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Incentive Plan | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2018
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract] |
Incentive Plan | Incentive Plan On April 28, 2014, our stockholders approved the Digital Realty Trust, Inc., Digital Services, Inc., and Digital Realty Trust, L.P. 2014 Incentive Award Plan (as amended, the 2014 Incentive Award Plan). The 2014 Incentive Award Plan became effective and replaced the Amended and Restated 2004 Incentive Award Plan, as amended, as of the date of such stockholder approval. The material features of the 2014 Incentive Award Plan are described in our definitive Proxy Statement filed on March 19, 2014 in connection with the 2014 Annual Meeting, which description is incorporated herein by reference. Effective as of September 14, 2017, the 2014 Incentive Award Plan was amended to provide that shares which remained available for issuance under DFT’s Amended and Restated 2011 Equity Incentive Plan immediately prior to the closing of the DFT Merger (as adjusted and converted into shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stock) may be used for awards under the 2014 Incentive Award Plan and will not reduce the shares authorized for grant under the 2014 Incentive Award Plan, to the extent that using such shares is permitted without stockholder approval under applicable stock exchange rules. In connection with the amendment to the 2014 Incentive Award Plan, on September 22, 2017, Digital Realty Trust, Inc. registered an additional 3.7 million shares that may be issued pursuant to the 2014 Incentive Award Plan. As of September 30, 2018, approximately 7.1 million shares of common stock, including awards convertible into or exchangeable for shares of common stock, remained available for future issuance under the 2014 Incentive Award Plan. Each long-term incentive unit and each Class D unit issued under the 2014 Incentive Award Plan counts as one share of common stock for purposes of calculating the limit on shares that may be issued under the 2014 Incentive Award Plan and the individual award limits set forth therein. Below is a summary of our compensation expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 and our unearned compensation as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 (in millions):
|  | Deferred Compensation |  | Unearned Compensation |  | Expected period to recognize unearned compensation (in years)
|  | Expensed |  | Capitalized |  | As of September 30, 2018 |  | As of December 31, 2017 |
|  | Three Months Ended September 30, |  |  |
Type of incentive award |  | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2018 |  | 2017 |  |  |
Long-term incentive units |  | $ | 1.2 |  |  | $ | 0.8 |  |  | $ | 0.1 |  |  | $ | 0.6 |  |  | $ | 11.0 |  |  | $ | 6.9 |  |  | 3.0
Market performance-based awards |  | 3.1 |  |  | 2.7 |  |  | 0.3 |  |  | 0.6 |  |  | 28.4 |  |  | 24.7 |  |  | 2.1
Restricted stock |  | 1.5 |  |  | 1.1 |  |  | 1.1 |  |  | 0.8 |  |  | 23.4 |  |  | 17.5 |  |  | 2.8
|  | Nine Months Ended September 30, |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2018 |  | 2017 |  |  |  |  |  |
Long-term incentive units |  | $ | 5.2 |  |  | $ | 3.4 |  |  | $ | 0.2 |  |  | $ | 1.4 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Market performance-based awards |  | 10.0 |  |  | 7.3 |  |  | 0.7 |  |  | 1.9 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Restricted stock |  | 4.7 |  |  | 3.3 |  |  | 3.2 |  |  | 2.5 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
(a) Long-Term Incentive Units Long-term incentive units, which are also referred to as profits interest units, may be issued to eligible participants for the performance of services to or for the benefit of the Operating Partnership. Long-term incentive units (other than Class D units), whether vested or not, will receive the same quarterly per unit distributions as Operating Partnership common units, which equal the per share distributions on Digital Realty Trust, Inc. common stock. Initially, long-term incentive units do not have full parity with common units with respect to liquidating distributions. If such parity is reached, vested long-term incentive units may be converted into an equal number of common units of the Operating Partnership at any time, and thereafter enjoy all the rights and privileges of common units of the Operating Partnership, including redemption rights. For a discussion of how long-term incentive units achieve parity with common units, see Note 14(a) to our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, included in our Annual Report on 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017. Below is a summary of our long-term incentive unit activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.
