Equity Compensation Plan
We have an equity compensation plan, the 2015 Equity Compensation Plan (the “2015 Plan”), which was approved by our stockholders on September 17, 2015 and replaced our previous equity compensation plan (the “2007 Plan”) which expired in August 2015. The 2015 Plan is generally administered by the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors, except that the full board may act at any time to administer the 2015 Plan, and authority to administer any aspect of the 2015 Plan, other than grants of awards to executive officers and as prohibited by law or stock exchange regulation, may be delegated by our Board of Directors or by the Compensation Committee to an executive officer or any other person. The 2015 Plan allows the plan administrator to grant awards of shares of our common stock or the right to receive or purchase shares of our common stock (including options to purchase common stock, restricted stock and stock units, bonus stock, share units, performance units, and stock appreciation rights) to officers, directors or other persons or entities providing significant services to us or our subsidiaries. The actual terms of an award, including the number of shares of common stock relating to the award, any exercise or purchase price, any vesting, forfeiture or transfer restrictions, the time or times of exercisability for, or delivery of, shares of common stock, are determined by the plan administrator and set forth in a written award agreement with the participant.
The aggregate number of shares of our common stock for which awards may be granted under the 2015 Plan cannot exceed 10% of the number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding at the time any award is granted. Awards made under the 2015 Plan that have been forfeited (including our repurchase of shares of common stock subject to an award for the price, if any, paid to us for such shares of common stock, or for their par value), cancelled or have expired, will not be treated as having been granted for purposes of the preceding sentence. In May 2021, we awarded (1) 250,000 restricted shares of common stock to our Chief Executive Officer with a vesting date of May 26, 2022 for 125,000 such shares and May 26, 2023 for 125,000 such shares, and (2) options exercisable to acquire 250,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at an exercise price per share equal to $2.99, the closing price of the Company’s Common Stock on May 26, 2021 and an option expiration date of May 25, 2031, with a vesting date of May 26, 2022 for 125,000 such option shares and May 26, 2023 for 125,000 such option shares. In May 2021, we also granted an aggregate of 26,000 restricted shares of common stock to our independent directors, and an aggregate of 67,744 restricted shares of common stock to employees and service providers. In February 2023, we awarded (1) 250,000 restricted shares of common stock to our Chief Executive Officer with a vesting date of February 21, 2024 for 125,000 such shares and February 21, 2025 for 125,000 such shares, and (2) options exercisable to acquire 250,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at an exercise price per share equal to $2.85, the closing price of our common stock on February 21, 2023 and an option expiration date of February 21, 2033, with a vesting date of February 21, 2024 for 125,000 such option shares and February 21, 2025 for 125,000 such option shares. In February 2023, we also granted an aggregate of 27,000 restricted shares of common stock to our independent directors and an aggregate of 7,000 restricted shares of common stock to employees and service providers, 50% of which are scheduled to vest in February 2024 and 50% in February 2025. No equity awards were made for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2020. As of April 4, 2023, awards with respect to an aggregate of 641,365 shares of our common stock had been granted under the 2015 Plan and awards with respect to 555,479 shares of our common stock were granted under our 2007 Plan from its adoption in 2005 to its expiration in August 2015. No additional awards can be granted under our 2007 Plan.
The 2015 Plan permits the plan administrator to make an equitable adjustment to the number, kind and exercise price per share of awards in the event of our recapitalization, reorganization, merger, spin-off, share exchange, dividend of common stock, liquidation, dissolution or other similar transaction or events. In addition, the plan administrator may make adjustments in the terms and conditions of any awards in recognition of any unusual or nonrecurring events.
Except in connection with a corporate transaction, including any stock dividend, distribution, stock split, extraordinary cash dividend, recapitalization, change in control, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase or exchange of common shares or other securities, or similar transactions, we
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