Share-Based Payments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

On September 23, 2009, our board of directors approved the Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. 2009 Equity Incentive Plan ("2009 LTIP") and on April 16, 2019, our board of directors approved the Amended and Restated Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. 2019 Equity Incentive Plan ("2019 LTIP," and together with the 2009 LTIP, the "LTIPs"), which amended and restated the 2009 LTIP. Following the approval of the 2019 LTIP by our stockholders at our 2019 annual meeting of stockholders on June 12, 2019, no additional awards have been or will be granted under the 2009 LTIP and all outstanding awards granted under the 2009 LTIP remain in effect in accordance with the terms in the 2009 LTIP.

The 2019 LTIP provides for grants of restricted common stock, restricted stock units ("RSUs") and other equity-based awards up to an aggregate of 7,000,000 shares of our common stock. The LTIPs are administered by the compensation committee of our board of directors (the "Compensation Committee") and all grants under the LTIPs must be approved by the Compensation Committee.

We recognized stock-based compensation expense of $16.8 million, $15.9 million and $13.6 million during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively, related to restricted stock and RSU vesting.

The following table summarizes the grants, vesting and forfeitures of restricted common stock and RSUs during the year ended December 31, 2020:


	Type	Restricted Stock	RSUs	Grant Date Fair Value ($ in millions)
Outstanding December 31, 2017		105,561	1,632,746
	Granted	28,070	1,006,800	$	19.1
	Vested	(67,934)	(739,388)	N/A
	Forfeiture	—	(47,201)	N/A


Outstanding December 31, 2018		65,697	1,852,957
	Granted	27,245	1,069,202	$	20.5
	Vested	(67,586)	(877,261)	N/A
	Forfeiture	—	(37,543)	N/A
Outstanding at December 31, 2019		25,356	2,007,355
	Granted	82,235	1,446,155	$	16.4
	Vested	(25,356)	(962,518)	N/A
	Forfeiture	—	(35,139)	N/A
Outstanding at December 31, 2020		82,235	2,455,853

Below is a summary of restricted stock and RSU vesting dates as of December 31, 2020:


Vesting Year	Restricted Stock	RSU	Total Awards
2021	82,235	1,155,947	1,238,182
2022	—	836,135	836,135
2023	—	463,771	463,771
Total	82,235	2,455,853	2,538,088

At December 31, 2020, we had unrecognized compensation expense of approximately $0.1 million and $34.5 million, respectively, related to the vesting of restricted stock awards and RSUs noted in the table above.

RSU Deliveries

During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, we delivered 508,968, 433,585, and 378,855 shares of common stock for 877,262, 730,980 and 741,210 vested RSUs, respectively. We allow RSU participants to settle their tax liabilities with a reduction of their share delivery from the originally granted and vested RSUs. The amount, when agreed to by the participant, results in a cash payment to the Manager related to this tax liability and a corresponding adjustment to additional paid in capital on our consolidated statement of changes in stockholders' equity. The adjustment was $6.5 million, $5.0 million, and $4.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively. The adjustment is a reduction of capital related to our equity incentive plan and is presented net of increases of capital related to our equity incentive plan in our consolidated statement of changes in stockholders' equity.