Rocket One Inc.
For the period ended Dec 17, 2026. Filed Oct 23, 2026.
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Dec 17, 2026 · Filed Oct 23, 2026
Contents
PROPOSAL 3: PLAN AMENDMENT PROPOSAL
PROPOSAL 3
PLAN AMENDMENT PROPOSAL
Introduction
On March 24, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted the 2022 Plan initially reserving 96,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for issuance thereunder. The 2022 Plan became effective on June 23, 2022 upon approval of such plan by the Company’s shareholders. On June 2, 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted the Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, which was approved by shareholders on August 18, 2023 and (i) increased the number of shares of common stock that may be issued under such plan by 495,317 shares and (ii) included clawback provisions to comply with recent developments of applicable law. On May 15, 2024, our compensation committee recommended and our Board approved an amendment to our Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance thereunder from 591,317 shares to 1,091,317 shares, which was approved by our shareholders on August 7, 2024. On May 9, 2025, our compensation committee recommended and our Board approved an amendment to our Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance thereunder from 1,091,317 shares to 3,091,317 shares, which was approved by our shareholders on August 5, 2025.
On May 26, 2026, the Company’s Board of Directors amended and restated the Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to change the name of the Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to the Rocket One Inc. Amended and Restated 2022 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan.
On September 22, 2026, our compensation committee recommended and our Board approved an amendment to our Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance thereunder (and the number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to the exercise of incentive stock options (“ISOs”)) from 3,091,317 shares to 6,341,317 shares, an increase of 3,250,000 shares.
We currently maintain the Amended and Restated 2018 Plan and will continue to issue awards under the Amended and Restated 2018 Plan. All awards issued under the Amended and Restated 2018 Plan will continue to be governed by the terms, conditions and procedures set forth in the Amended and Restated 2018 Plan and any applicable award agreement.
We are seeking shareholder approval to amend the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock available for issuance (and the number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to the exercise of ISOs) to 6,341,317 shares so that the Company can continue to provide equity-based compensation as approved by our compensation committee.
The full text of the Plan Amendment is set forth in Appendix A to this proxy statement.
The following table sets forth, as of the Record Date, the approximate number of each class of participants eligible to participate in the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and the basis of such participation.
| Class and Basis of Participation | Approximate Number of Class |
|---|---|
| Employees | 3 |
| Directors(1) | 5 |
| Independent Contractors | 16 |
| (1) | One of the five directors is an employee of the Company. |
Reasons for the Plan Amendment
As of the Record Date, 3,091,317 shares of common stock were reserved for issuance under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan of which 31,317 shares of common stock remain available for issuance. We are seeking shareholder approval to amend our Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock issuable thereunder to 6,341,317 shares. As noted above, if our shareholders do not approve the Plan Amendment, we anticipate that there will not be sufficient shares available under our Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan for continued equity awards to our employees, non-employee directors and independent contractors over the next year. This would result in the loss of an important compensation tool aligned with shareholder interests to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified talent.
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We recognize the dilutive impact of our equity compensation program on our shareholders and continuously strive to balance this concern with the competition for talent in the competitive business environment and talent market, as well as the current market conditions, in which we operate. In determining the appropriate number of shares to request and add to the pool of shares available for issuance pursuant to the Plan Amendment, our Board and compensation committee worked with management to evaluate a number of factors, and carefully considered (i) the potential dilutive impact on shareholders, (ii) our historical run rate and overhang, (iii) the current number of shares remaining available for issuance, (iv) the realities of equity awards being a key component of designing competitive compensation packages necessary for attracting and retaining key talent in a competitive marketplace, (v) our strategic growth plans, and (vi) the interests of our shareholders.
We anticipate the additional shares requested under the Plan Amendment, plus the remaining shares that are available for issuance under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, to be sufficient for a period of one year.
Our Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan is designed to attract and retain non-employee directors and employees and reward them for making contributions to the success of the Company and its subsidiaries. These objectives are to be accomplished by making awards under Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and thereby providing participants with a proprietary interest in the growth and performance of the Company and aligning a portion of their compensation with the interests of our shareholders. Shareholder approval of this proposal will enable us to continue to grant equity awards to our employees and non-employee directors at such levels determined by our compensation committee and Board to be necessary to attract, retain and motivate the individuals who will be critical to our success in achieving our business objectives and thereby creating greater value for our shareholders.
