IONQ, INC. RSU AWARD GRANT NOTICE (2021 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN)
Exhibit 10.18
Form of RSU Agreement (Sell to Cover)
IONQ, INC.
RSU AWARD GRANT NOTICE
(2021 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN)
IonQ, Inc. (the “Company”) has awarded to you (the “Participant”) the number of restricted stock units specified and on the terms set forth below in consideration of your services (the “RSU Award”). Your RSU Award is subject to all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein and in the IonQ, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) and the Award Agreement (the “Award Agreement”), which are attached hereto and incorporated herein in their entirety. Capitalized terms not explicitly defined herein but defined in the Plan or the Award Agreement shall have the meanings set forth in the Plan or the Award Agreement.
Participant:
Date of Grant:
Vesting Commencement Date:
Number of Restricted Stock Units:
| Vesting Schedule: | [ ] | |
| Issuance Schedule: | One share of Common Stock will be issued at the time set forth in Section 5 of the Award Agreement for each restricted stock unit which vests. | |
| Participant Acknowledgements: |
By the Participant’s signature below or by electronic acceptance or authentication in a form authorized by the Company, the Participant understands and agrees that: | |
| • | The RSU Award is governed by this Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice, and the provisions of the Plan and the Award Agreement, all of which are made a part of this document. Unless otherwise provided in the Plan, this Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice and the Award Agreement (together, the “Agreement”) may not be modified, amended or revised except in a writing signed by the Participant and a duly authorized officer of the Company. |
| • | To the fullest extent permitted under the Plan and applicable law, any Withholding Taxes (as defined in the Award Agreement) applicable to the RSU Award will be satisfied through the sale of a number of the shares of Common Stock issuable in settlement of the RSU Award as determined in accordance with Section 4 of the Award Agreement and the remittance of the cash proceeds to the Company. Under the Agreement, the Company or, if different, the Participant’s employer is authorized and directed by the Participant to make payment from the cash proceeds of this sale directly to the appropriate tax or social security authorities in an amount equal to the taxes required to be remitted. The Participant acknowledges and agrees that, as a result of the Participant’s authorization, the Company will have the authority to administer the Mandatory Sell to Cover (as defined in the Award Agreement) in connection with the Participant’s receipt of this RSU Award. |
| • | You acknowledge that you are familiar with and agree to continued compliance with the mutual promises and covenants contained in the Employee Confidential Information, Inventions, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement that you were required, as a condition of your employment by the Company, to execute. |
| • | The Agreement sets forth the entire understanding between the Participant and the Company regarding the acquisition of Common Stock and supersedes all prior oral and written agreements, promises and/or representations on that subject with the exception of (i) other equity awards previously granted to you, and (ii) any written employment agreement, offer letter, severance agreement, written severance plan or policy, or other written agreement between the Company and you in each case that specifies the terms that should govern this RSU Award. |
By accepting this RSU Award, the Participant acknowledges having received and read the Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice, the Award Agreement and the Plan and agrees to all of the terms and conditions set forth in these documents. The Participant consents to receive Plan and related documents by electronic delivery and to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or another third party designated by the Company.
| IONQ, INC.: | PARTICIPANT: | |||||||
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| Signature | Signature | |||||||
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Date: |
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ATTACHMENTS: Award Agreement, 2021 Equity Incentive Plan
ATTACHMENT I
AWARD AGREEMENT
(2021 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN)
As reflected by your RSU Award Grant Notice (“Grant Notice”), IonQ, Inc. (the “Company”) has granted you a RSU Award under the IonQ, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) for the number of restricted stock units as indicated in your Grant Notice (the “RSU Award”). The terms of your RSU Award as specified in this Award Agreement for your RSU Award (this “Award Agreement”) and the Grant Notice constitute your “Agreement”. Defined terms not explicitly defined in this Award Agreement but defined in the Grant Notice or the Plan shall have the same definitions as in the Grant Notice or Plan, as applicable.
