(9) Stock-Based Compensation

Included in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations are the following amounts of stock-based compensation for the years ended December 31, 2017,  2016 and 2015 (amounts in thousands).

Liberty Broadband - Incentive Plans

Pursuant to the Liberty Broadband 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended, the Company may grant Awards to be made in respect of a maximum of 8.4 million shares of Liberty Broadband common stock.  Awards generally vest over 1-5 years and have a term of 7-10 years.  Liberty Broadband issues new shares upon exercise of equity awards.

Liberty Broadband – Grants of Stock Options

During the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, Liberty Broadband granted 16 thousand, 17 thousand and 21 thousand options, respectively, to purchase shares of Series C common stock to its non-employee directors with a weighted average grant-date fair value (“GDFV”) of $22.68, $18.64 and $13.51 per share, respectively, which mainly cliff vest over a one year vesting period. There were no options to purchase shares of Series A common stock granted during the period.

The Company has calculated the GDFV for all of its equity classified awards and any subsequent remeasurement of its liability classified awards using the Black-Scholes Model.  The Company estimates the expected term of the Awards based on historical exercise and forfeiture data. For grants made in 2017, 2016 and 2015, the range of expected terms was 4.6 to 5.3 years.  The volatility used in the calculation for Awards is based on the historical volatility of Liberty Broadband common stock and the implied volatility of publicly traded Liberty Broadband options. For grants made in 2017, 2016 and 2015, the range of volatilities was 24.4% to 28.2%.  The Company uses a zero dividend rate and the risk-free rate for Treasury Bonds with a term similar to that of the subject option.

Liberty Broadband – Outstanding Awards

The following table presents the number and weighted average exercise price (“WAEP”) of Awards to purchase Liberty Broadband common stock granted to certain officers, employees and directors of the Company, as well as the weighted average remaining life and aggregate intrinsic value of the Awards. 

 

 

The Company had no outstanding Series B options during 2017.

As of December 31, 2017, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested Liberty Broadband Awards was approximately $10.0 million.  Such amount will be recognized in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations over a weighted average period of approximately 1.5 years.

As of December 31, 2017, Liberty Broadband reserved 2.8 million shares of Series A and Series C common stock for issuance under exercise privileges of outstanding stock Awards.

Liberty Broadband – Exercises

The aggregate intrinsic value of all options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2017,  2016 and 2015 was $8.1 million, $14.4 million and $11.2 million, respectively.

Liberty Broadband – Restricted Shares

The aggregate fair value of all Series A and Series C restricted shares of Liberty Broadband common stock that vested during the years ended December 31, 2017,  2016 and 2015 was $116 thousand, $674 thousand and $5.8 million, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately 24,000 unvested restricted shares of Series A and Series C Liberty Broadband common stock held by certain directors, officers and employees of the Company with a weighted average GDFV of $13.43 per share.

Skyhook equity incentive plans

Long-Term Incentive Plans

Skyhook has a long-term incentive plan which provides for the granting of PARs and PSUs to employees, directors, and consultants of Skyhook that is not significant to Liberty Broadband. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016,  $1.2 million and $1.7 million, respectively, are included in other liabilities for the fair value (Level 2) of the Company's LTIP obligations.