Dilution, Stock Available and Historical Stock Usage
Dilution. Subject to shareholder approval of the Plan Amendment, the number of shares of common stock that will be reserved for issuance pursuant to awards granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan shall be 6,341,317 shares, which represents approximately 17.7% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on a fully diluted basis as of the Record Date. The Board believes that this number of shares of common stock constitutes reasonable potential equity dilution and provides a significant incentive for employees and service providers to increase the value of the Company for all shareholders. The closing trading price of each share of Company common stock as of the Record Date was $0.5325.
As of the Record Date, we had: (i) 24,897,581 shares of common stock outstanding; (ii) 2,310,362 stock options outstanding (vested and unvested), with a weighted average exercise price of $2.69 per share; and (iii) 4,683,821 warrants to purchase common stock outstanding, with a weighted average exercise price of $1.49 per share. The additional shares of Company’s common stock available under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan would represent an additional potential equity dilution of approximately 9.2%.
Shares Available; Certain Limitations. The maximum number of shares of common stock reserved and available for issuance under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan will be 6,341,317 shares; provided that shares of common stock issued under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan with respect to an Exempt Award (as defined herein) will not count against the share limit. We use the term “Exempt Award” to mean (i) an award granted in the assumption of, or in substitution for, outstanding awards previously granted by another business entity acquired by us or any of our subsidiaries or with which we or any of our subsidiaries merges, (ii) an award that a participant purchases at fair market value or (iii) an award granted as an inducement award pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c).
Subject to shareholder approval of the Plan Amendment, no more than 6,341,317 shares of the Company’s common stock shall be issued pursuant to the exercise of ISOs.
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New shares reserved for issuance under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan may be authorized but unissued shares of the Company’s common stock or shares of the Company’s common stock that will have been or may be reacquired by the Company in the open market, in private transactions or otherwise. If any shares of the Company’s common stock subject to an award are forfeited, cancelled, exchanged or surrendered or if an award terminates or expires without a distribution of shares to the participant, the shares of the Company’s common stock with respect to such award will, to the extent of any such forfeiture, cancellation, exchange, surrender, termination or expiration, again be available for awards under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan except that (i) any shares of the Company’s common stock reacquired by the Company on the open market or otherwise using cash proceeds from the exercise of options, and (ii) any shares of the Company’s common stock surrendered or withheld as payment of either the exercise price of an award and/or withholding taxes in respect of an award will not again be available for awards under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. If an award is denominated in shares of the Company’s common stock, but settled in cash, the number of shares of common stock previously subject to the award will again be available for grants under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. If an award can only be settled in cash, it will not be counted against the total number of shares of common stock available for grant under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. However, upon the exercise of any award granted in tandem with any other awards, such related awards will be cancelled as to the number of shares as to which the award is exercised and such number of shares of the Company’s common stock will no longer be available for grant under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan.
As exhibited by our responsible use of equity over the past several years and good corporate governance practices associated with equity and executive compensation practices in general, we believe the stock reserved under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, as amended pursuant to the Plan Amendment, will provide us with the platform needed for our continued growth, while managing program costs and share utilization levels within acceptable industry standards.
Share Usage. In determining the requested number of shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for issuance under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan pursuant to the Plan Amendment, we evaluated the dilution and historic share usage, burn rate and the existing terms of outstanding awards under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and Amended and Restated 2018 Plan. The annual share usage under our equity plans for the last three fiscal years was as follows:
| Fiscal Year 2025 | Fiscal Year 2024 | Fiscal Year 2023 | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Total Shares Granted During Fiscal Year (1) | 970,000 | 923,000 | 90,000 | 661,000 |
| B Basic Weighted Average Common Stock Outstanding | 13,805,813 | 6,375,161 | 3,409,190 | 7,863,388 |
| C Burn Rate (A/B) | 7.03% | 14.48% | 2.64% | 8.41% |
| (1) | Includes the number of options and full value awards (restricted shares of common stock) granted for such year. |
Description of the Plan Amendment
The full text of the Plan Amendment is set forth in Appendix A to this proxy statement. The full text of our Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan (prior to the amendment described in this Proposal 3) is set forth in Appendix A of our definitive proxy statement for our 2023 annual meeting of shareholders filed with the SEC on June 27, 2023, as amended by (i) Amendment No. 1 to the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan filed as Exhibit 10.2 to our Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed with the SEC on August 16, 2024, and (ii) Amendment No. 2 to the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to our Registration Statement on Form S-8 filed with the SEC on August 5, 2025, and is incorporated herein by reference.
