(11) Stock-Based Compensation

Included in Selling, general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations are $34 million, $37 million and $41 million of stock-based compensation during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Incentive Plans

Liberty Broadband grants, to certain of its directors, employees and employees of its subsidiaries, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and stock options to purchase shares of its common stock (collectively, "Awards"). The Company measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for an equity classified Award (such as stock options and restricted stock) based on the grant-date fair value (“GDFV”) of the Award and recognizes that cost over the period during which the employee is required to provide service (usually the vesting period of the Award). The Company measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for a liability classified Award based on the current fair value of the Award and re-measures the fair value of the Award at each reporting date.

Pursuant to the Liberty Broadband 2019 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended, the Company may grant Awards to be made in respect of a maximum of 6.0 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.

Grants

During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, Liberty Broadband granted 129 thousand, 136 thousand and 167 thousand options, respectively, to purchase shares of LBRDK to our Chief Executive Officer. Such options had a weighted average GDFV of $27.83, $39.10 and $40.05 per share, respectively, at the time they were granted and vested on December 29, 2023, December 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.

During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, Liberty Broadband granted to its employees 407 thousand, 11 thousand and 30 thousand options, respectively, to purchase shares of LBRDK. Such options had a weighted average GDFV of $27.68, $30.43 and $40.61 per share, respectively, and vest between one and three years.

During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, Liberty Broadband granted 21 thousand, 24 thousand and 26 thousand options, respectively, to purchase shares of LBRDK to its non-employee directors with a weighted average GDFV of $27.73, $30.43 and $41.71 per share, respectively, which mainly cliff vest over a one year vesting period.

During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, Liberty Broadband granted 227 thousand, 227 thousand and 79 thousand time-based and performance-based RSUs, respectively, of LBRDK to its employees, employees of subsidiaries and non-employee directors. The RSUs had a weighted average GDFV of $84.02, $120.70 and $153.34 per share, respectively. The time-based RSUs generally vest between one and five years for employees and employees of subsidiaries and in one year for non-employee directors. The performance-based RSUs mainly cliff vest one year from the month of grant, subject to the satisfaction of certain performance objectives. Performance objectives, which are subjective, are considered in determining the timing and amount of the compensation expense recognized. When the satisfaction of the performance objectives becomes probable, the Company records compensation expense. The probability of satisfying the performance objectives is assessed at the end of each reporting period.

There were no options to purchase shares of LBRDA or LBRDB granted during 2023, 2022 and 2021.

The Company has calculated the GDFV for all of its equity classified awards and any subsequent re-measurement 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 2023, 2022 and 2021, the range of expected terms was 5.1 to 5.3 years. The volatility used in the calculation for Awards is based on the historical volatility of Liberty Broadband common stock. For grants made in 2023, 2022 and 2021, the range of volatilities was 27.1% to 31.3%. 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.

Outstanding Awards

The following table presents the number and weighted average exercise price (“WAEP”) of options 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 options.

​

​

As of December 31, 2023, there were no outstanding options to purchase shares of LBRDA common stock.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, Liberty Broadband had 69 thousand LBRDB options with a WAEP of $97.21 that were forfeited. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer exercised 37 thousand and 370 thousand LBRDB options at an exercise price of $97.21 per share for each exercise. Immediately following these exercises, the resulting LBRDB shares were exchanged for the same number of LBRDK shares pursuant to the terms of a stipulation and order where Mr. Maffei agreed to exchange LBRDB shares for LBRDK shares following the exercise of certain stock options. As of December 31, 2023, Liberty Broadband had 246 thousand LBRDB options outstanding and exercisable at a WAEP of $95.98, a weighted average remaining contractual life of 0.7 years and aggregate intrinsic value of zero.

As of December 31, 2023, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested Awards was approximately $38 million. Such amount will be recognized in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations over a weighted average period of approximately 1.6 years.

As of December 31, 2023, Liberty Broadband reserved approximately 4 million shares of LBRDB and LBRDK for issuance under exercise privileges of outstanding stock options.

Exercises

The aggregate intrinsic value of all options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $1 million, $3 million and $27 million, respectively.

Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units

The aggregate fair value of all LBRDA and LBRDK RSAs and RSUs that vested during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $12 million, $18 million and $28 million, respectively.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately 371 thousand unvested RSAs and RSUs of LBRDA and LBRDK held by certain directors, officers and employees of the Company with a weighted average GDFV of $101.09 per share.