Exhibit 10.3
SILICON STORAGE TECHNOLOGY,
INC.
1995 NON-EMPLOYEE
DIRECTORS’ STOCK OPTION PLAN
Adopted on October 3,
1995
Approved by the Shareholders
November 1995
Amended by the Board of Directors
June 1999 and
Approved by the Shareholders June
1999
Amended by the Board of Directors
April 2003 and
Approved by the Shareholders June
2003
Amended by the Board of Directors
April 2005
Amended by the Board of Directors
April 2008
Terminated by the Board of
Directors July 2008
(a) The purpose of the Silicon Storage Technology,
Inc. 1995 Non-Employee Directors’ Stock Option Plan (the
“Plan”) is to provide a means by which each director of
Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (the “Company”) who is
not otherwise an employee of the Company or of any Affiliate of the
Company (each such person being hereafter referred to as a
“Non-Employee Director”) will be given an opportunity
to purchase stock of the Company.
(b) The word “Affiliate” as used in the
Plan means any parent corporation or subsidiary corporation of the
Company as those terms are defined in Sections 424(e) and (f),
respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from
time to time (the “Code”).
(c) The Company, by means of the Plan, seeks to
retain the services of persons now serving as Non-Employee
Directors of the Company, to secure and retain the services of
persons capable of serving in such capacity, and to provide
incentives for such persons to exert maximum efforts for the
success of the Company.
(a) The Plan shall be administered by the Board of
Directors of the Company (the “Board”) unless and until
the Board delegates administration to a committee, as provided in
subparagraph 2(b).
(b) The Board may delegate administration of the
Plan to a committee composed of not fewer than two (2) members
of the Board (the “Committee”). If administration is
delegated to a Committee, the Committee shall have, in connection
with the administration of the Plan, the powers theretofore
possessed by the Board, subject, however, to such resolutions, not
inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as may be adopted
from time to time by the Board. The Board may abolish the Committee
at any time and revest in the Board the administration of the
Plan.
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3.
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S
HARES S UBJECT TO THE P LAN .
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(a) Subject to the provisions of paragraph 10
relating to adjustments upon changes in stock, the stock that may
be sold pursuant to options granted under the Plan shall not exceed
in the aggregate nine hundred fifty thousand (950,000) shares
of the Company’s common stock. If any option granted under
the Plan shall for any reason expire or otherwise terminate without
having been exercised in full, the stock not purchased under such
option shall again become available for the Plan.
(b) The stock subject to the Plan may be unissued
shares or reacquired shares, bought on the market or
otherwise.
Options S hall be
granted only to Non-Employee Directors of the Company.
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5.
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N
ON -D ISCRETIONARY G RANTS .
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(a) Upon the date of the effectiveness of the
Company’s initial public offering (the “Effective
Date”), each person who is then a Non-Employee director
automatically shall be granted an option to purchase twenty four
thousand (24,000) shares of common stock of the Company on the
terms and conditions set forth herein.
(b) Each person who, after the Effective Date, is
appointed or elected for the first time to be a Non-Employee
Director automatically shall be granted, upon the date of initial
appointment or election to be a Non-Employee Director by the Board
or shareholders of the Company, an option to purchase forty-five
thousand (45,000) shares of common stock of the Company on the
terms and conditions set forth herein.
(c) On the date of each annual meeting of the
Company after the Effective Date, commencing with the annual
meeting held in 1997, (i) each person who is then a
Non-Employee Director and continuously has been a Non-Employee
Director since the Company’s annual meeting in the
immediately preceding year automatically shall be granted an option
to purchase twelve thousand (12,000) shares of common stock of
the Company on the terms and conditions set forth herein, and
(ii) each other person who is then a Non-Employee Director
automatically shall be granted an option to purchase, on the terms
and conditions set forth herein, the number of shares of common
stock of the Company (rounded up to the nearest whole share)
determined by multiplying twelve thousand (12,000) shares by a
fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days the person
continuously has been a Non-Employee Director as of the date of
such grant and the denominator of which is 365.
