Company: IONQ
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-059289
Chunk: 50

Company: IonQ, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 50
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 participant and IonQ. For purposes of the Executive Severance Plan, a “covered termination” is a termination of employment by IonQ without “cause,” as defined in the Executive Severance Plan, or as a result of the participant’s resignation for “good reason,” as defined in the Executive Severance Plan, in either case, not as a result of death or disability.

Policies and Practices Related to the Grant of Certain Equity Awards We have not granted, nor do we intend to grant, stock options in anticipation of the release of material nonpublic information that is likely to result in changes to the price of our common stock , such as a significant positive or negative earnings announcement , and, we have not taken, nor do we intend to take , material nonpublic information into account when determining the timing or terms of stock options. Similarly, we have not timed , nor do we intend to time, the release of material nonpublic information for the purpose of affecting the value of executive compensation or for any other purpose.

Accounting and Tax Considerations

Prior to January 1, 2018, Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) limited the amount that we could deduct for compensation paid to our President and Chief Executive Officer and certain other highly compensated officers to $1,000,000 per person, unless the compensation was “performance-based” as defined under Section 162(m). As a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the number of individuals covered by Section 162(m) has been expanded to include our principal financial officer and the exception for “performance-based” compensation has been eliminated. While our compensation committee cannot predict how the deductibility limit may impact our compensation program in future years, our compensation committee intends to maintain an approach to executive compensation that is intended principally to link pay to performance.

Section 409A of the Code imposes additional significant taxes if an executive officer, director, or other service provider receives “deferred compensation” that does not satisfy the requirements of Section 409A. Although we do not maintain traditional nonqualified deferred compensation plans, Section 409A does apply to certain change in control severance arrangements. Consequently, to assist in avoiding additional tax under Section 409A, we have designed the change in control and severance arrangements described above in a manner to avoid the application of Section 409A.

Recent Changes to Our Compensation Programs

On February 26, 2025, our board of directors appointed Niccolo de Masi to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company,