The general terms applicable to your RSU Award are as follows:
1. GOVERNING PLAN DOCUMENT. Your RSU Award is subject to all the provisions of the Plan, including but not limited to the provisions in:
(a) Section 6 of the Plan regarding the impact of a Capitalization Adjustment, dissolution, liquidation, or Corporate Transaction on your RSU Award;
(b) Section 9(e) of the Plan regarding the Company’s retained rights to terminate your Continuous Service notwithstanding the grant of the RSU Award; and
(c) Section 8 of the Plan regarding the tax consequences of your RSU Award.
Your RSU Award is further subject to all interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations, which may from time to time be promulgated and adopted pursuant to the Plan. In the event of any conflict between the Agreement and the provisions of the Plan, the provisions of the Plan shall control.
2. GRANT OF THE RSU AWARD. This RSU Award represents your right to be issued on a future date the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock that is equal to the number of restricted stock units indicated in the Grant Notice as modified to reflect any Capitalization Adjustment and subject to your satisfaction of the vesting conditions set forth therein (the “Restricted Stock Units”). Any additional Restricted Stock Units that become subject to the RSU Award pursuant to Capitalization Adjustments as set forth in the Plan and the provisions of Section 3 below, if any, shall be subject, in a manner determined by the Board, to the same forfeiture restrictions, restrictions on transferability, and time and manner of delivery as applicable to the other Restricted Stock Units covered by your RSU Award.
3. NO STOCKHOLDER RIGHTS. Unless and until such time as shares of Common Stock are issued in settlement of vested RSUs, you will have no ownership of the shares allocated to the RSUs and will have no right to vote such shares. You shall receive no benefit or adjustment to this RSU Award with respect to any cash dividend, stock dividend or other distribution that does not result from a Capitalization Adjustment; provided, however, that this sentence will not apply with respect to any shares of Common Stock that are delivered to you in connection with your RSU Award after such shares have been delivered to you.
4. WITHHOLDING OBLIGATION.
(a) You acknowledge that, regardless of any action taken by the Company, or if different, the Affiliate employing or engaging you (the “Employer”), the ultimate liability for all income tax (including U.S. federal, state, and local taxes and/or non-U.S. taxes), social insurance, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax, payment on account or other tax-related items related to your participation in the Plan and legally applicable to you (the “Tax-Related Items”)
is and remains your responsibility and may exceed the amount, if any, actually withheld by the Company or the Employer. You further acknowledge that the Company and/or the Employer (i) make no representations or undertakings regarding the treatment of any Tax-Related Items in connection with any aspect of the RSU Award, including, but not limited to, the grant of the RSU Award, the vesting of the RSU Award, the issuance of shares in settlement of vesting of the RSU Award, the subsequent sale of any shares of Common Stock acquired pursuant to the RSU Award and the receipt of any dividends or dividend equivalent; and (ii) do not commit to and are under no obligation to reduce or eliminate your liability for Tax-Related Items. Further, if you become subject to taxation in more than one country, you acknowledge that the Company and/or the Employer (or former employer, as applicable) may be required to withhold or account for Tax-Related Items in more than one country.
(b) On or before the time you receive a distribution of the shares underlying your Restricted Stock Units, and at any other time as reasonably requested by the Company in accordance with applicable law, you agree to make adequate provision for any sums required to satisfy the withholding obligations of the Company, the Employer or any Affiliate in connection with any Tax-Related Items that arise in connection with the RSU Award (the “Withholding Taxes”). The Company shall arrange a mandatory sale (on your behalf pursuant to your authorization under this section and without further consent) of the shares of Common Stock issued in settlement upon the vesting of your Restricted Stock Units in an amount necessary to satisfy the Withholding Taxes and shall satisfy the Withholding Taxes by withholding from the proceeds of such sale (the “Mandatory Sell to Cover”). You hereby acknowledge and agree that the Company shall have the authority to administer the Mandatory Sell to Cover arrangement in its sole discretion with a registered broker-dealer that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as the Company may select as the agent (the “Agent”) who will sell on the open market at the then prevailing market price(s), as soon as practicable on or after each date on which your Restricted Stock Units vest and the shares underlying such Restricted Stock Units are distributed, the number (rounded up to the next whole number) of the shares of Common Stock to be delivered to you in connection with the vesting and settlement of the Restricted Stock Units sufficient to generate proceeds to cover (i) the Withholding Taxes that you are required to pay pursuant to the Plan and this Agreement as a result of the vesting and settlement of the Restricted Stock Units and (ii) all applicable fees and commissions due to, or required to be collected by, the Agent with respect thereto any remaining funds shall be remitted to you.
