Common Stock (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Charter’s Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical except with respect to certain voting, transfer and conversion rights. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Charter’s Class B common stock represents the share issued to A/N. One share of Charter’s Class B common stock has a number of votes reflecting the voting power of the Charter Holdings common units held by A/N as of the applicable record date on an as-exchanged basis, and is generally intended to reflect A/N’s economic interests in Charter Holdings.

The following table summarizes our shares outstanding for the three years ended December 31, 2021:


	Class A Common Stock	Class B Common Stock
BALANCE, December 31, 2018	225,353,807	1
Exercise of stock options	1,271,419	—
Restricted stock issuances, net of cancellations	8,284	—
Restricted stock unit vesting	728,553	—
Purchase of treasury stock	(17,386,100)	—
BALANCE, December 31, 2019	209,975,963	1
Issuance of equity	55,294	—
Exercise of stock options	3,160,065	—
Restricted stock issuances, net of cancellations	5,992	—
Restricted stock unit vesting	753,139	—
Purchase of treasury stock	(20,219,461)	—
BALANCE, December 31, 2020	193,730,992	1
Exercise of stock options	1,568,488	—
Restricted stock issuances, net of cancellations	4,627	—
Restricted stock unit vesting	664,771	—
Purchase of treasury stock	(23,227,642)	—
BALANCE, December 31, 2021	172,741,236	1

Share Repurchases

The following represents the Company's purchase of Charter Class A common stock and the effect on the consolidated statements of cash flows during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.


	Year Ended December 31,
	2021			2020			2019
	Shares	$		Shares	$		Shares	$
Share buybacks	22,015,125	$	15,038	18,444,203	$	10,639	16,697,458	$	6,734
Income tax withholding	586,008	393		1,022,783	578		380,797	139
Exercise cost	626,509			752,475			307,845
	23,227,642	$	15,431	20,219,461	$	11,217	17,386,100	$	6,873

Share buybacks above include shares of Charter Class A common stock purchased from Liberty Broadband Corporation (“Liberty Broadband”) pursuant to the LBB Letter Agreement as follows (see Note 21).


	Year Ended December 31, 2021
Number of shares purchased	6,077,664
Amount of shares purchased	$	4,179

In January 2022, the Company purchased from Liberty Broadband an additional 0.5 million shares of Charter Class A common stock for approximately $341 million.

As of December 31, 2021, Charter had remaining board authority to purchase an additional $1.9 billion of Charter’s Class A common stock and/or Charter Holdings common units, excluding purchases from Liberty Broadband. The Company also withholds shares of its Class A common stock in payment of income tax withholding owed by employees upon vesting of equity awards as well as exercise costs owed by employees upon exercise of stock options.

In March 2020, pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Stockholders Agreement with Liberty Broadband, A/N and Charter, dated May 23, 2015 (the "Stockholders Agreement"), Charter, Liberty and A/N closed on transactions in which Liberty Broadband and A/N exercised their preemptive right to purchase 35,112 and 20,182 shares, respectively, of Charter Class A common stock for a total purchase price of approximately $23 million.

At the end of each fiscal year, Charter’s board of directors approves the retirement of the then currently outstanding treasury stock and those shares were retired as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. The Company accounts for treasury stock using the cost method and includes treasury stock as a component of total shareholders’ equity. Upon retirement, these treasury shares are allocated between additional paid-in capital and retained earnings (accumulated deficit) based on the cost of original issue included in additional paid-in capital.