The following is a summary of the material features of the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan.
Types of Awards. The Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan provides for the issuance of incentive stock options, non-statutory stock options, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), restricted stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), and other stock-based awards. Items described above in the Section called “Shares Available; Certain Limitations” are incorporated herein by reference.
Administration. The Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan is administered by our compensation committee. If our compensation committee ceases to administer the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, a committee or subcommittee of our Board of Directors that complies with the applicable requirements of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and any other applicable legal or stock exchange listing requirements (each of our Board of Directors or such committee or subcommittee, the “plan administrator”) shall do so. The plan administrator, subject, in the case of any committee, to any restrictions on the authority delegated to it by the Board, may interpret the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and may prescribe, amend and rescind rules and make all other determinations necessary or desirable for the administration of the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan.
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The Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan permits the plan administrator to select the eligible recipients who will receive awards, to determine the terms and conditions of those awards, including, but not limited to, the exercise price or other purchase price of an award, the number of shares of common stock or cash or other property subject to an award, the term of an award and the vesting schedule applicable to an award, and to amend the terms and conditions of outstanding awards. No participant who is a director, but is not also an employee or consultant of the Company, shall receive awards under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and be paid cash compensation during any calendar year that exceed, in the aggregate, $150,000 in total value, increased to $195,000 in the calendar year of his or her initial service as a non-employee director.
Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units. Restricted stock and RSUs may be granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. The plan administrator will determine the purchase price, vesting schedule and performance goals, if any, and any other conditions that apply to a grant of restricted stock and RSUs. If the restrictions, performance goals or other conditions determined by the plan administrator are not satisfied, the restricted stock and RSUs will be forfeited. Subject to the provisions of the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and the applicable award agreement, the plan administrator has the sole discretion to provide for the lapse of restrictions in installments.
Unless the applicable award agreement provides otherwise, participants with restricted stock will generally have all of the rights of a shareholder; provided that dividends will only be paid if and when the underlying restricted stock vests. RSUs will not be entitled to dividends prior to vesting, but may be entitled to receive dividend equivalents if the award agreement provides for them. The rights of participants granted restricted stock or RSUs upon the termination of employment or service to us will be set forth in the award agreement.
Options. Incentive stock options and non-statutory stock options may be granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. An “incentive stock option” means an option intended to qualify for tax treatment applicable to incentive stock options under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”). A “non-statutory stock option” is an option that is not subject to statutory requirements and limitations required for certain tax advantages that are allowed under specific provisions of the Code. A non-statutory stock option under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan is referred to for federal income tax purposes as a “non-qualified” stock option. Each option granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan will be designated as a non-qualified stock option or an incentive stock option. At the discretion of the plan administrator, incentive stock options may be granted only to our employees, employees of our “parent corporation” (as such term is defined in Section 424(e) of the Code) or employees of our subsidiaries.
The exercise period of an option may not exceed ten years from the date of grant and the exercise price may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date the option is granted (110% of fair market value in the case of incentive stock options granted to 10% shareholders). The exercise price for shares of common stock subject to an option may be paid in cash, or as determined by the plan administrator in its sole discretion, (i) through any cashless exercise procedure approved by the plan administrator (including the withholding of shares of common stock otherwise issuable upon exercise), (ii) by tendering unrestricted shares of common stock owned by the participant, (iii) with any other form of consideration approved by the plan administrator and permitted by applicable law or (iv) by any combination of these methods. The option holder will have no rights to dividends or distributions or other rights of a shareholder with respect to the shares of common stock subject to an option until the option holder has given written notice of exercise and paid the exercise price and applicable withholding taxes.
In the event of a participant’s termination of employment or service, the participant may exercise his or her option (to the extent vested as of such date of termination) for such period of time as specified in his or her option agreement.
Stock Appreciation Rights.
