Document

Exhibit 10.1




CHENIERE ENERGY, INC.


2020 INCENTIVE PLAN


RESTRICTED STOCK GRANT


1.    Grant of Restricted Shares.   Cheniere Energy, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”),  hereby grants to ________________ (“Participant”) all rights, title and interest in the record and beneficial ownership of ____________ (______) shares (the “Restricted Shares”) of common stock, $0.003 par value per share, of the Company (“Common Stock”), under the Company’s 2020 Incentive Plan (as amended or restated from time to time, the “Plan”), subject to the conditions described in this grant of Restricted Stock (the “Grant”) and the Plan.  The Restricted Shares are granted, effective as of the ___ day of _____, 20__ (the “Grant Date”).  Unless otherwise defined in this Grant, capitalized terms used herein shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Plan.


2.    Effect of the Plan.  The Restricted Shares granted to Participant are subject to all of the provisions of the Plan and this Grant, together with all of the rules and determinations from time to time issued by the Committees and by the Board pursuant to the Plan; provided, however, that in the event of a conflict between any provision of the Plan and this Grant document, the provisions of this Grant document shall control but only to the extent such conflict is permitted under the Plan.  The Company hereby reserves the right to amend, modify, restate, supplement or terminate the Plan without the consent of Participant, so long as such amendment, modification, restatement or supplement shall not materially reduce the rights and benefits available to Participant hereunder, and this Grant shall be subject, without further action by the Company or Participant, to such amendment, modification, restatement or supplement unless provided otherwise therein.


3.    Issuance and Transferability.    The Restricted Shares may be evidenced in such manner as the Company shall deem appropriate, including, without limitation, book-entry registration with the Company’s transfer agent or issuance of a stock certificate or certificates.  In the event any stock certificate is issued in respect of the Restricted Shares, such certificate shall be registered in the name of the Participant and shall bear an appropriate legend referring to the terms, conditions and restrictions applicable to such Restricted Shares and shall be held by the Company or by an escrow agent designated by the Company until the forfeiture restrictions described in Section 4 expire and all required withholding obligations as described in Section 11 of this Grant and the provisions of the Plan








have been satisfied.  Except as otherwise provided in Section 6, the Participant shall have all the rights of a stockholder with respect to the Restricted Shares, including the right to vote and the right to receive dividends or other distributions paid or made with respect to such shares.  The Restricted Shares are not transferable except by will or the laws of descent and distribution or as otherwise permitted under Section 16(g) of the Plan.  References to Participant, to the extent relevant in the context, shall include references to authorized transferees.  Any transfer in violation of this Section 3 shall be void and of no force or effect, and shall result in the immediate forfeiture of all unvested Restricted Shares.  No right or benefit hereunder shall in any manner be subject to any debts, contracts, liabilities, or torts of Participant or otherwise made subject to execution, attachment or similar process except as provided in Section 16(g) of the Plan.


4.    Risk of Forfeiture.   Except as  otherwise provided  herein,  Participant  shall,  without further action of any kind by the Company or Participant, immediately forfeit all rights to any non-vested portion of the Restricted Shares in the event Participant ceases to serve as a Director of the Company (whether due to resignation, removal, not being re-elected by the stockholders or not standing for re-election or otherwise).  Restricted Shares that are forfeited shall be deemed to be immediately transferred to the Company without any payment by the Company or action by Participant, and the Company shall have the full and absolute right to cancel any evidence of Participant’s  ownership  of  such  forfeited  Restricted  Shares  and  to  take  any  other  action necessary to demonstrate the Participant no longer owns such forfeited Restricted Shares. Following  any  such  forfeiture,  Participant  shall  have  no  further  rights  with  respect  to  the forfeited Restricted Shares.  Participant, by his or her acceptance of this Grant, irrevocably grants to the Company a power of attorney to transfer Restricted Shares that are forfeited to the Company and agrees to execute any documents requested by the Company in connection with such forfeiture and transfer.


5.    Vesting.   The Restricted Shares shall vest and the forfeiture restrictions shall lapse as set forth on Exhibit A, provided that Participant remains continuously engaged as a Director of the Company.  If Participant no longer serves as a Director of the Company, any Restricted Shares not then vested shall not vest (except as otherwise provided herein) and shall be forfeited back to the Company; provided, however, that any such Restricted Shares not then vested shall vest (i) in the event that on or within one (1) year after the effective date of a Change of Control, Participant ceases to serve as a Director of the 
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Company (whether due to resignation, removal, not being re-elected by the stockholders or not standing for re-election or otherwise) other than due to removal for Cause, (ii) upon the death or Disability of Participant, (iii) if Participant retires as a Director of the Company as a result of the mandatory director retirement policy adopted by the Board, as in effect from time to time, or (iv) as to a pro rata portion of such Restricted Shares if, other than on or within one (1) year after the effective date of a Change of Control, Participant’s service as a Director of the Company terminates (A) upon the request of the Board, including as a result of Board refreshment or retirement initiatives or (B) in the case of a Director designated to serve on the Board on behalf of a Company shareholder, upon the removal or replacement by, or upon the request of, such shareholder and, in each case, where the Director has not engaged in action that would result in removal for Cause, with such proration determined based on the number of days following the grant date during which the Participant served as a Director of the Company, relative to the total number of days in the applicable vesting period.




