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Share-based Compensation (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Summary of Stock-Based Compensation A summary of our aggregate share-based compensation expense is set forth below:
 Year ended December 31,
 202120202019
 in millions
Liberty Global:
Performance-based incentive awards (a)$59.6 $127.4 $134.5 
Non-performance based incentive awards (b)168.6 134.1 107.6 
Other (c)33.6 46.2 39.0 
Total Liberty Global261.8 307.7 281.1 
Telenet share-based incentive awards (d)35.1 35.5 15.6 
Other11.2 4.8 9.1 
Total$308.1 $348.0 $305.8 
Included in:
Other operating expenses$13.7 $7.6 $3.9 
SG&A expenses294.4 340.4 301.9 
Total
$308.1 $348.0 $305.8 
_______________

(a)Includes share-based compensation expense related to (i) PSUs, (ii) our 2019 CEO Performance Award and (iii) our 2019 Challenge Performance Awards, each as defined and described below.

(b)In 2019, we changed our policy to provide that all new equity grants would have ten-year contractual terms in order to more closely align with common market practice. In April 2021, with respect to 2014 and 2015 grants, and in April 2020, with respect to 2013 grants, the compensation committee of our board of directors approved the extension dates of outstanding SARs and director options from a seven-year term to a ten-year term. Accordingly, the Black-Scholes fair values of the respective outstanding awards increased, resulting in the recognition of an aggregate incremental share-based compensation expense of $22.7 million and $18.9 million during 2021 and 2020, respectively. The 2019 amount includes share-based compensation expense related to the RSAs issued under the 2019 CEO Performance Award, as defined and described below.

(c)Represents annual incentive compensation and defined contribution plan liabilities that have been or are expected to be settled with Liberty Global ordinary shares. In the case of the annual incentive compensation, shares have been or will be issued to senior management and key employees pursuant to a shareholding incentive program. The shareholding incentive program allows these employees to elect to receive up to 100% of their annual incentive compensation in ordinary shares of Liberty Global in lieu of cash.

(d)Represents the share-based compensation expense associated with Telenet’s share-based incentive awards, which, at December 31, 2021, included performance- and non-performance-based stock option awards with respect to 4,126,221 Telenet shares. These stock option awards had a weighted average exercise price of €39.73 ($45.24).
Stock Compensation Assumptions
The following table summarizes certain information related to the share-based incentive awards granted and exercised with respect to Liberty Global ordinary shares (includes amounts related to awards held by employees of our discontinued operations, unless otherwise noted):
 Year ended December 31,
 202120202019
Assumptions used to estimate fair value of options, SARs and PSARs granted:
Risk-free interest rate
0.48 - 1.13%
0.13 - 0.47%
1.59 - 2.45%
Expected life
3.7-6.2 years
3.2-6.2 years
3.2-6.2 years
Expected volatility
30.8 - 33.2%
34.6 - 38.8%
29.9 - 33.8%
Expected dividend yieldnonenonenone
Weighted average grant-date fair value per share of awards granted:
Options$8.75 $5.92 $8.60 
SARs$6.79 $4.19 $6.79 
PSARs(a)(a)$6.92 
RSUs$25.69 $15.66 $24.66 
RSAs(a)(a)$25.29 
PSUs(a)(a)$25.00 
Total intrinsic value of awards exercised (in millions):
Options$1.4 $1.2 $4.2 
SARs$28.9 (b)$13.6 
PSARs$0.1 (b)(b)
Cash received from exercise of options (in millions)$8.9 $2.2 $2.3 
Income tax benefit related to share-based compensation of our continuing operations (in millions)
$14.9 $36.9 $21.0 
_______________

(a)There were no grants of this award type made during the indicated period.

(b)There were no exercises of this award type made during the indicated period.
Stock Options Activity
The following tables summarize the share-based award activity during 2021 with respect to awards issued by Liberty Global. Our company settles SARs and PSARs on a net basis when exercised by the award holder, whereby the number of shares issued represents the excess value of the award based on the market price of the respective Liberty Global shares at the time of exercise relative to the award’s exercise price. In addition, with respect to share-based awards held by Liberty Global employees, the number of shares to be issued upon vesting or exercise is reduced by the amount of the employee’s required income tax withholding.