(d) In the event an annual meeting is not held in a
calendar year, then in the subsequent calendar year and prior to
the next annual meeting, the Board of Directors may by resolution
provide that each person who is, at the time of such action by the
Board of Directors, a Non-Employee Director and has continuously
been a Non-Employee Director since the Company’s last annual
meeting may be granted an option to purchase twelve thousand
(12,000) shares of common stock of the Company, or such lesser
amount as the Board of Directors may so determine, on such date and
on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Board of
Directors, in full satisfaction of, and in lieu of, the obligations
to grant a non-discretionary stock option pursuant to
Section 5(c) above.
Each option shall be subject to the
following terms and conditions:
(a) The term of each option commences on the date it
is granted and, unless sooner terminated as set forth herein,
expires on the date ten (10) years from the date of grant (the
“Expiration Date”). If the optionee’s service as
a Non-Employee Director or employee of or consultant to the Company
or any Affiliate terminates for any reason or for no reason, the
option shall terminate on the earlier of the Expiration Date or the
date twelve (12) months following the date of termination of
all such service; provided, however, that if such termination of
service is due to the optionee’s death, the option shall
terminate on the earlier of the Expiration Date or eighteen
(18) months following the date of the optionee’s death.
In any and all circumstances, an option may be exercised following
termination of the optionee’s service as a Non-Employee
Director or employee of or consultant to the Company or any
Affiliate only as to that number of shares as to which it was
exercisable on the date of termination of all such service under
the provisions of subparagraph 6(e).
(b) The exercise price of each option shall be one
hundred percent (100%) of the fair market value of the stock
subject to such option on the date such option is
granted.
(c) Payment of the exercise price of each option is
due in full in cash upon any exercise when the number of shares
being purchased upon such exercise is less than 1,000 shares; when
the number of shares being purchased upon an exercise is 1,000 or
more shares, the optionee may elect to make payment of the exercise
price under one of the following alternatives:
(i) Payment of the exercise price per share in cash
at the time of exercise; or
(ii) Provided that at the time of the exercise the
Company’s common stock is publicly traded and quoted
regularly in the Wall Street Journal, payment by delivery of shares
of common stock of the Company already owned by the optionee, held
for the period required to avoid a charge to the Company’s
reported earnings, and owned free and clear of any liens, claims,
encumbrances or security interest, which common stock shall be
valued at its fair market value on the date preceding the date of
exercise; or
(iii) Payment by a combination of the methods of
payment specified in subparagraph 6(c)(i) and 6(c)(ii)
above.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, this
option may be exercised pursuant to a program developed under
Regulation T as promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board which
results in the receipt of cash (or check) by the Company prior to
the issuance of shares of the Company’s common
stock.
(d) An option shall not be transferable except by
will or by the laws of descent and distribution, or pursuant to a
qualified domestic relations order satisfying the requirements of
Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Rule
16b-3”) and shall be exercisable during the lifetime of the
person to whom the option is granted only by such person (or by his
guardian or legal representative) or transferee pursuant to such an
order. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the optionee may, by
delivering written notice to the Company in a form satisfactory to
the Company, designate a third party who, in the event of the death
of the optionee, shall thereafter be entitled to exercise the
option.
(e) Each option granted to a Non-Employee Director
upon the date of initial election to be a Non-Employee Director by
the Board or shareholders of the Company pursuant to
Section 5(b) hereof shall vest as to 25% of the shares subject
to such option on the yearly anniversary of the date of grant. All
other options granted hereunder shall be fully vested and
exercisable upon the date of grant.
(f) The Company may require any optionee, or any
person to whom an option is transferred under subparagraph 6(d), as
a condition of exercising any such option: (i) to give written
assurances satisfactory to the Company as to the optionee’s
knowledge and experience in financial and business matters; and
(ii) to give written assurances satisfactory to the
Company