Equity-Based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

16. Equity-Based Compensation

In May 2012, Carlyle Group Management L.L.C., the general partner of the Partnership, adopted the Equity Incentive Plan. The Equity Incentive Plan, which was amended on January 1, 2020 in connection with the Conversion to reflect shares of the Company’s common stock, is a source of equity-based awards permitting the Company to grant to Carlyle employees, directors and consultants non-qualified options, share appreciation rights, common shares, restricted stock units and other awards based on the Company’s common shares. On June 1, 2021, the shareholders of the Company approved an amended and restated Equity Incentive Plan that removed a provision providing for the automatic increase in the number of the Company’s common shares available for grant and reset the total number of shares of common stock available for grant to 16,000,000 for awards granted under the plan after June 1, 2021. As of March 31, 2022, the total number of the Company’s common shares available for grant under the amended and restated Equity Incentive Plan was 12,470,828.

A summary of the status of the Company’s non-vested equity-based awards as of March 31, 2022 and a summary of changes for the three months ended March 31, 2022, are presented below:




Unvested Shares	Restricted Stock Units	Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value		Unvested Common Shares (1)	Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value
Balance, December 31, 2021	14,775,651	$	30.70	635,430	$	29.27
Granted	2,821,101	$	44.42	188,223	$	49.06
Vested	3,212,182	$	29.76	—	$	—
Forfeited	30,638	$	28.57	—	$	—
Balance, March 31, 2022	14,353,932	$	33.61	823,653	$	33.79

(1) Includes common shares issued in connection with the Company’s strategic investment in NGP.

The Company recorded compensation expense, net of forfeitures, for restricted stock units of $39.7 million and $32.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, with $7.9 million and $6.7 million of corresponding deferred tax benefits, respectively. As of March 31, 2022, the total unrecognized equity-based compensation expense related to unvested restricted stock units was $402.4 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average term of 2.5 years.