Compensation (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Schedule of Compensation Cost for Share-based Payment Arrangements

Compensation expense related to the issuance of Newmark or BGC Class A common stock and grants of exchangeability on Newmark Holdings and BGC Holdings limited partnership units is as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Issuance of common stock and exchangeability expenses	$	35,499	$	142,333	$	99,435

Newmark incurred compensation expense related to Class A common stock limited partnership units and RSUs as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018			2017
Issuance of common stock and exchangeability expenses	$	181,714	$	179,333		$	99,435
Allocations of net income (1)	50,410		51,462			25,222
Limited partnership units amortization	21,508		(7,938		)	21,270
RSU amortization	5,204		1,787			1,212
Equity-based compensation and allocations of net income to limited partnership units       and FPUs (2)	$	258,836	$	224,644		$	147,139

⁽¹⁾  Certain limited partnership units receive quarterly allocations of net income and are generally contingent upon services being provided by the unit holders, including the Preferred Distribution.

⁽²⁾  Reclassifications have been made to previously reported amounts to conform to the new presentation (See Note 1 — “Organization and Basis of Presentation”).

Newmark recognized compensation expense/(benefit) related to these limited partnership units that were not redeemed as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018			2017
Limited partnership units amortization	$	21,508	$	(7,938	)	$	21,270

Compensation expense related to BGC RSUs and Newmark RSUs are as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
RSU amortization	$	5,204	$	1,787	$	1,212

Compensation expense related to these limited partnership units as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Issuance of common stock and exchangeability expenses	$	146,215	$	37,000	$	—

Activity Associated with Limited Partnership Units

A summary of the activity associated with limited partnership units awarded to Newmark employees is as follows:

	BGC Holdings		Newmark Holdings
Balance, January 1, 2017	53,407,627		—
Granted	13,976,871		—
Redeemed/exchanged units	(2,668,048	)	—
Forfeited units/other	(7,535	)	—
Balance, December 31, 2017	64,708,915		29,413,143		(1)
Granted	2,872,825		19,141,943
Redeemed/exchanged units	(5,650,292	)	(3,793,351	)
Forfeited units/other	(60,479	)	(28,248	)
Balance, December 31, 2018	61,870,969		44,733,487
Granted	319,586		13,813,204
Redeemed/exchanged units	(3,938,134	)	(2,487,885	)
Forfeited units/other	(2,198,720	)	4,742,046
Balance, December 31, 2019	56,053,701		60,800,852
Total exchangeable units:
December 31, 2018	25,999,302		9,251,052
December 31, 2019	24,692,695		10,108,598

⁽¹⁾  Represents the pre-IPO Newmark employees share-equivalent limited partnership units in BGC Holdings.

The Limited Partnership Units table above includes both regular and Preferred Units. The Preferred Units are not entitled to participate in partnership distributions other than with respect to the Preferred Distribution (see Note 2 — “Limited Partnership Interests in BGC Holdings and Newmark Holdings” for further information on Preferred Units). A summary of the BGC Holdings and Newmark Holdings limited partnership units is as follows:

	BGC Units	Newmark Units
Regular units	54,500,896	56,932,154
Preferred units	1,552,805	3,868,698
Balance, December 31, 2019	56,053,701	60,800,852

Schedule of Units Redeemed

A summary of units redeemed in connection with the issuance of Newmark or BGC Class A common stock (at the current exchange ratio) or granted exchangeability for Newmark or BGC Class A common stock is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019	2018	2017
BGC Holdings units	620,903	18,325,470	6,452,077
Newmark Holdings units	2,310,384	6,927,961	—
Total	2,931,287	25,253,431	6,452,077

Schedule of Limited Partnership Units With a Post-Termination Payout

Limited partnership units with a post-termination payout held by Newmark employees are as follows (dollars in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018
Notional Value(1)	$	261,025	$	223,665
Estimated fair value of the post-termination payout(2)	$	58,149	$	30,655
Outstanding limited partnership units in BGC Holdings	6,251,816		8,443,218
Outstanding limited partnership units in BGC Holdings - unvested	1,508,510		3,256,894
Outstanding limited partnership units in Newmark Holdings	17,097,639		10,520,196
Outstanding limited partnership units in Newmark Holdings - unvested	9,357,822		6,820,930

⁽¹⁾  Beginning January 1, 2018, Newmark began granting stand-alone limited partnership units in Newmark Holdings to Newmark employees.

⁽²⁾ 

Included in “Other long-term liabilities” on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Schedule of Grant of Conversion Rights

The grant of conversion rights to Newmark employees are as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018
Notional Value	$	194,995	$	37,000
Estimated fair value of limited partnership units (1)	$	182,800	$	37,000

⁽¹⁾  Included in “Other long-term liabilities” on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Activity Associated with Restricted Stock Units

A summary of the activity associated with RSUs held by Newmark employees are as follows (fair value amount in thousands):

	BGC RSUs(1)								Newmark RSUs(2)
	Restricted Stock Units		Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share		Fair Value Amount			Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Term (Years)	Restricted Stock Units		Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share		Fair Value Amount			Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Term (Years)
Balance, January 1, 2017	285,725		$	7.56	$	2,160		1.75	—		$	—	$	—		—
Granted	269,754		10.37		2,797				—		—		—
Settled units (delivered shares)	(151,844	)	7.73		(1,174		)		—		—		—
Forfeited units	(57,097	)	8.75		(499		)		—		—		—
Balance, December 31, 2017	346,538		$	9.48	$	3,284		1.85	—		$	—	$	—		—
Granted	3,439		7.64		26				264,532		13.54		3,582
Settled units (delivered shares)	(147,006	)	9.17		(1,348		)		(8,109	)	13.36		(108		)
Forfeited units	(34,296	)	10.01		(343		)		(36,536	)	13.71		(501		)
Balance, December 31, 2018	168,675		$	9.77	$	1,619		0.98	219,887		$	13.52	$	2,973		2.28
Granted	—		—		—				4,766,611		7.42		35,344
Settled units (delivered shares)	(107,820	)	9.38		(1,011		)		(109,007	)	11.70		(1,275		)
Forfeited units	(14,048	)	10.02		(141		)		(193,920	)	8.67		(1,681		)
Balance, December 31, 2019	46,807		$	9.97	$	467		0.25	4,683,571		$	7.55	$	35,361		5.69

⁽¹⁾  RSUs granted to these individuals generally vest over a two- to four-year period

⁽²⁾ 

Beginning January 1, 2018, Newmark began granting stand-alone Newmark RSUs to Newmark employees and the awards vest ratably over the two- to eight-year vesting period into shares of Newmark Class A common stock.