Unvested Long-term Incentive Units | Units |  | Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested, beginning of period | 99,295 |  |  | $ | 90.59 |
Granted | 114,472 |  |  | 101.26 |
Vested | (49,054 | ) |  | 88.97 |
Cancelled or expired | (14,275 | ) |  | 82.85 |
Unvested, end of period | 150,438 |  |  | $ | 99.49 |
The grant date fair values, which equal the market price of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. common stock on the applicable grant date(s), are being expensed on a straight-line basis for service awards between two and four years, the current vesting period of the long-term incentive units. (b) Market Performance-Based Awards During the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. approved the grant of market performance-based Class D units of the Operating Partnership and market performance-based restricted stock units, or RSUs, covering shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stock (collectively, the “awards”), under the 2014 Incentive Award Plan to officers and employees of the Company. The awards, which were determined to contain a market condition, utilize total shareholder return, or TSR, over a three-year measurement period as the market performance metric. Awards will vest based on Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s TSR relative to the MSCI US REIT Index, or RMS, over a three-year market performance period, or the Market Performance Period, commencing in January 2018 or January 2017, as applicable (or, if earlier, ending on the date on which a change in control of the Company occurs), subject to continued services. 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, or the RMS Relative Market Performance. In the event that the RMS Relative Market Performance during the Market Performance Period is achieved at the “threshold,” “target” or “high” level as set forth below, the awards will become vested as to the market condition with respect to the percentage of Class D units or RSUs, as applicable, set forth below:
Level | RMS Relative Market Performance | Market Performance Vesting Percentage
Below Threshold Level | ≤ -300 basis points | 0%
Threshold Level | -300 basis points | 25%
Target Level | 100 basis points | 50%
High Level | > 500 basis points | 100%
If the RMS Relative Market Performance falls between the levels specified above, 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. In January 2018, following the completion of the applicable Market Performance Period, the Compensation Committee determined that the high level had been achieved for the 2015 awards and, accordingly, 363,193 class D units (including 36,246 distribution equivalent units that immediately vested on December 31, 2017 upon the high level being achieved) and 49,707 RSUs performance vested, subject to service-based vesting. On February 27, 2018, 50% of the 2015 awards vested and the remaining 50% will vest on February 27, 2019, subject to continued employment through each applicable vesting date. Following the completion of the applicable Market Performance Period, the 2017 awards that satisfy the market condition, if any, will vest 50% on February 27, 2020 and 50% on February 27, 2021, subject to continued employment through each applicable vesting date. Following the completion of the applicable Market Performance Period, the 2018 awards that satisfy the market condition, if any, will vest 50% on February 27, 2021 and 50% on February 27, 2022, subject to continued employment through each applicable vesting date. In the event of a change in control, termination of employment by the Company without cause, or termination of employment by the award recipient for good reason, death, disability or retirement, service-based vesting will be accelerated, in full or on a pro rata basis in any case prior to the completion of the Market Performance Period. However, vesting with respect to the market condition will continue to be measured based on RMS Relative Market Performance during the three-year Market Performance Period (or, in the case of a change in control, shortened Market Performance Period). The fair values of the 2018 awards and 2017 awards granted were measured using a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the probability of the market vesting condition being satisfied. Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s achievement of the market vesting condition is contingent on its TSR over a three-year market performance period, relative to the total shareholder return of the RMS. The Monte Carlo simulation is a probabilistic technique based on the underlying theory of the Black-Scholes formula, which was run for 100,000 trials to determine the fair value of the awards. For each trial, the payoff to an award is calculated at the settlement date and is then discounted to the grant date at a risk-free interest rate. The total expected value of the awards on the grant date was determined by multiplying the average value per award over all trials by the number of awards granted. Assumptions used in the valuations are summarized as follows:
Award Date |  | Expected Stock Price Volatility |  | Risk-Free Interest rate
January 1, 2017 |  | 25% |  | 1.49%
February 28, 2017 |  | 23% |  | 1.43%
January 1, 2018 |  | 22% |  | 1.98%
March 1, 2018 |  | 22% |  | 2.34%
March 9, 2018 |  | 22% |  | 2.42%
These valuations were performed in a risk-neutral framework, so no assumption was made with respect to an equity risk premium. As of September 30, 2018, 2,165,692 Class D units and 590,569 market performance-based RSUs had been awarded to our executive officers and other employees. The number of units granted reflects the maximum number of Class D units or market performance-based RSUs, as applicable, which will become vested assuming the achievement of the highest level of RMS Relative Market Performance under the awards and, in the case of the Class D units, also includes distribution equivalent units. The fair value of these awards of approximately $96.7 million will be recognized as compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the expected service period of approximately four years. If the market conditions are not met, at the end of the applicable performance periods, the unamortized amount will be recognized as an expense at that time. (c) Restricted Stock Below is a summary of our restricted stock activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.
Unvested Restricted Stock | Shares |  | Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested, beginning of period | 259,422 |  |  | $ | 90.54 |
Granted | 164,748 |  |  | 101.24 |
Vested | (92,432 | ) |  | 82.96 |
Cancelled or expired | (28,510 | ) |  | 96.69 |
Unvested, end of period | 303,228 |  |  | $ | 97.21 |
The grant date fair values, which equal the market price of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. common stock on the grant date, are expensed on a straight-line basis for service awards over the vesting period of the restricted stock, which is generally four years.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for an entity's employee compensation and benefit plans, including, but not limited to, postemployment and postretirement benefit plans, defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution plans, non-qualified and supplemental benefit plans, deferred compensation, share-based compensation, life insurance, severance, health care, unemployment and other benefit plans. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 715 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2235017 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 712 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2197446 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 710 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2127225 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2228938 + Details
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