DIS » Topics » Approval of an Amendment to the Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan

This excerpt taken from the DIS DEF 14A filed Jan 22, 2010.

Approval of an Amendment to the Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan

The Board of Directors recommends that shareholders approve an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan (which we refer to as the 2005 Plan). The amendment increases the maximum total number of shares of common stock we may issue under the 2005 Plan by 42,000,000 shares from 136,000,000 to 178,000,000 shares.

The purpose of the increase in authorized shares is to secure adequate shares to fund expected awards under the Company’s long-term incentive program through at least the next annual award in January 2011. The Board believes that this number represents a reasonable amount of potential equity dilution and allows the Company to continue awarding equity incentives, which are an important component of our overall compensation program. The Company expects that it will need to seek shareholder approval in 2011 for additional shares to continue the program beyond 2011.

The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote on this item will be required for approval of the amendments to the 2005 Plan. Abstentions will be counted as represented and entitled to vote and will therefore have the effect of a negative vote. Broker non-votes (as described under “Information About Voting and the Meeting — Voting”) will not be considered entitled to vote on this item and therefore will not be counted in determining the number of shares necessary for approval.


 

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The Walt Disney Company Notice of 2010 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement

 

This excerpt taken from the DIS DEF 14A filed Jan 16, 2009.

Approval of an Amendment to the Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan

The Board of Directors recommends that shareholders approve an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan (which we refer to as the 2005 Plan). The amendment makes several changes related to the maximum total number of shares of common stock we may issue under the 2005 Plan. The primary changes are:

 

 

Increase the maximum total number of shares of common stock we may issue by 45,000,000 shares from 91,000,000 to 136,000,000 shares

 

 

Replace the specific limitation on the number of shares that may be granted as restricted and unrestricted stock and stock unit awards with an alternate method of calculating the number of shares remaining available for issuance under the 2005 Plan, referred to as a “fungible equity grant pool”

 

 

In connection with the establishment of a fungible equity grant pool, assign a ratio for counting usage of shares upon issuance of stock options and stock appreciation right awards of one to one, whereby any grant of a stock option or stock appreciation right shall be counted against the maximum share limitation as one share of common stock, and assign a ratio for counting usage of shares upon issuance of restricted and unrestricted stock and stock unit awards (i.e., full-value shares or full-value awards) of two to one, whereby any grant of a full-value share shall be counted against the maximum share limitation as two shares of common stock

 

 

Change the maximum number of shares that may be granted to an individual pursuant to stock options and stock appreciation rights awarded from 4,500,000 in any five-year period to 4,000,000 per year, and change the maximum number of shares that may be granted to an individual pursuant to restricted stock, restricted stock units and stock awards from 2,500,000 in any five-year period to 2,000,000 per year


 

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The Walt Disney Company Notice of 2009 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement

 

The purpose of the increase in authorized shares is to secure adequate shares to fund expected awards under the Company’s long-term incentive program through at least the next annual award in January 2010. The Board believes that this number represents a reasonable amount of potential equity dilution and allows the Company to continue awarding equity incentives, which are an important component of our overall compensation program. The Company expects that it will need to seek shareholder approval in 2010 for additional shares to continue the program beyond 2010.

The purpose of replacing the specific limitation on the number of shares that may be granted as restricted and unrestricted and stock unit awards with a fungible equity grant pool is to provide the Company more flexibility in allocating equity awards among stock options and restricted stock units.

With respect to the change in the share authorization limits, as is generally the case in all stock incentive plans, to assure compliance with Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code and hence avoid causing the grants issued to the individual to be non-tax deductible, the 2005 Plan contains limits on the maximum number of shares that may be granted to an individual pursuant to stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and stock awards. The authorization limits are established for this tax-related purpose and do not create target grants for any individual or commit the company to any particular level of grant. The limits contained in the 2005 Plan are unduly restrictive when viewed in comparison to the limits imposed for this tax-related purpose by other companies. Ninety percent of the Fortune 250 companies that have amended their stock incentive plans in the last two years have an annual share limitation rather than a multi-year limit and over 50% of those companies have annualized limits that are higher than those currently contained in the 2005 Plan. The current limitations in the 2005 Plan could constrain the flexibility of the Company to achieve its equity grant objectives by compelling a grant which, because of a limit on available

options, would be much more heavily weighted towards restricted stock units than would otherwise be optimal. The Committee, in fact, is facing precisely this circumstance with respect to its fiscal 2009 equity award to Mr. Iger. The proposed amendment would preserve the tax related purpose of the limitation, while affording the Company more flexibility to structure components of equity grants.

The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote on this item will be required for approval of the amendments to the 2005 Plan. Abstentions will be counted as represented and entitled to vote and will therefore have the effect of a negative vote. Broker non-votes (as described under “Information About Voting and the Meeting—Voting”) will not be considered entitled to vote on this item and therefore will not be counted in determining the number of shares necessary for approval.

This excerpt taken from the DIS DEF 14A filed Jan 11, 2008.

Approval of an Amendment to the Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan

The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that shareholders approve an amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan (which we refer to as the 2005 Plan). The amendment increases the maximum total number of shares of common stock we may issue under the 2005 Plan by 33,000,000 shares from 58,000,000 to 91,000,000 shares and increases the maximum number of those shares that can be issued pursuant to restricted and unrestricted stock and stock unit awards by an aggregate of 15,000,000 shares from an aggregate of 17,000,000 to an aggregate of 32,000,000 shares.

The purpose of this amendment is to secure adequate shares to fund expected awards under the Company’s long-term incentive program through at least the next annual award in January 2009. The Board believes that this number represents a reasonable amount of potential equity dilution and allows the Company to continue awarding equity incentives, which are an important component of our overall compensation program. The Company expects that it will need to seek shareholder approval in 2009 for additional shares to continue the program beyond 2009.

The affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of shares represented in person or by proxy and entitled to vote on this item will be required for approval of the amendments to the 2005 Plan. Abstentions will be counted as represented and entitled to vote and will therefore have the effect of a negative vote. Broker non-votes (as described under “Information About Voting and the Meeting—Voting”) will not be considered entitled to vote on this item and therefore will not be counted in determining the number of shares necessary for approval.

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