LONG Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc (RH). On May 2nd, 2017, Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc (RH) board granted CEO Friedman a nine figure incentive package based on share price hitting triggers at $100, $125, and $150. The next fixing date is May 2nd, 2018. (The first anniversary).

Get Our Activist Investing Case Study!

Get the entire 10-part series on our in-depth study on activist investing in PDF. Save it to your desktop, read it on your tablet, or print it out to read anywhere! Sign up below!

See 2017 Hedge Fund Letters.

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

On May 2, 2017, the board of directors of RH granted Gary Friedman, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RH, an option to purchase 1,000,000 shares of RH’s common stock, with an exercise price equal to $50 per share.

The option contains dual condition restrictions consisting of both time based service restrictions over four years and performance based restrictions linked to achieving RH common stock price objectives of $100, $125 and $150 per share.

Time Based Restrictions.

The time based restrictions are measured over an initial four year service period from the date of the award and these restrictions will lapse at the end of each of these first four years at a rate of 250,000 shares per year if (i) Mr. Friedman remains employed at the end of such year, and (ii) the stock price goals have been achieved in such year as described further below.

Performance Based Restrictions.

The stock price objectives are measured each year and are set at prices for RH common stock of $100, $125 and $150 per share. If all three stock price objectives are met in the first performance year, restrictions will lapse as to 250,000 shares in aggregate at the end of such year, with 83,333 shares tied to a $100 price per share, 83,333 shares tied to a $125 price per share and 83,334 shares tied to a $150 price per share.

The same price performance tests are applied in the second year of performance such that restrictions will lapse for an additional 250,000 shares at the end of the second year and then again as to an additional 250,000 shares at the end of each of the third and fourth years so long as Mr. Friedman remains employed at the end of each year.

To the extent that any of the price performance objectives is not reached within one of these first four performance years, that price objective can be achieved in any subsequent year until the 8th anniversary of the date of grant.

The performance targets represent a substantial premium to the $48.62 per share market price for RH common stock on the date of the award. The stock price will need to more than double from the grant date price in order to reach the first price performance objective and more than triple to reach the highest price performance objective.

The option is intended to be a multi-year equity compensation award covering a four year time period and is the first equity award since the 2013 multi-year award to Mr. Friedman that was granted in the second fiscal quarter of 2013.

The option is exercisable on the date of grant but the shares underlying the option remain subject to transfer restrictions to the extent the performance based and time based requirements have not been met. The option will result in a one-time non-cash stock compensation charge in RH’s second quarter in an amount estimated to be between $20 million and $25 million.

The price performance and time-based restrictions are set forth in greater detail in the Notice of Stock Option Award and Stock Option Award Agreement. The foregoing summary of the terms of the option is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Notice of Stock Option Award and Stock Option Award Agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference.

See the full PDF below.