EQUITY COMPENSATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Equity Incentive Plan

Equity-based compensation is granted under the Company's 2014 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and restated on March 1, 2018 and as further amended and restated, effective November 26, 2018 (the "Equity Incentive Plan"). The total number of shares available to be issued under the Equity Incentive Plan resets based on a formula defined in the Equity Incentive Plan and may increase on January 1 of each year. On January 1, 2020, the total number of shares available for issuance under the Equity Incentive Plan reset to 37,528,029 shares, and as of March 31, 2020, 34,495,433 shares remain available for issuance.

Generally, unvested restricted units and options are forfeited upon termination of employment in accordance with the Equity Incentive Plan. The Company recognizes forfeitures as a reversal of previously recognized compensation expense in the period the forfeiture occurs.

Equity-based compensation expense, net of forfeitures, recorded by the Company is included in the following table:


	Three months ended March 31,
	2020		2019
Restricted units	$	28,381	$	23,012
Restricted units with a market condition	4,133		891
Options	43		3,101
Phantom shares	—		548
Equity-based compensation expense	$	32,557	$	27,552

Restricted Units

Each restricted unit represents an unfunded, unsecured right of the holder to receive a share of the Company's Class A common stock on a specific date. The restricted units generally vest and are settled in shares of Class A common stock either (i) at a rate of one-third per year, beginning on the third anniversary of the grant date, (ii) in their entirety on the fifth anniversary of the grant date, (iii) at a rate of one quarter per year, beginning on either the first or second anniversary of the grant date or the holder's employment commencement date, or (iv) at a rate of one third per year, beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date in each case generally subject to the holder’s continued employment as of the applicable vesting date (subject to accelerated vesting upon certain qualifying terminations of employment). Compensation expense associated with restricted units is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award.

The holders of restricted units, other than the market condition awards described below, generally have the right to receive as current compensation an amount in cash equal to (i) the amount of any dividend paid with respect to a share of Class A common stock multiplied by (ii) the number of restricted units held at the time such dividends are declared (“Dividend Equivalent”). During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company declared a dividend of $0.40 per share to Class A common stockholders at the close of business on March 17, 2020. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, Dividend Equivalents were made to the holders of restricted units in the aggregate amount of $6.4 million, which are presented as a component of dividends within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity. When units are forfeited, the cumulative amount of dividend equivalents previously paid is reclassified to compensation and benefits expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The following table presents unvested restricted units' activity:


	Restricted Units	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Unit
Balance - January 1, 2020	16,810,473	$	20.07
Granted	3,268,133	36.85
Vested	(3,921,722)	19.21
Forfeited	(211,925)	21.42
Balance - March 31, 2020	15,944,959	$	23.69

The total compensation expense expected to be recognized in all future periods associated with the restricted units is approximately $291.3 million as of March 31, 2020 and is expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted average period of 3.17 years.

Restricted Unit Awards with a Market Condition

The following table presents the unvested market condition awards' activity:


	Market Condition Awards Units	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Unit
Balance - January 1, 2020	1,333,334	$	9.30
Granted	—	—
Vested	(666,667)	10.92
Forfeited	—	—
Balance - March 31, 2020	666,667	$	7.68

For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the market-priced vesting condition was met for one of the tranches of the market condition awards and compensation expense of $3.7 million was accelerated. The total compensation expense expected to be recognized in all future periods associated with the market condition awards is approximately $3.1 million as of March 31, 2020 and is expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted average period of 2.63 years.

Options

A summary of options activity during the three months ended March 31, 2020 is presented below:


	Options	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Life (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Balance - January 1, 2020	13,426,870	$	18.99	4.34	$	224,260
Granted	—	—		—	—
Exercised	(1,134,677)	19.00		—	—
Expired	—	—		—	—
Forfeited	—	—		—	—
Balance - March 31, 2020	12,292,193	$	18.99	4.00	$	146,811
Exercisable at March 31, 2020	12,292,193	$	18.99	4.00	$	146,811

Net cash proceeds from exercises of stock options were $21.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The Company realized tax benefits of approximately $2.9 million from those exercises.