(c) If, for any reason, such Mandatory Sell to Cover does not result in sufficient proceeds to satisfy the Withholding Taxes, or if such Mandatory Sell to Cover is not permitted by applicable law, the Company or an Affiliate may, in its sole discretion, satisfy all or any portion of the Withholding Taxes relating to the RSU Award by any of the following means or by a combination of such means: (i) withholding from any compensation otherwise payable to you by the Company or the Employer; (ii) causing you to tender a cash payment (which may be in the form of a check, electronic wire transfer or other method permitted by the Company); or (iii) withholding shares of Common Stock from the shares of Common Stock issued or otherwise issuable to you in connection with your Restricted Stock Units with a fair market value (measured as of the date shares of Common Stock are issued to you) equal to the amount of such Withholding Taxes; provided, however, that shares of Common Stock shall not be withheld with a value exceeding the maximum amount of tax required to be withheld by applicable law (or such lesser amount as may be necessary to avoid classification of the RSU Award as a liability for financial accounting purposes); and to the extent necessary to qualify for an exemption from application of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, if applicable, such share withholding procedure will be subject to the express prior approval of the Board or Compensation Committee of the Board.
(d) Unless the tax withholding obligations of the Company and/or any Affiliate with respect to the Tax-Related Items are satisfied, the Company shall have no obligation to deliver to you any Common Stock.
(e) In the event the Company’s obligation to withhold arises prior to the delivery to you of Common Stock or it is determined after the delivery of Common Stock to you that the amount of the Tax-Related Items was greater than the amount withheld by the Company or your Employer, you agree to indemnify and hold the Company and your Employer harmless from any failure by the Company or your Employer to withhold the proper amount.
(f) You acknowledge and agree that, as a result of your authorization under this section and without further consent, the Company will have the authority to administer the Mandatory Sell to Cover pursuant to the terms of the RSU Award.
(g) The Company may withhold or account for Tax-Related Items by considering applicable minimum statutory withholding amounts, or other applicable withholding rates, including maximum applicable rates in your jurisdiction(s). If the maximum rate is used, any over-withheld amount may be refunded to you in cash by the Company or Employer (with no entitlement to the equivalent in shares of Common Stock), or if not refunded, you may seek a refund from the local tax authorities. You must pay to the Company and/or the Employer any amount of Tax-Related Items that the Company and/or the Employer may be required to withhold or account for as a result of your participation in the Plan that cannot be satisfied by the means previously described.
5. DATE OF ISSUANCE.
(a) The issuance of shares in respect of the Restricted Stock Units is intended to comply with Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) and will be construed and administered in such a manner. Subject to the satisfaction of the Tax-Related Items set forth in Section 4 of this Award Agreement, in the event one or more Restricted Stock Units vests, the Company shall issue to you one (1) share of Common Stock for each Restricted Stock Unit that vests on the applicable vesting date(s) (subject to any different provisions in the Grant Notice). Each issuance date determined by this paragraph is referred to as an “Original Issuance Date.”
