receive awards under our 2020 Plan. The purpose of the 2020 Plan is to attract, retain, motivate and reward employees, non-employee directors and consultants of the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, to provide for equitable and competitive compensation opportunities, to recognize individual contributions and reward achievement of Company goals, and promote the creation of long-term value for stockholders by closely aligning the interests of participants with those of stockholders. On September 3, 2020, our Board adopted and our stockholders approved, effective as of the effective time of our Form 8-A filed in connection with the direct listing, the 2020 Plan. On October 29, 2020, our Board approved the First Amendment to the 2020 Plan in order to revise and clarify the definition of “Fair Market Value” in the 2020 Plan.
The Company believes that equity compensation is key to linking pay to performance as it encourages employees to work toward the Company’s success and aligns their interests with those of the Company’s stockholders by providing them with a means by which they can benefit from increasing the value of the Company’s stock. The Board and Compensation Committee believe that the terms of the Amendment are in the best interests of stockholders and the Company.
Summary of the 2020 Plan
The following is a description of the material terms of our 2020 Plan. The summary below does not contain a complete description of all provisions of our 2020 Plan and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our 2020 Plan. A copy of the 2020 Plan is filed as Exhibit 4.5 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed with the SEC on September 24, 2020, the First Amendment to the 2020 Plan is set forth on Exhibit A, and the Amendment is set forth on Exhibit B.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
Authorized shares. After taking into consider the Amendment, a total of 3,981,490 shares of our common stock will be reserved and available for issuance pursuant to our 2020 Plan. In addition, the shares reserved for issuance under our 2020 Plan also includes those shares reserved but unissued under 2016 Plan as of the effective date of our 2020 Plan and any shares subject to awards under our 2016 Plan which are forfeited or lapse unexercised and which following the effective date of our 2020 Plan are not issued under our 2016 Plan. To the extent that an award under our 2020 Plan is cancelled, expired, forfeited, settled in cash or otherwise terminated without delivery of shares, the shares retained by or returned to us will again be available for issuance under our 2020 Plan.
In addition, after taking into consideration the Amendment, the total number of shares of Common Stock reserved and available for delivery in connection with Awards under the Plan will be automatically increased on January 1st of each year for a period of nine (9) years commencing on January 1, 2022 and ending on (and including) January 1, 2030, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the total number of shares of Stock outstanding on December 31st of the preceding year; provided, however, that the Board may act prior to January 1st of a given year to provide that the increase for such year will be a lesser number of shares of Stock. However, (i) any shares that are withheld from an award in payment of the exercise price or taxes related to an award, (ii) any shares purchased by us in the open market using the proceeds from exercise of an option, and (iii) any shares covered by a stock-settled stock appreciation right or other stock-settled award that were not issued upon the settlement of an award will not become available under our 2020 Plan.
Administration. Our 2020 Plan is administered by our Compensation Committee; however, if at any time a member of our Compensation Committee does not meet the definition of “non-employee director” under the provisions of Section 16b-3 of the Exchange Act, any action by our Compensation Committee relating to an award granted to an individual who is then subject to Section 16 of the Exchange Act may be taken by a subcommittee of our Compensation Committee, as designated by our Board, whose members are comprised solely of two or more “non-employee directors” under the provisions of Section 16b-3 of the Exchange Act, or if no such subcommittee is designated, our full Board. In addition, our Board will administer our 2020 Plan with respect to awards to our non-employee directors. Our Compensation Committee has the full power to select, from among the individuals eligible for awards, the individuals to whom awards will be granted, to make any combination of awards to participants, and to determine the specific terms and conditions of each award, subject to the provisions of our 2020 Plan.