Options — Class A ordinary shares		Number of awardsWeighted
average
exercise price		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term		Aggregate
intrinsic  value
   in yearsin millions
Outstanding at January 1, 2021623,572 $29.41 
Granted48,286 27.82 
Forfeited(29,466)30.95 
Exercised(46,459)18.52 
Impact of dispositions(15,415)17.69 
Outstanding at December 31, 2021580,518 $30.38 4.2$0.6 
Exercisable at December 31, 2021467,288 $31.66 3.1$0.3 
Options — Class C ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
exercise price		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term		Aggregate
intrinsic  value
   in yearsin millions
Outstanding at January 1, 20213,463,971 $24.87 
Granted330,019 26.31 
Forfeited(384,214)26.21 
Exercised(343,147)21.14 
Impact of dispositions(821,877)23.93 
Outstanding at December 31, 20212,244,752 $25.76 5.6$8.3 
Exercisable at December 31, 20211,419,880 $27.97 4.0$3.3 
SARs — Class A ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
base price		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term		Aggregate
intrinsic  value
   in yearsin millions
Outstanding at January 1, 202119,245,884 $27.29 
Granted5,170,598 25.82 
Forfeited(1,738,481)30.31 
Exercised(1,078,925)19.94 
Impact of dispositions(521,873)27.66 
Outstanding at December 31, 202121,077,203 $27.05 5.6$62.4 
Exercisable at December 31, 202111,916,219 $30.40 3.4$15.7 
SARs — Class C ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
base price		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term		Aggregate
intrinsic  value
   in yearsin millions
Outstanding at January 1, 202140,890,502 $26.27 
Granted15,719,407 25.70 
Forfeited(3,433,326)29.30 
Exercised(2,520,420)20.11 
Impact of dispositions(1,050,350)26.79 
Outstanding at December 31, 202149,605,813 $26.18 5.9$167.6 
Exercisable at December 31, 202125,906,562 $29.08 3.2$46.8 
PSARs — Class A ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
base price		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term		Aggregate
intrinsic  value
   in yearsin millions
Outstanding at January 1, 20213,723,670 $25.97 
Forfeited(255,336)25.97 
Exercised(13,232)25.97 
Impact of dispositions(102,530)25.97 
Outstanding at December 31, 20213,352,572 $25.97 7.2$5.9 
Exercisable at December 31, 202114,297 $25.97 7.2$— 

PSARs — Class C ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
base price		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term		Aggregate
intrinsic  value
   in yearsin millions
Outstanding at January 1, 20217,447,340 $25.22 
Forfeited(510,668)25.22 
Exercised(26,464)25.22 
Impact of dispositions(205,059)25.22 
Outstanding at December 31, 20216,705,149 $25.22 7.2$19.3 
Exercisable at December 31, 202128,599 $25.22 7.2$0.1 
The following tables summarize the share-based awards held by former employees of Liberty Global subsequent to certain split-off or disposal transactions. Although we do not recognize share-based compensation expense with respect to these awards, any future exercises of SARs or vesting of RSUs and PSUs will increase the number of our outstanding ordinary shares.
Number of awardsWeighted average exercise or base priceWeighted average remaining contractual termAggregate intrinsic value
in yearsin millions
Options, SARs and PSARs:
Class A:
Outstanding
1,690,876 $31.26 3.3$2.1 
Exercisable
1,437,706 $32.73 2.5$0.8 
Class C:
Outstanding
4,479,177 $28.86 2.7$9.1 
Exercisable
3,972,860 $29.70 2.1$6.1 
Other-than-Options Activity
RSUs — Class A ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
grant-date
fair value
per share		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term
   in years
Outstanding at January 1, 20212,443,306 $17.41 
Granted1,795,856 25.79 
Forfeited(207,614)20.53 
Released from restrictions(1,343,164)20.62 
Impact of dispositions(62,545)21.34 
Outstanding at December 31, 20212,625,839 $21.16 2.2
RSUs — Class C ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
grant-date
fair value
per share		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term
   in years
Outstanding at January 1, 20214,878,115 $16.47 
Granted3,591,710 25.64 
Forfeited(415,081)19.93 
Released from restrictions(2,678,811)19.88 
Impact of dispositions(125,021)20.60 
Outstanding at December 31, 20215,250,912 $20.63 2.2

PSUs — Class A ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
grant-date
fair value
per share		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term
   in years
Outstanding at January 1, 20212,197,288 $25.41 
Forfeited(496,385)25.06 
Released from restrictions(742,856)24.93 
Impact of dispositions(24,536)25.97 
Outstanding at December 31, 2021933,511 $25.97 0.2

PSUs — Class B ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
grant-date
fair value
per share		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term
   in years
Outstanding at January 1, 2021660,000 $25.29 
Released from restrictions(660,000)25.29 
Outstanding at December 31, 2021— $— —

PSUs — Class C ordinary sharesNumber of awardsWeighted
average
grant-date
fair value
per share		Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
term
   in years
Outstanding at January 1, 20214,394,576 $24.66 
Forfeited(992,747)24.31 
Released from restrictions(1,485,735)24.18 
Impact of dispositions(49,072)25.22 
Outstanding at December 31, 20211,867,022 $25.22 0.2
Number of awardsWeighted average grant-date fair value per shareWeighted average remaining contractual term
in years
Outstanding RSUs and PSUs:
Class A:
RSUs
62,558 $21.34 1.9
PSUs
24,536 $25.97 0.2
Class C:
RSUs
125,046 $20.60 1.9
PSUs
49,072 $25.22 0.2