STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Cumulative Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A

Equity securities in the form of Cumulative Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A (“preferred series A”) were issued on April 1, 2009 to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in the amount of $3 billion (3 million shares) and the Kuwait Investment Authority in the amount of $1 billion (1 million shares). Shareholders of preferred series A could convert all or any portion of their shares, at their option, at any time, into shares of the Company’s common stock at an initial conversion ratio of 24.2010 shares of common stock for each share of preferred series A. On or after the fifth anniversary of the issuance date, if the common stock price exceeded $53.72 per share for any 20 trading days in a consecutive 30-day window, the Company had the option, at any time, in whole or in part, to convert preferred series A into common stock at the then applicable conversion rate.

On December 15, 2016, the trading price of Dow's common stock closed at $58.35, marking the 20th trading day in the previous 30 trading days that the common stock closed above $53.72, triggering the right of the Company to exercise its conversion right. On December 16, 2016, the Company sent a Notice of Conversion at the Option of the Company (the "Notice") to all holders of its preferred series A. Pursuant to the Notice, on December 30, 2016 (the "Conversion Date") all 4 million outstanding shares of preferred series A were converted into shares of common stock at a conversion ratio of 24.2010 shares of common stock for each share of preferred series A, resulting in the issuance of 96.8 million shares of common stock from treasury stock. From and after the Conversion Date, no shares of the preferred series A are issued or outstanding and all rights of the holders of the preferred series A have terminated. On January 6, 2017, the Company filed an amendment to the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation by way of a certificate of elimination (the “Certificate of Elimination”) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware which had the effect of: (a) eliminating the previously designated 4 million shares of the preferred series A, none of which were outstanding at the time of the filing; (b) upon such elimination, causing such preferred series A to resume the status of authorized and unissued shares of preferred stock, par value $1.00 per share, of the Company, without designation as to series; and (c) eliminating from the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation all references to, and all matters set forth in, the certificates of designations for the preferred series A.

The Company paid cumulative dividends on preferred series A at a rate of 8.5 percent per annum, or $85 million per quarter. The final dividend for the preferred series A was declared on December 15, 2016 and payable on the earlier of the Conversion Date (if applicable) or January 3, 2017, to shareholders of record at December 15, 2016. The accrued dividend was paid in full on the Conversion Date.

Common Stock

The Company may issue common stock shares out of treasury stock or as new common stock shares for purchases under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan, for options exercised and for the release of deferred, performance deferred and restricted stock. New common stock shares issued by the Company are summarized in the table below:

New Common Stock Shares Issued
Shares in thousands	2016	2015	2014
To employees	—	—	21,181
To non-employee directors	—	32	25

Retained Earnings

There are no significant restrictions limiting the Company’s ability to pay dividends.

Undistributed earnings of nonconsolidated affiliates included in retained earnings were $1,196 million at December 31, 2016 and $2,708 million at December 31, 2015.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

The Company has the Dow Employee Stock Ownership Plan (the “ESOP”), which is an integral part of The Dow Chemical Company Employees’ Savings Plan (the “Plan”). A significant majority of full-time employees in the United States are eligible to participate in the Plan. The Company uses the ESOP to provide the Company’s matching contribution in the form of the Company’s stock to Plan participants.

In connection with the acquisition of Rohm and Haas on April 1, 2009, the Rohm and Haas Employee Stock Ownership Plan (the "Rohm and Haas ESOP") was merged into the Plan, and the Company assumed the $78 million balance of debt at 9.8 percent interest with final maturity in 2020 that was used to finance share purchases by the Rohm and Haas ESOP in 1990. The outstanding balance of the debt was $24 million at December 31, 2016 and $30 million at December 31, 2015.

Dividends on unallocated shares held by the ESOP are used by the ESOP to make debt service payments and to purchase additional shares if dividends exceed the debt service payments. Dividends on allocated shares are used by the ESOP to make debt service payments to the extent needed; otherwise, they are paid to the Plan participants. Shares are released for allocation to participants based on the ratio of the current year’s debt service to the sum of the principal and interest payments over the life of the loan. The shares are allocated to Plan participants in accordance with the terms of the Plan.

Compensation expense for allocated shares is recorded at the fair value of the shares on the date of allocation. ESOP shares that have not been released or committed to be released are not considered outstanding for purposes of computing basic and diluted earnings per share.

Compensation expense for ESOP shares was $192 million in 2016, $174 million in 2015 and $163 million in 2014. At December 31, 2016, 15.8 million shares out of a total 29.3 million shares held by the ESOP had been allocated to participants’ accounts; 1.9 million shares were released but unallocated; and 11.6 million shares, at a fair value of $661 million, were considered unearned.

Treasury Stock

On February 13, 2013, the Board of Directors approved a share buy-back program, authorizing up to $1.5 billion to be spent on the repurchase of the Company's common stock over a period of time. On January 29, 2014, the Board of Directors announced an expansion of the Company's share buy-back authorization, authorizing an additional amount not to exceed $3 billion to be spent on the repurchase of the Company's common stock over a period of time. On November 12, 2014, the Board of Directors announced a new $5 billion tranche to its share buy-back program, with the repurchase of the Company's common stock timed to proceeds received from portfolio management actions and increases in operating cash flows. As a result of these actions, the total authorized amount of the share repurchase program is $9.5 billion. At December 31, 2016, $1.4 billion of the share buy-back authorization remained available for repurchases. The following table shows the total number of treasury shares purchased by the Company under the share repurchase program for each period presented:

Treasury Shares Repurchased with Cash
Shares in millions
2016	17.1
2015	23.1
2014	84.1

In 2015, the Company also recorded 34.1 million treasury shares as part of the Transaction with Olin, which were tendered as part of a non-cash, public exchange offer. See Note 6 for additional information.

On December 11, 2015, the Company and DuPont announced that their boards of directors unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals strategic combination. The combined company will be named DowDuPont. As a result of the planned merger of equals with DuPont, the Company determined that it would not repurchase shares until after the July 20, 2016, shareholder vote on the DowDuPont merger. The Company resumed share repurchases in the third quarter of 2016.

The Company may issue shares for purchases under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan, for options exercised as well as for the release of deferred, performance deferred and restricted stock out of treasury stock or as new common stock shares. The number of treasury shares issued to employees and non-employee directors under the Company’s stock-based compensation programs are summarized in the table below:

Treasury Shares Issued to Employees and Non-Employee Directors
Shares in millions
2016	14.5
2015	16.5
2014	7.1

On December 30, 2016, preferred series A shares with a carrying value of $4,000 million were converted to shares of common stock, resulting in the issuance of 96.8 million shares of common stock from treasury stock. The treasury stock issued was carried at an aggregate historical cost of $4,695 million, resulting in a reduction to "Additional paid-in capital" in the consolidated balance sheets of $695 million.