Lofty stock price goals and current market conditions have hampered some LTIs

Several companies in the Russell 3000 have canceled their long-term incentive plans for top executives in recent years, including Roblox Corp. and Aspen Aerogels, Inc. in 2024. In the wake of Elon Musk’s battle over his $56 billion compensation package at Tesla, directors are keenly focused on how — and when — LTI plans can go awry.

Although rare, the cancellation of LTI plans can be extremely disruptive, sources told Agenda. When things go wrong, it usually stems from a mismatch between financial projections and eventual reality.

… Although several companies canceled LTIs in 2020 and 2021 due to the unexpected impact of the Covid pandemic, 11 have canceled plans since 2022 for other reasons, according to market data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. Aside from Roblox and Aspen Aerogels, plans were canceled at Oscar Health, Talos Energy, XPO and others in the past two and a half years.