(2) Stock-Based Compensation

TripCo Equity Awards

TripCo has granted to certain of its directors and employees restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and stock options to purchase shares of TripCo common stock (collectively, “Awards”). TripCo measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for an equity classified Award based on the grant-date fair value (“GDFV”) of the Award, and recognizes that cost over the period during which the employee is required to provide service (usually the vesting period of the Award).  The Company measures the cost of employee services received in exchange for a liability classified Award based on the current fair value of the Award, and remeasures the fair value of the Award at each reporting date.

TripCo has calculated the GDFV for all of its equity classified Awards and any subsequent remeasurement of its liability classified Awards using the Black-Scholes-Merton model. TripCo estimates the expected term of the Awards based on historical exercise and forfeiture data. The volatility used in the calculation for Awards is based on the historical volatility of TripCo common stock. TripCo uses a zero dividend rate and the risk-free rate for Treasury Bonds with a term similar to that of the subject options.

Included in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations are the following amounts of stock-based compensation, the majority of which relates to Tripadvisor as discussed below:

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Stock-based compensation expense related to Tripadvisor was $29 million and $28 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $89 million and $80 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

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TripCo - Outstanding Awards

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The following tables present the number and weighted average exercise price (“WAEP”) of the Awards to purchase TripCo common stock granted to certain officers, employees and directors of the Company, as well as the weighted average remaining contractual life and aggregate intrinsic value of the Awards.

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During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, TripCo granted 154 thousand performance-based RSUs of Series B TripCo common stock to our CEO in connection with his employment agreement. The RSUs had a GDFV of $7.07 per share at the time they were granted.  The RSUs cliff vest one year from the month of grant, subject to the satisfaction of certain performance objectives. Performance objectives, which are subjective, are considered in determining the timing and amount of the compensation expense recognized. When the satisfaction of the performance objectives becomes probable, the Company records compensation expense. The probability of satisfying the performance objectives is assessed at the end of each reporting period.

As of September 30, 2021, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested Awards was approximately $6.3 million. Such amount will be recognized in the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations over a weighted average period of approximately 2.6 years.

As of September 30, 2021, TripCo reserved 3.5 million shares of Series A and Series B common stock for issuance under exercise privileges of outstanding stock Awards.

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Tripadvisor Equity Grant Awards

The following table presents the number and WAEP of the Awards to purchase Tripadvisor common stock (“TRIP common stock”) granted to certain officers, employees and directors of Tripadvisor.

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The weighted average GDFV of options granted was $20.24 per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

As of September 30, 2021, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested Tripadvisor stock options was approximately $21 million and will be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.4 years. The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised was $8 million and not material for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Additionally, during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, Tripadvisor granted approximately 3 million units, vested and released approximately 4 million units, and had cancellations of approximately 1 million units, which included primarily service-based RSUs, as well as a limited number of market-based restricted stock units (“MSUs”) under the 2018 Stock and Annual Incentive Plan. The RSUs’ fair value was measured based on the quoted price of TRIP common stock at the date of grant. As the MSUs provide for vesting based upon Tripadvisor’s total shareholder return, or “TSR,” performance, the potential outcomes of future stock prices and TSR of Tripadvisor and the Nasdaq Composite Total Return Index, was used to calculate the GDFV of these awards. The weighted average GDFV for RSUs and MSUs granted, vested and released, and cancelled during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $44.90 per share, $31.66 per share, and $36.10 per share, respectively. As of September 30, 2021, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to Tripadvisor RSUs and MSUs was approximately $153 million and will be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 2.4 years.

During the second and third quarters of 2020, Tripadvisor’s Compensation Committee of its Board of Directors approved a modification of Tripadvisor’s annual RSU grants issued to its employees in the first quarter of 2020, which consisted of reducing the original grant-date vesting period from four years to two years. This modification resulted in the acceleration and recognition of an additional $6 million and $11 million of stock compensation expense during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, given the modified vesting term.  There was no change to the original fair value of the impacted RSUs as a result of the modification.