Incentive Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Incentive Plans

Incentive Plans

12. Incentive Plans

2014 Incentive Award Plan

The Company provides incentive awards in the form of common stock or awards convertible into common stock pursuant to the Digital Realty Trust, Inc., Digital Services, Inc. and Digital Realty Trust, L.P. 2014 Incentive Award Plan, as amended (the “Incentive Plan”). The major categories of awards that can be issued under the Incentive Plan include:

Long-Term Incentive Units (“LTIP Units”): LTIP Units, in the form of profits interest units of the Operating Partnership, may be issued to eligible participants for the performance of services to or for the benefit of the Operating Partnership. LTIP Units (other than Class D units), whether vested or not, receive the same quarterly per-unit distributions as Operating Partnership common units. Initially, LTIP Units do not have full parity with common units with respect to liquidating distributions. However, if such parity is reached, vested LTIP Units may be converted into an equal number of common units of the Operating Partnership at any time. The awards generally vest over periods between two and four years.

Service-Based Restricted Stock Units: Service-based Restricted Stock Units, which vest over periods between two and four years, convert to shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stock upon vesting.

Performance-Based Awards (“the Performance Awards”): Performance-based Class D units of the Operating Partnership and performance-based Restricted Stock Units of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stock may be issued to officers and employees of the Company. The Performance Awards include performance-based and time-based vesting criteria. Depending on the type of award, the total number of units that qualify to fully vest is determined based on either a market performance criterion (“Market-Based Performance Awards”) or financial performance criterion (“Financial-Based Performance Awards”), in each case, subject to time-based vesting.

Market-Based Performance Awards.

The market performance criterion compares Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) relative to the MSCI US REIT Index (“RMS”) over a three-year performance period (“Market Performance Period”), subject to continued service, in order to determine the percentage of the total eligible pool of units that qualifies to be awarded. Following the completion of the Market Performance Period, the awards then have a time-based vesting element pursuant to which 50% of the performance-vested units fully vest in the February immediately following the end of the Market Performance Period and 50% of the performance-vested units fully vest in the subsequent February.

Vesting with respect to the market condition is measured based on the difference between Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s TSR percentage and the TSR percentage of the RMS as is shown in the subsequent table (the “RMS Relative Market Performance”).

		Market
		Performance
	RMS Relative	Vesting
Level	Market Performance	Percentage
Below Threshold Level	≤ -500 basis points	0	%
Threshold Level	-500 basis points	25	%
Target Level	0 basis points	50	%
High Level	≥ 500 basis points	100	%

If the RMS Relative Market Performance falls between the levels specified in the above table, the percentage of the award that will vest with respect to the market condition will be determined using straight-line linear interpolation between such levels.

2021 Awards

● In January 2024, the RMS Relative Market Performance fell between the threshold and target levels for the 2021 awards and accordingly, 71,926 Class D units and 7,066 Restricted Stock Units performance vested and qualified for time-based vesting.

● The Class D units included 5,131 distribution equivalent units that immediately vested on December 31, 2023.

● On February 27, 2024, 50% of the 2021 awards vested and the remaining 50% will vest on February 27, 2025, subject to continued employment through the applicable vesting date. ​ ​

The grant date fair value of the Market-Based Performance Awards was approximately $9.8 million and $8.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. This amount will be recognized as compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the expected service period of approximately four years.

Financial-Based Performance Awards.

On January 1, 2024, the Company granted Financial-Based Performance Awards, which vest based on growth in same-store cash net operating income during the three-year period commencing on January 1, 2024. The awards have a time-based vesting element consistent with the Market-Based Performance Awards discussed above. For these awards, fair value is based on market value on the date of grant and compensation cost is recognized based on the probable achievement of the performance condition at each reporting period. The grant date fair value of these awards was $9.8 million, based on Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s closing stock price at the grant date.

As of March 31, 2024, approximately 3.7 million shares of common stock, including awards that can be converted to or exchanged for shares of common stock, remained available for future issuance under the Incentive Plan.

Each LTIP unit and each Class D unit issued under the Incentive Plan counts as one share of common stock for purposes of calculating the limit on shares that may be issued under the Incentive Plan and the individual award limits set forth therein.

Below is a summary of our compensation expense and our unearned compensation (in millions):

													Expected
													period to
	Deferred Compensation								Unearned Compensation				recognize
	Expensed				Capitalized				As of		As of		unearned
	Three Months Ended March 31,								March 31,		December 31,		compensation
Type of incentive award	2024		2023		2024		2023		2024		2023		(in years)
Long-term incentive units	$	3.7	$	2.8	$	—	$	—	$	31.8	$	16.6	2.8
Performance-based awards		2.2		4.1		—		0.1		34.6		19.9	2.9
Service-based restricted stock units		7.6		7.7		1.5		1.1		100.6		66.4	3.0
Interxion awards		—		0.7		—		—		—		—	—

Activity for LTIP Units and service-based Restricted Stock Units for the three months ended March 31, 2024 is shown below.

		Weighted-Average
		Grant Date Fair
Unvested LTIP Units	Units	Value
Unvested, beginning of period	238,360	$	121.99
Granted	252,009		137.00
Vested	(161,612)		132.68
Cancelled or expired	(49,997)		243.00
Unvested, end of period	278,760	$	107.66

		Weighted-Average
		Grant Date Fair
Unvested Restricted Stock Units	Shares	Value
Unvested, beginning of period	621,863	$	132.07
Granted	349,756		141.76
Vested	(57,208)		121.49
Cancelled or expired	(58,599)		122.58
Unvested, end of period	855,812	$	137.39