EXHIBIT 10.9
1997 CORPORATE SHARING PLAN
Adopted - January 29,1997
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
EXHIBIT 10.9
1997 CORPORATE SHARING PLAN
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this 1997 Corporate Sharing Plan (the "Plan") is to
offer employees a favorable opportunity to share in the success of E. I. du Pont
de Nemours and Company (the "Company") through stock options, thereby giving
them a stake in the growth and prosperity of the Company and benefiting the
Company.
II. FORM OF GRANTS
Grants under this Plan will be in the form of nonqualified stock
options to purchase shares of the Company's common stock.
III. LIMITATIONS ON GRANTS
1. The aggregate number of shares of the Company's stock which may be
made subject to stock options granted under this Plan shall not
exceed 9,500,000. The limitations set forth above shall be subject to
adjustment as provided in Article XII hereof.
2. No grants may be made under this Plan after December 31, 1997.
IV. ADMINISTRATION
1. Except as otherwise specifically provided, the Plan shall be
administered by the Compensation and Benefits Committee of the
Company's Board of Directors.
2. The Compensation and Benefits Committee is authorized, subject to the
provisions of the Plan, from time to time to establish such rules and
regulations as it deems appropriate for the proper administration of
the Plan, and to make such determinations and take such steps in
connection therewith as it deems necessary or advisable, including
amending the Terms and Conditions.
3. The decision of the Compensation and Benefits Committee with respect
to any questions arising as to interpretation of this Plan, including
the severability of any or all of the provisions thereof, shall be
final, conclusive and binding.
4. Nothing in this Plan shall be deemed to give any employee, or any
employee's legal representatives or assigns, any right to participate
in the Plan except to such extent, if any, as the Compensation and
Benefits Committee may have determined or approved pursuant to the
provisions of this Plan.
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EXHIBIT 10.9
V. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS
1. Grants under this Plan may be made to employees of the Company as
determined by the Board of Directors.
2. The term "employee" may include an employee of a corporation or
other business entity in which this Company shall directly or
indirectly own fifty percent or more of the outstanding voting
stock or other ownership interest (the term "sharing plan
company" as used in this Plan shall mean a business entity whose
employees are eligible for grants under this Plan), but shall
exclude any director who is not also an officer or a full-time
employee of a sharing plan company. The term "optionee" as used
in this Plan means an employee to whom a stock option award has
been granted under this Plan or, where appropriate, his or her
successor in interest upon death.
VI. GRANTS
1. Any grant made to an employee shall be made by the Board of
Directors which shall take final action on any such grant.
2. Grants may be made at any time under this Plan and in the form
provided in Article II hereof.
3. The date on which a grant shall be deemed to have been made under
this Plan shall be the date of the Board of Directors
authorization of the grant or such later date as may be
determined by the Board of Directors at the time the grant is
authorized. Each optionee shall be advised in writing by the
Company of a grant and the terms and conditions thereof, which
terms and conditions, as the Board of Directors from time to time
shall determine, shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of
this Plan.
VII. GRANT PRICE
The price per share of the Company's common stock which may be
purchased upon exercise of a stock option granted under this Plan shall be
determined by the Board of Directors, but shall in no event be less than the
fair market value of such share on the date the stock option is granted, and in
no event less than the par value thereof. For purposes of the grant price, fair
market value shall be the average of the high and low prices of the Company's
common stock as reported on the "NYSE-Composite Transactions Tape" on the date
of grant of a stock option, or if no sales of such stock were reported on said
Tape on such date, the average of the high and low prices of such stock on the
next preceding day on which sales were reported on said Tape. Such price shall
be subject to adjustment as provided in Article XI hereof.
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EXHIBIT 10.9
VIII. OPTION TERM
The term of each stock option granted under this Plan shall be for
such period as the Board of Directors shall determine, but not for more than ten
years from date of grant.
IX. EXERCISE OF OPTIONS
1. Subject to the provisions of this Plan, each stock option granted
hereunder shall be exercisable on such date or dates and during such
period and for such number of shares as the Board of Directors may
determine. However, in no event shall a stock option be exercisable
prior to six months from date of grant. The Board of Directors may
fix from time to time a minimum number of shares which must be
purchased at the time a stock option is exercised.
2. An optionee electing to exercise a stock option shall at the time of
exercise pay the Company the full purchase price of the shares he or
she has elected to purchase. Payment of the purchase price shall be
made in cash. With respect to shares of the Company's common stock to
be delivered upon exercise of a stock option, the Compensation and
Benefits Committee shall periodically determine whether, and to what
extent, such stock shall be in the form of new common stock issued
for such purposes, or common stock acquired by the Company.
X. NONTRANSFERABILITY OF GRANTS
Except as provided under conditions defined by the Compensation and
Benefits Committee, during an optionee's lifetime no stock option granted under
this Plan shall be transferable and stock options may be exercised only by the
optionee.
XI. TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
The Board of Directors shall determine the rules relating to rights
under stock options upon termination of employment.
XII. ADJUSTMENTS
1. In the event of any stock dividend, split-up, reclassification or
other analogous change in capitalization, the Compensation and
Benefits Committee shall make such adjustments, in the light of the
change, as it deems to be equitable, both to the optionees and to the
Company, in
(a) the number of shares and prices per share applicable to
outstanding stock options,
(b) the aggregate limitation set forth in Article III which respect
to the number of shares which may be made subject to options.
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