Company: WKC
Filing Date: 2025-04-25
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-058752
Chunk: 70

Company: WORLD KINECT CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-25
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 70
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 that may influence the value of our shares), plus cash incentive awards, to the Company’s non-employee directors, plus officers and other employees and certain consultants to the Company and its subsidiaries, in order to provide to such persons incentives and rewards for service and/or performance. Some of the key features of the 2025 Plan that reflect our commitment to effective management of equity and incentive compensation are set forth below in this subsection.

We believe our future success depends in part on our ability to attract, motivate and retain high quality employees and directors, and that the ability to provide equity-based and incentive-based awards under the 2025 Plan is critical to achieving this success. We would be at a severe competitive disadvantage if we could not use share-based awards to recruit and compensate our employees and directors. The Board believes that it is both necessary and appropriate to adopt and approve the 2025 Plan in order to enable the Company to continue offering meaningful equity-based incentives to selected or identified employees and directors.

The use of our Stock as part of our compensation program is also important to our continued success because equity-based awards are an essential component of our compensation program for certain employees, as they link compensation with long-term shareholder value creation and reward participants based on service and/or Company or individual performance. As discussed in further detail in the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” equity compensation represents a significant portion of the compensation package for our Chief Executive Officer and other Named Executive Officers. Because our equity awards generally vest over multiple years, the value ultimately realized from these awards depends on the long-term value of shares of our Stock. Our equity compensation program also helps us to attract and retain talent in a highly competitive market, targeting individuals who are motivated by pay-for-performance.

As of March 31, 2025, 1.3 million shares of Stock remained available for awards under the 2021 Plan. If the 2025 Plan is not approved, we may be compelled to increase significantly the cash component of our employee and director compensation, which may not necessarily align employee and director compensation interests with the investment interests of our shareholders. Replacing equity awards with cash also would increase cash compensation expense and use cash that might be better utilized by the Company in other ways.

| World Kinect 2025 Proxy Statement | 79 |

| Proposal 4 |

Share Reservation In its determination to recommend that the Board approve the 2025 Plan, including the applicable share request, the Committee reviewed the 2025 Plan terms and the share usage, overhang and dilution metrics set forth below,