San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) has granted incoming President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Whitten inducement equity awards worth approximately $10 million in time-based restricted stock, plus a performance package that vests only if Dolby's share price climbs as high as $175.
Dolby ties CEO pay to five escalating stock-price hurdles
The compensation package, disclosed under Dolby's newly adopted 2026 Inducement Stock Plan, splits into two components. The first is a time-based award of 160,256 restricted stock units, valued at roughly $10 million using the average closing price of Dolby's Class A shares over the 30 trading days preceding the grant date. Those units vest semi-annually over two years, contingent on Whitten remaining employed at Dolby through each vesting date.
Performance award requires sustained gains up to $175 per share
The second component grants Whitten 600,000 performance-based restricted stock units, divided into five tranches of 150,000, 150,000, 100,000, 100,000 and 100,000 units. Each tranche vests only after Dolby's stock price sustains average closing levels of $75, $100, $125, $150 and $175, respectively, over a consecutive 60-trading-day window within a five-year performance period. Vesting is further conditioned on Whitten still serving as CEO when each price hurdle is certified.
Board adopted inducement plan under NYSE rule days before grant
Dolby's Board of Directors adopted the Inducement Stock Plan effective August 27, 2026, structuring the awards under New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual Rule 303A.08, which permits companies to grant equity as a material inducement to new hires without shareholder approval, provided the awards are publicly disclosed. Dolby's independent Compensation Committee approved the grants, which were previously outlined in a Form 8-K filed with securities regulators on August 27, 2026.
The structure links a substantial share of Whitten's incoming compensation directly to long-term stock performance rather than fixed tenure, with the top payout tranche requiring Dolby shares to more than double from the $75 initial hurdle to $175 within the five-year window.