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (i) selling shares of the Common Stock in the public market on the Original Issuance Date to satisfy your tax withholding obligation in accordance with Section 4 of this Award Agreement is prohibited for any reason, and (ii) the Company elects not to instead satisfy its tax withholding obligations by withholding shares from your distribution, then such shares shall not be delivered on such Original Issuance Date and shall instead be delivered to you on the earliest of: (1) the first date that you are not prohibited from selling shares of the Common Stock in the open market, or (2) such earlier date that the Company elects to satisfy its tax withholding obligation by withholding shares from your distribution; provided, however, that notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will the shares be delivered to you any later than: (A) December 31 of the calendar year in which the Original Issuance Date occurs (that is, the last day of your taxable year in which the Original Issuance Date occurs), or (B) if and only if permitted in a manner that complies with Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(b)(4), no later than the date that is the 15th day of the third calendar month of the applicable year following the year in which the shares of Common Stock under this Award are no longer subject to a “substantial risk of forfeiture” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(d).
(c) In addition and notwithstanding the foregoing, no shares of Common Stock issuable to you under this Section 5 as a result of the vesting of one or more Restricted Stock Units will be delivered to you until any filings that may be required pursuant to the Xxxx-Xxxxx-Xxxxxx (“HSR”) Act in connection with the issuance of such shares have been filed and any required waiting period under the HSR Act has expired or been terminated (any such filings and/or waiting period required pursuant to HSR, the “HSR Requirements”). If the HSR Requirements apply to the issuance of any shares of Common Stock issuable to you under this Section 5 upon vesting of one or more Restricted Stock Units, such shares of Common Stock will not be issued on the Original Issuance Date and will instead be issued on the first business day on or following the date when all such HSR Requirements are satisfied and when you are permitted to sell shares of Common Stock on an established stock exchange or stock market, as determined by the Company in accordance with the Company’s then-effective policy on trading in Company securities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the issuance date for any shares of Common Stock delayed under this Section 5(c) shall in no event be later than December 31 of the calendar year in which the Original Issuance Date occurs (that is, the last day of your taxable year in which the Original Issuance Date occurs), unless a later issuance date is permitted without incurring adverse tax consequences under Section 409A of the Code or other applicable law.
(d) The form of delivery (e.g., a stock certificate or electronic entry evidencing such shares) shall be determined by the Company.
6. TRANSFERABILITY. Except as otherwise provided in the Plan, your RSU Award is not transferable, except by will or by the applicable laws of descent and distribution.
7. CORPORATE TRANSACTION. Your RSU Award is subject to the terms of any agreement governing a Corporate Transaction involving the Company, including, without limitation, a provision for the appointment of a stockholder representative that is authorized to act on your behalf with respect to any escrow, indemnities and any contingent consideration.
8. NO LIABILITY FOR TAXES. As a condition to accepting the RSU Award, you hereby (a) agree to not make any claim against the Company, or any of its Officers, Directors, Employees or Affiliates related to tax liabilities arising from the RSU Award or other Company compensation and (b) acknowledge that you were advised to consult with your own personal tax, financial and other legal advisors regarding the tax consequences of the RSU Award and have either done so or knowingly and voluntarily declined to do so.
9. SEVERABILITY. If any part of this Award Agreement or the Plan is declared by any court or governmental authority to be unlawful or invalid, such unlawfulness or invalidity will not invalidate any portion of this Award Agreement or the Plan not declared to be unlawful or invalid. Any Section of this Award Agreement (or part of such a Section) so declared to be unlawful or invalid will, if possible, be construed in a manner which will give effect to the terms of such Section or part of a Section to the fullest extent possible while remaining lawful and valid.
10. OTHER DOCUMENTS. You hereby acknowledge receipt of or the right to receive a document providing the information required by Rule 428(b)(1) promulgated under the Securities Act, which includes the Prospectus. In addition, you acknowledge receipt of the Company’s Trading Policy.
11. QUESTIONS. If you have questions regarding these or any other terms and conditions applicable to your RSU Award, including a summary of the applicable federal income tax consequences please see the Prospectus.
Attachment II
2021 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
