6. Stock-Based Awards

Stock Options

The Company grants equity awards to employees and directors. Options are issued generally for terms of ten years and vest between two to four years. Options are issued with an exercise price equal to the fair value of the Company on the date of grant. The Company estimated the fair value for options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. All option awards require future service as a condition of vesting with certain awards subject to acceleration under certain conditions.

The Company has six stock option plans, which are similar in nature (collectively, referred to as the “Plans”). Under the Plans, the Company can issue a maximum of 25,000,000 shares of common stock pursuant to stock options and other stock-based awards and also has issued from time to time stock-based awards outside the Plans. Options outstanding at December 31, 2014 expire on dates ranging from June 5, 2015 to November 15, 2021.

In January 2009, the Company’s Compensation Committee and Board of the Directors approved a proposal to provide eligible employees an opportunity to exercise their underwater stock options in the future at an alternative lower strike price. To obtain the full benefit of the alternative strike price, employees were required to remain with the Company for an additional 4 years. Under the program, eligible employees could exercise one quarter of their stock options each year at an alternative strike price of $1.07. The alternative strike price represented a 50% premium to the Company’s thirty day volume weighted-average price on the day the program was approved. Options prices on the programs approval date ranged from $1.75 to $9.45 with a weighted-average exercise price of $4.34. The Company has recorded a charge of $589 over the four years (2009-2012) which represents the excess of the fair value of eligible options using the alternative strike price over the existing strike price; this charge was fully recognized by December 31, 2012. For the year ended December 31, 2012 the Company recorded $118 for this program.

A summary of option activity is as follows:


	Options			Weighted- Average Exercise Price
Outstanding January 1, 2012		20,852,614		$	0.79
Granted		—			0.00
Forfeitures or expirations		(73,907	)		1.75
Exercised		(8,018,516	)		0.58

Outstanding at December 31, 2012		12,760,191		$	0.95
Granted		—			0.00
Forfeitures or expirations		(40,000	)		4.11
Exercised		(4,875,500	)		0.38

Outstanding at December 31, 2013		7,844,691		$	1.29
Granted		—			0.00
Forfeitures or expirations		—			0.00
Exercised		(2,514,621	)		0.61

Outstanding at December 31, 2014		5,330,070		$	1.61

In 2012, all of the 1,320,833 outstanding options awards granted to nonemployee consultants and special advisers were exercised with a weighted average exercise price of $1.34. After December 31, 2012, there were no remaining option awards outstanding to non-employees.

The following table summarizes information on stock options outstanding at December 31, 2014:


	Options Outstanding						Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices	Number Outstanding at December 31, 2014		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life in Years		Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Number Exercisable at December 31, 2014		Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Aggregate Intrinsic Value at December 31, 2014
$0.70 – $0.70		2,435,000		4.1		0.70		2,285,000		0.70		34,218
$1.07 – $1.07		1,368,891		2.1		1.07		1,368,891		1.07		19,993
$2.03 – $4.03		948,299		3.4		2.19		948,299		2.19		12,790
$5.05 – $5.05		360,000		6.1		5.05		247,500		5.05		2,630
$6.36 – $6.82		122,880		6.5		6.49		72,880		6.48		670
$7.01 – $8.51		95,000		6.7		7.50		65,000		7.51		531

		5,330,070		3.7	$	1.61		4,987,570	$	1.47	$	70,832

Restricted stock

The Company grants restricted stock to employees and directors. All restricted stock awards require future service as a condition of delivery of the underlying shares of common stock along with certain other requirements outlined in the award agreements. Restricted stock awards generally vest over three years.

The following table summarizes information about restricted shares outstanding for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012:


	Restricted Stock Awards
Unvested balance at January 1, 2012		1,311,371
Granted		1,209,114
Vested		(1,209,121	)
Forfeited		(30,220	)

Unvested balance at December 31, 2012		1,281,144
Granted		981,810
Vested		(358,334	)
Forfeited		(7,743	)

Unvested balance at December 31, 2013		1,896,877
Granted		623,088
Vested		(996,385	)
Forfeited		(9,641	)

Unvested balance at December 31, 2014		1,513,939

As of December 31, 2012 all awards of restricted stock have vested for nonemployee consultants and special advisers. There are no remaining unvested restricted shares to non-employees or special advisers at December 31, 2014.

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock-based compensation expense:


	For the Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Employees and directors option awards	$	487	$	381	$	1,436
Employees and directors restricted stock awards		7,650		6,078		3,814
Nonemployee consultants and special advisers restricted stock awards		—		—		2,187

Total	$	8,137	$	6,459	$	7,437

Stock-based compensation expense related to nonemployee consultants and special advisers was included in professional and consulting fees and stock-based compensation expense related to directors is included in other expenses on the consolidated statements of operations.

The following table summarizes the Company’s unrecognized stock-based compensation expense and remaining vesting period as of December 31, 2014:


	Unrecognized Stock-Based Compensation		Average Remaining Vesting Period
Employees and directors option awards	$	415		1.06
Employees and directors restricted stock awards	$	10,574		1.41