Company: XXII
Filing Date: 2025-05-22
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001641172-25-012101
Chunk: 20

Company: 22nd Century Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-05-22
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 20
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| ● | Compensation                                                                                                                         
 reflects the level of job responsibility, individual performance, and Company performance. As employees progress to higher levels    
 in the organization, an increasing proportion of their pay should be linked to Company performance and stockholder returns because   
 those employees are more able to affect the Company’s results.                                                                       |
| ● | Compensation                                                                                                                         
 reflects the value of the job in the marketplace. To attract and retain a highly skilled work force, we must remain competitive with 
 the pay of other premier employers who compete with us for talent.                                                                   |
| ● | While                                                                                                                                
 compensation programs and individual pay levels will always reflect differences in job responsibilities, geographies and marketplace 
 considerations, the overall structure of the compensation and benefit programs should be broadly similar and equitable across the    
 organization.                                                                                                                        |

Overview of Executive Compensation

The Compensation Committee

Our Compensation Committee has primary responsibility for, among other things, determining our compensation philosophy, evaluating the performance of our executive officers, setting the compensation and other benefits of our executive officers, and considering the outcome of the advisory votes of stockholders on executive compensation.

To ensure alignment of compensation programs with the Company’s needs and goals, the Compensation Committee is informed by and responsive to the overall mission and strategies of the Company as determined by the full Board of Directors. As the strategic focus of the Company evolves, as for example toward commercialization of its products and profitability, the Compensation Committee has and will continue to adapt the Company’s compensation programs to meet these evolving needs.

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The Compensation Committee also evaluates risks and rewards associated with the Company’s overall compensation philosophy and structure. To the extent our compensation programs provide for incentive−based compensation, the Compensation Committee evaluates whether these programs are designed to pay for performance, and thus encourage only appropriate risk−taking. These programs are also subject to oversight of the Compensation Committee and various functional departments of the Company to ensure that our employees, including our executive officers, are not encouraged to take excessive or unnecessary risks in managing our business.

Role of Executive Officers in Compensation Discussions

The Compensation Committee meets with our Chief Executive Officer in order to obtain recommendations with respect to the Company’s compensation programs and practices for executives and other employees. Management discusses with the Compensation Committee the practices that have been put in place to identify and mitigate, as necessary, potential risks. The Chief Executive Officer annually reviews the performance of each executive officer, other than himself. The Chief Executive Officer’s performance is reviewed annually by the Compensation Committee.

With support from market compensation data, performance reviews and other