ALBEMARLE CORP

This summary provides an overview and highlights information contained elsewhere in this Proxy Statement (“Proxy Statement”). This summary does not contain all information that you should consider, and you should read the entire Proxy Statement carefully, before voting. Throughout the Proxy Statement, “we,” “us,” “our,” “Company,” and “Albemarle” refer to Albemarle Corporation, a Virginia corporation.

Annual Meeting

Voting Matters

The following table summarizes the proposals to be considered at the Annual Meeting and voting recommendation of our Board of Directors (“Board of Directors” or “Board”) with respect to each proposal.

2023 Financial Highlights

Our full year results show continued strong volumetric growth with 2023 marking the highest net sales and second-highest EPS in Albemarle’s history. This highlights the focus and ability of our global team to succeed in a macro environment that remains challenging. We ended the year with net sales of $9.6 billion, up 31% compared to 2022, of which 21% was related to volume growth. Our Energy Storage global business unit delivered 35% volumetric growth in 2023. Operational discipline is a key component of our operating model. In 2023, we realized productivity benefits of more than $300 million; well in excess of the initial target of $170 million.

Our Purpose, Strategy, and Transformational Impact Areas

We are committed to building a more resilient world:

Albemarle is a global leader in transforming essential resources such as lithium and bromine into critical ingredients for modern living. Together with our world-class resources, technical and process knowledge, and safety and sustainability performance, we partner with our customers to pioneer new ways to move, power, connect, and protect.

We have a clear strategy to achieve profitable growth and enhance sustainability:

We lead the world in transforming essential resources into critical ingredients around four transformational impact areas:

Governance and Corporate Highlights

Our Board of Directors

Our Director Nominees

Executive Compensation Highlights

Our executive compensation program is designed to attract and retain highly-qualified executives, motivate our executives to achieve our overall business objectives, and align our executives’ interests with those of our shareholders. Our compensation philosophy rewards executives for achieving our financial and stewardship metrics and building long-term value for our shareholders and other stakeholders. We follow several other principles when designing our executive compensation program including: 1) pay-for-performance, 2) pay benchmarking, 3) aligning interests with our stakeholders, and 4) avoiding poor governance policies. For more information see“Executive Compensation Philosophy and Principles” on page 39.

In line with our compensation principles, our NEOs are primarily rewarded through performance-based cash and equity incentive awards. This is intended to both encourage and recognize strong company performance and stock price growth, further driving shareholder value. In 2023,90% of the target compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and an average of 78% of target compensation of our other NEOs was variable and subject to performance factors.

Albemarle's incentive plans convey a balanced focus between growth, efficiency, and stewardship. The 2023 executive compensation program provided short-term annual cash bonuses designed to drive adjusted EBITDA and adjusted cash flow from operations, and long-term performance-based equity awards designed to drive total stockholder return and return on invested capital, all as described in further detail below under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” beginning onpage 31.