SARs may be granted either alone (a “Free-Standing Right”) or in conjunction with all or part of any option granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan (a “Related Right”). A Free-Standing Right will entitle its holder to receive, at the time of exercise, an amount per share up to the excess of the fair market value (at the date of exercise) of a share of common stock over the base price of the Free-Standing Right (which shall be no less than 100% of the fair market value of the related shares of common stock on the date of grant) multiplied by the number of shares in respect of which the SAR is being exercised. A Related Right will entitle its holder to receive, at the time of exercise of the SAR and surrender of the applicable portion of the related option, an amount per share up to the excess of the fair market value (at the date of exercise) of a share of common stock over the exercise price of the related option multiplied by the number of shares in respect of which the SAR is being exercised. The exercise period of a Free-Standing Right may not exceed ten years from the date of grant. The exercise period of a Related Right will also expire upon the expiration of its related option.
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The holder of a SAR will have no rights to dividends or any other rights of a shareholder with respect to the shares of the Company’s common stock subject to the SAR until the holder has given written notice of exercise and paid the exercise price and applicable withholding taxes.
In the event of a participant’s termination of employment or service, the holder of a SAR may exercise his or her SAR (to the extent vested as of such date of termination) for such period of time as specified in his or her SAR agreement.
Other Stock-Based Awards. The plan administrator may grant other stock-based awards under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, valued in whole or in part by reference to, or otherwise based on, shares of common stock. The plan administrator will determine the terms and conditions of these awards, including the number of shares of common stock to be granted pursuant to each award, the manner in which the award will be settled, and the conditions to the vesting and payment of the award (including the achievement of performance goals). The rights of participants granted other stock-based awards upon the termination of employment or service to us will be set forth in the applicable award agreement. In the event that a bonus is granted in the form of shares of common stock, the shares of common stock constituting such bonus shall, as determined by the plan administrator, be evidenced in uncertificated form or by a book entry record or a certificate issued in the name of the participant to whom such grant was made and delivered to such participant as soon as practicable after the date on which such bonus is payable. Any dividend or dividend equivalent award issued under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan shall be subject to the same restrictions, conditions and risks of forfeiture as apply to the underlying award.
Equitable Adjustment and Treatment of Outstanding Awards Upon Change in Capitalization or a Change in Control
Change in Capitalization. In the event of a merger, consolidation, reclassification, recapitalization, spin-off, spin-out, repurchase, reorganization, special or extraordinary dividend or other extraordinary distribution (whether in the form of common shares, cash or other property), combination, exchange of shares, or other change in corporate structure affecting our common stock, an equitable substitution or proportionate adjustment shall be made in (i) the aggregate number and kind of securities reserved for issuance under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, (ii) the kind and number of securities subject to, and the exercise price of, any outstanding options and SARs granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, (iii) the kind, number and purchase price of shares of common stock, or the amount of cash or amount or type of property, subject to outstanding restricted stock, RSUs and other stock-based awards granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and (iv) the terms and conditions of any outstanding awards (including any applicable performance targets). Equitable substitutions or adjustments other than those listed above may also be made as determined by the plan administrator. In addition, the plan administrator may terminate all outstanding awards for the payment of cash or in-kind consideration having an aggregate fair market value equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares of common stock, cash or other property covered by such awards over the aggregate exercise price, if any, of such awards, but if the exercise price of any outstanding award is equal to or greater than the fair market value of the shares of common stock, cash or other property covered by such award, the plan administrator may cancel the award without the payment of any consideration to the participant. With respect to awards subject to foreign laws, adjustments will be made in compliance with applicable requirements. Except to the extent determined by the plan administrator, adjustments to incentive stock options will be made only to the extent not constituting a “modification” within the meaning of Section 424(h)(3) of the Code.
Change in Control. The Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan provides that, unless otherwise determined by the plan administrator and evidenced in an award agreement, if a “change in control” (as defined below) occurs and a participant is employed by, or otherwise providing services to the Company or any of its affiliates immediately prior to the consummation of the change in control, then the plan administrator, in its sole and absolute discretion, may (i) provide that any unvested or unexercisable portion of an award carrying a right to exercise will become fully vested and exercisable; and (ii) cause the restrictions, deferral limitations, payment conditions and forfeiture conditions applicable to any award granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan to lapse, and the awards will be deemed fully vested and any performance conditions imposed with respect to such awards will be deemed to be fully achieved at target performance levels. The plan administrator shall have discretion in connection with such change in control to provide that all outstanding and unexercised options and SARs shall expire upon the consummation of such change in control.