6.    Ownership  Rights.  Subject  to  the  restrictions  set  forth  in  this  Grant  and  the  Plan, Participant is entitled to all voting and ownership rights applicable to the Restricted Shares, including the right to receive any cash dividends that may be paid on the Restricted Shares.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, (a) any cash dividends with respect to unvested Restricted Shares shall be payable upon and subject to the vesting of the underlying Restricted Shares (and Participant shall forfeit and not be paid any such dividends in respect of Restricted Shares which are forfeited back to the Company); (b) the Committee may direct that from the time of payment of any dividend to the Company's shareholders generally until payment that dividends be (i) held in cash, with or without interest accrual, or (ii) converted into restricted stock units; (c) the dividends may be paid in the form of cash or shares of Common Stock as determined by the Committee; and (d) the dividends are intended to be exempt from Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and this Grant shall be interpreted accordingly. 


7.    Reorganization of the Company.  Subject to Section 15 of the Plan, the existence of this Grant shall not affect in any way the right or power of the Company or its stockholders to make or authorize any or all adjustments, recapitalizations, reorganizations or other changes in the Company’s capital structure or its business; any merger or consolidation of the Company; any issue of bonds, debentures, preferred or prior preference stock ahead of or affecting the Restricted Shares or the rights thereof; the 
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dissolution or liquidation of the Company, or any sale or transfer of all or any part of its assets or business, or any other corporate act or proceeding, whether of a similar character or otherwise.


8.    Recapitalization Events.  In the event of stock dividends, spin-offs of assets or other extraordinary dividends, stock splits, combinations of shares, recapitalizations, mergers, consolidations, reorganizations, liquidations, issuances of rights or warrants and similar transactions or events involving the Company as contemplated by the Plan (“Recapitalization Events”), adjustments shall be made with respect to the Restricted Shares to the extent provided for in the Plan and then for all purposes references herein to Common Stock or to Restricted Shares shall mean and include all securities or other property (other than cash) that holders of Common Stock of the Company are entitled to receive in respect of Common Stock by reason of each successive Recapitalization Event, which securities or other property (other than cash) shall be treated in the same manner and shall be subject to the same restrictions as the underlying Restricted Shares.


9.    Certain Restrictions.  By accepting this Grant, Participant acknowledges that he or she has received a copy of the Plan and agrees that Participant will enter into such written representations, warranties and agreements and execute such documents as the Company may reasonably request in order to comply with applicable securities and other applicable laws, rules or regulations, or with this document or the terms of the Plan.


10.    Amendment and Termination; Waiver.  This Grant, together with the Plan, constitutes the entire agreement by the Participant and the Company with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all prior agreements or understandings between the Participant and the Company with respect to the subject matter hereof, whether written or oral.  Except as provided otherwise in Section 2, no amendment or termination of this Grant shall be made by the Company at any time without the written consent of Participant.    Any provision for the benefit of the Company contained in this Grant may be waived in writing, either generally or in any particular instance, by the Company.  A waiver on one occasion shall not be deemed to be a waiver of the same or any other breach on a future occasion.


11.    Withholding of Taxes.  All payments under the terms of the Grant shall be subject to, and
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 reduced by any amount of federal, state and local income, employment and other taxes, if any, required to be withheld by the Company in connection with such payments.  Participant agrees that, if he or she makes a timely election under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, with regard to the Restricted Shares, Participant will so notify the Company in writing at the time Participant makes such election and provide a copy thereof to the Company, so as to enable the Company to timely comply with any applicable governmental reporting requirements and any required withholding obligations.  The Company shall have the right to take any action as may be necessary or appropriate to satisfy any required federal, state or local tax withholding obligations.


12.    No Guarantee of Tax Consequences.  The Grant is intended to be exempt from or to comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code and the Grant shall be interpreted accordingly.  The Company makes no commitment or guarantee to Participant that any federal or state tax treatment will apply or be available to any person eligible for benefits under this Grant.


13.    Severability; Interpretive Matters.  In the event that any provision of this Grant shall be held illegal, invalid, or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be fully severable and shall not affect the remaining provisions of this Grant, and the Grant shall be construed and enforced as if the illegal, invalid, or unenforceable provision had never been included herein. Whenever required by the context, pronouns and any variation thereof shall be deemed to refer to the masculine, feminine, or neuter, and the singular shall include the plural, and vice versa.  The captions and headings used in the Grant are inserted for convenience and shall not be deemed a part of the Grant granted hereunder for construction or interpretation.


14.    Crediting Par Value.  In connection with the issuance of the Restricted Shares pursuant to this Grant and as a result of the expectations of the Company and Participant of Participant’s performance of future services for the Company or an Affiliate, the Company will transfer from surplus to stated capital the aggregate par value of the Restricted Shares.


15.    Governing Law.   The Grant shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of Delaware to the extent that federal law does not supersede and preempt Delaware law (in which case such federal law shall apply).
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16.    No  Right  To  Continued  Services.    Nothing  in  this  Grant  shall  confer  upon  the Participant any right to continued service with the Company (or its Affiliates or their respective successors) or to interfere in any way with the right of the Company (or its Affiliates or their
respective successors) to terminate the Participant’s service at any time.


17.    Counterparts.  This Grant may be signed in any number of counterparts, each of which will be an original, with the same force and effect as if the signature thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument.


[Remainder of Page Intentionally Blank]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has executed the Grant as of the date first above written.


									
	CHENIERE ENERGY, INC.
			
			
	By:  	
		Name:	
		Title:	










Accepted the ______ day of               , 20__.




PARTICIPANT:


									
	By:	
	Address:	
			
			
			


















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