Axon Shareholders Approve eXponential Stock Performance Plan

Unique employee compensation plan built with shareholders

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Feb 12, 2019, 12:25 ET

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Axon (Nasdaq: AAXN), the global leader in connected public safety technologies, today announced shareholders approved the company's eXponential Stock Performance Plan (XSPP). At a special meeting for shareholders held on February 12, 2019, 76% of voting shares were in favor of the unique compensation plan that allows employees to align their pay directly with value creation for shareholders.

The most innovative companies in the US confront high turnover and fierce competition for talent. The XSPP was designed to tackle well-known technology industry challenges around recruiting and retention while also incorporating shareholder-friendly features such as guardrails around dilution and mandatory stock holding periods after vesting.

"Axon is proud to be a thought leader in driving strong alignment between senior management, employees and shareholders," says Axon CEO and founder, Rick Smith. "The XSPP has energized our workforce — providing employees the chance to realize the outsized returns of a startup, but only if we also deliver outsized value to shareholders."

In December 2018, Axon allocated awards of 60 performance-vesting stock units under the XSPP to every U.S. employee. In addition, more than 300 employees elected to allocate a portion of their on-target earnings into the plan over the next nine years, resulting in an allocation of approximately $75 million of guaranteed compensation into at-risk performance-based restricted stock units.

"I believe that the overwhelming shareholder support for the XSPP will be an inspiration to other companies," says Joseph L. Johnson III, Partner at Goodwin Procter, the global 50 law firm that served as Axon's external counsel in developing the XSPP. "In the tech space in particular, I think we'll start to see a trend of companies engaging with their shareholders about how to best motivate employees and think about better aligning employee pay with performance and value creation."

About Axon

Axon is a network of devices, apps and people that helps public safety personnel become smarter and safer. With a mission of protecting life, our technologies give customers the confidence, focus and time they need to keep their communities safe. Our products impact every aspect of a public safety officer's day-to-day experience.

We work hard for those who put themselves in harm's way for all of us. To date, there are more than 325,200 software seats booked on the Axon network around the world and more than 212,000 lives and countless dollars have been saved with the Axon network of devices, apps and people. Learn more at www.axon.com or by calling (800) 978-2737.

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Axon, XSPP, eXponential Stock Performance Plan, and the Delta Logo are trademarks of Axon Enterprise, Inc., some of which are registered in the US and other countries. For more information, visit www.axon.com/legal. All rights reserved.

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