The basis of the option or option plan is a contract. This type of contract states: predefined amount of shares (or depositary receipts) price of the award of the option (option price) a predefined period of time; a predefined price (also called the exercise price) Remember with options, that there are always two prices to take into account. The “option price” and the “exercise price”: The option price is the contribution for the awarding of the option itself, in other words: having the right to execute an option and thereby obtain shares in a company has a certain value. Common practice is that employees are rewarded with an option for free. As a result of that, there is no option price for the option on the date of granting. The exercise price is the predetermined price that states how much the employees must pay for the predetermined shares that they will obtain immediately after executing their option right. In most option plans, the exercise price is set to the nominal value.