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For purposes of the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, a “change in control” means, in summary, the occurrence of any of the following events: (i) a person or entity becomes the beneficial owner of more than 50% of our voting power; (ii) an unapproved change in the majority membership of our Board; (iii) a merger or consolidation of us or any of our subsidiaries, other than (A) a merger or consolidation that results in our voting securities continuing to represent 50% or more of the combined voting power of the surviving entity or its parent and our Board immediately prior to the merger or consolidation continuing to represent at least a majority of the Board of the surviving entity or its parent or (B) a merger or consolidation effected to implement a recapitalization in which no person is or becomes the beneficial owner of our voting securities representing more than 50% of our combined voting power; or (iv) shareholder approval of a plan of our complete liquidation or dissolution or the consummation of an agreement for the sale or disposition of substantially all of our assets, other than (A) a sale or disposition to an entity, more than 50% of the combined voting power of which is owned by our shareholders in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of us immediately prior to such sale or (B) a sale or disposition to an entity controlled by our Board. However, a change in control will not be deemed to have occurred as a result of any transaction or series of integrated transactions following which our shareholders, immediately prior thereto, hold immediately afterward the same proportionate equity interests in the entity that owns all or substantially all of our assets.
Tax Withholding
Each participant will be required to make arrangements satisfactory to the plan administrator regarding payment of up to the maximum statutory tax rates in the participant’s applicable jurisdiction with respect to any award granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, as determined by us. We have the right, to the extent permitted by applicable law, to deduct any such taxes from any payment of any kind otherwise due to the participant. With the approval of the plan administrator, the participant may satisfy the foregoing requirement by either electing to have us withhold from delivery of shares of common stock, cash or other property, as applicable, or by delivering already owned unrestricted shares of common stock, in each case, having a value not exceeding the applicable taxes to be withheld and applied to the tax obligations. We may also use any other method of obtaining the necessary payment or proceeds, as permitted by applicable law, to satisfy our withholding obligation with respect to any award.
Amendment and Termination of the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan
The Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan provides our Board with authority to amend, alter or terminate the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan, but no such action may impair the rights of any participant with respect to outstanding awards without the participant’s consent. The plan administrator may amend an award, prospectively or retroactively, but no such amendment may materially impair the rights of any participant without the participant’s consent. Shareholder approval of any such action will be obtained if required to comply with applicable law. The Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan will terminate on the tenth anniversary of the Effective Date (as defined in the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan) (although awards granted before that time will remain outstanding in accordance with their terms).
Clawback
If the Company is required to prepare a financial restatement due to the Company’s material non-compliance with any financial reporting requirement under the securities law, then the plan administrator may require any Section 10D-1(d) of the Exchange Act “executive officer” to repay or forfeit to us that part of the cash or equity incentive compensation received by that Section 10D-1(d) executive officer during the preceding three completed fiscal years that the plan administrator determines was in excess of the amount that such Section 10D-1(d) executive officer would have received had such cash or equity incentive compensation been calculated based on the restated amounts reported in the restated financial statement. The plan administrator may take into account any factors it deems reasonable in determining whether to seek recoupment of previously paid cash or equity incentive compensation and how much of such compensation to recoup from each Section 10D-1(d) executive officer (which shall be made irrespective of any fault, misconduct or responsibility of each Section 10D-1(d) executive officer). The amount and form of the incentive compensation to be recouped shall be determined by the plan administrator in its sole and absolute discretion, and calculated on a pre-tax basis.
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U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences
The following is a summary of certain United States federal income tax consequences of awards under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan. It does not purport to be a complete description of all applicable rules, and those rules (including those summarized here) are subject to change.
Non-Qualified Stock Options
A participant who has been granted a non-qualified stock option will not recognize taxable income upon the grant of a non-qualified stock option. Rather, at the time of exercise of such non-qualified stock option, the participant will recognize ordinary income for income tax purposes in an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of the shares of common stock purchased over the exercise price. We generally will be entitled to a tax deduction at such time and in the same amount that the participant recognizes ordinary income. If shares of common stock acquired upon exercise of a non-qualified stock option are later sold or exchanged, then the difference between the amount received upon such sale or exchange and the fair market value of such shares on the date of such exercise will generally be taxable as long-term or short-term capital gain or loss (if the shares are a capital asset of the participant) depending upon the length of time such shares were held by the participant.
Incentive Stock Options
In general, no taxable income is realized by a participant upon the grant of an incentive stock option (“ISO”). If shares of common stock are purchased by a participant, or option shares, pursuant to the exercise of an ISO granted under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan and the participant does not dispose of the option shares within the two-year period after the date of grant or within one year after the receipt of such option shares by the participant (such disposition a “disqualifying disposition”) then, generally (1) the participant will not realize ordinary income upon exercise and (2) upon sale of such option shares, any amount realized in excess of the exercise price paid for the option shares will be taxed to such participant as capital gain (or loss). The amount by which the fair market value of the common stock on the exercise date of an ISO exceeds the purchase price generally will constitute an item which increases the participant’s “alternative minimum taxable income.” If option shares acquired upon the exercise of an ISO are disposed of in a disqualifying disposition, the participant generally would include in ordinary income in the year of disposition an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of the option shares at the time of exercise (or, if less, the amount realized on the disposition of the option shares), over the exercise price paid for the option shares. Subject to certain exceptions, an option generally will not be treated as an ISO if it is exercised more than three months following termination of employment. If an ISO is exercised at a time when it no longer qualifies as an ISO, such option will be treated as a nonqualified stock option as discussed above. In general, we will receive an income tax deduction at the same time and in the same amount as the participant recognizes ordinary income.
Stock Appreciation Rights
A participant who is granted a SAR generally will not recognize ordinary income upon receipt of the SAR. Rather, at the time of exercise of such SAR, the participant will recognize ordinary income for income tax purposes in an amount equal to the value of any cash received and the fair market value on the date of exercise of any shares of common stock received. We generally will be entitled to a tax deduction at such time and in the same amount, if any, that the participant recognizes as ordinary income. The participant’s tax basis in any shares of common stock received upon exercise of a SAR will be the fair market value of the shares of common stock on the date of exercise, and if the shares are later sold or exchanged, then the difference between the amount received upon such sale or exchange and the fair market value of such shares on the date of exercise will generally be taxable as long-term or short-term capital gain or loss (if the shares are a capital asset of the participant) depending upon the length of time such shares were held by the participant.
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Restricted Stock
A participant generally will not be taxed upon the grant of restricted stock, but rather will recognize ordinary income in an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares of common stock at the earlier of the time the shares become transferable or are no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture (within the meaning of the Code). We generally will be entitled to a deduction at the time when, and in the amount that, the participant recognizes ordinary income on account of the lapse of the restrictions. A participant’s tax basis in the shares of common stock will equal their fair market value at the time the restrictions lapse, and the participant’s holding period for capital gains purposes will begin at that time. Any cash dividends paid on the shares of common stock before the restrictions lapse will be taxable to the participant as additional compensation and not as dividend income, unless the individual has made an election under Section 83(b) of the Code. Under Section 83(b) of the Code, a participant may elect to recognize ordinary income at the time the restricted shares are awarded in an amount equal to their fair market value at that time, notwithstanding the fact that such stock is subject to restrictions on transfer and a substantial risk of forfeiture. If such an election is made, no additional taxable income will be recognized by such participant at the time the restrictions lapse, the participant will have a tax basis in the shares of common stock equal to their fair market value on the date of their award, and the participant’s holding period for capital gains purposes will begin at that time. We generally will be entitled to a tax deduction at the time when, and to the extent that, ordinary income is recognized by such participant.
Restricted Stock Units
In general, the grant of RSUs will not result in income for the participant or in a tax deduction for us. Upon the settlement of such an award in cash or shares of common stock, the participant will recognize ordinary income equal to the aggregate value of the payment received, and we generally will be entitled to a tax deduction at the same time and in the same amount.
Other Awards
With respect to other stock-based awards, generally when the participant receives payment in respect of the award, the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any shares of common stock or other property received will be ordinary income to the participant, and we generally will be entitled to a tax deduction at the same time and in the same amount.
New Plan Benefits
Future grants under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan will be made at the discretion of the plan administrator and, accordingly, are not yet determinable. In addition, benefits under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan will depend on a number of factors, including the fair market value of our common stock on future dates and the exercise decisions made by participants. Consequently, at this time, it is not possible to determine the future benefits that might be received by participants receiving discretionary grants under the Rocket One Amended and Restated 2022 Plan.
Our Board unanimously recommends a vote “FOR” the Plan Amendment Proposal.
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The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.