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Stockholders' Equity
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]  
Stockholders' Equity Stockholders’ Equity
Common Stock
In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, the Company authorized the issuance of 700,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 10,000,000 shares of Class C common stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote and each share of Class B common stock is entitled to fifty votes. Class C common stock is non-voting.
Preferred Stock
In connection with the closing of the Business Combination, the Company authorized the issuance of 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. The board of directors is authorized, without further stockholder approval, to issue such preferred stock in one or more series, to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations, and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. There were no issued and outstanding shares of preferred stock as of December 31, 2022.
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock Incentive Plans
On June 25, 2008, the Company adopted the 2008 Stock Plan (the “2008 Plan”). On October 30, 2015, the Company adopted the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (“2015 Plan”). The 2015 Plan superseded the 2008 Plan and increased the number of Legacy BuzzFeed shares available for grant and issuance to 16,895,765. The 2015 Plan allowed for the grant of incentive and nonqualified stock options, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), and stock appreciation rights to eligible participants.
On October 16, 2018, the 2015 Plan was amended to increase the maximum number of shares of Legacy BuzzFeed common stock available for issuance by 15,700,000. At the time the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (defined below) became effective, 32,595,765 shares of Legacy BuzzFeed common stock were authorized for issuance under the 2015 Plan. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, all Legacy BuzzFeed stock options outstanding under the 2015 Plan and 2008 Plan, whether vested or unvested, were substituted and converted into options to purchase shares of our Class A common stock granted in accordance with the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan based on the exchange ratio of 0.306. All Legacy BuzzFeed outstanding RSUs under the 2015 Plan and 2008 Plan were substituted and converted into RSUs representing the opportunity to be issued shares of our Class A common stock granted in accordance with the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan based on the exchange ratio of 0.306. No additional awards were, or will be, granted under the 2015 Plan following the effectiveness of the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan.
On December 2, 2021, prior to, and effective as of, the closing of the Business Combination, the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Equity Incentive Plan”) was adopted by the 890 board and approved by the 890 stockholders. The 2021 Equity Incentive Plan allows the Company to grant awards of stock options, restricted stock awards, stock
appreciation rights (SARs), RSUs, cash awards, performance awards, and stock bonus awards to officers, employees, directors and consultants. A total of 31,206,550 shares of our Class A common stock were reserved for issuance under the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan as of its effective date. The number of shares reserved for issuance under the Equity Incentive Plan will increase automatically on January 1 of each year from 2022 through 2031 by a number of shares equal to 5% of the total number of outstanding shares of all classes of common stock as of the immediately preceding December 31, or a lesser number as may be determined by the board of directors or its compensation committee. As such, an additional 6,744,758 shares of our Class A common stock became issuable from the automatic increase as of January 1, 2022 and 6,977,162 shares of our Class A common stock became issuable as of January 1, 2023.
Stock Options
A summary of the stock option activity under the Company's equity incentive plans is presented below:
Number of
Shares(1)
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price(1)
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Term		Aggregate
Intrinsic Value
Balance as of December 31, 20214,560$6.29 3.07$2,670 
Granted2,3654.78 
Exercised(412)0.96 
Forfeited(360)5.79 
Expired(2,177)5.92 
Balance as of December 31, 20223,976$6.20 3.80$— 
Expected to vest at December 31, 20223,976$6.20 3.80$— 
Exercisable at December 31, 20223,275$6.34 2.70$— 
Options are generally granted for a term of ten years from the date of grant. Options granted under the plans may be exercised prior to vesting. Stock options generally vest over four years based on service.
The fair value of stock option awards is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model based upon the following range of assumptions:
202220212020
Exercise price
$1.17 – $5.31
$8.99 –$9.25
$7.48 – $8.33
Expected dividend yield0%0%0%
Expected volatility
48% –93%
45% – 48%
41% –46%
Expected term (years)
1.00– 6.20
5.00 – 6.07
5.55 – 6.07
Risk free interest rate
1.86% – 3.95%
0.80% – 1.04%
0.26% – 1.17%
The Company uses the simplified method in accordance with the applicable authoritative guidance to estimate the expected term of the option, due to the limited historical experience to date. The risk-free rate for the expected term of the option is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. Since the Company’s common stock has not been publicly traded for a sufficient time period, the expected volatility is based on expected volatilities of similar companies that have a history of being publicly traded. No dividends have been assumed.
The Company records stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period. For a graded vesting award with both a service and a performance condition, the Company records stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period for each separately vesting portion of the award as if the award was, in-substance, multiple awards. As of December 31, 2022, the total share-based compensation costs not yet recognized related to unvested stock options was $1.7 million, which is expected to be recognized over the weighted-average remaining requisite service period of 1.3 years. The weighted average fair value of stock options granted during December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $1.64, $1.23, and $1.03 respectively. The intrinsic value of stock options exercised was $1.1 million, $13.8 million, and $0.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Restricted Stock Units
A summary of RSU activity is presented below:
Shares
Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Outstanding as of December 31, 20215,235$8.88 
Granted8,1253.12 
Vested(4,617)8.21 
Forfeited(1,248)5.65 
Outstanding as of December 31, 20227,495$3.59 
As of December 31, 2022, there were approximately $15.0 million of unrecognized compensation costs related to RSUs.
The liquidity condition for 2.4 million of the restricted stock units (“Liquidity 1 RSUs”) was satisfied upon the occurrence of a sale transaction (an “Acquisition”) or the completion of an initial public offering. The Business Combination did not result in the satisfaction of this liquidity condition, as it did not meet the definition of an Acquisition per the award agreements. However, on May 12, 2022, the board of directors waived this liquidity condition, permitting the Liquidity 1 RSUs to vest (based on service). As a result, the Company recognized a cumulative catch-up adjustment of $8.2 million, of which $2.3 million was reflected in cost of revenue, excluding depreciation and amortization, $1.0 million was reflected in sales and marketing, $1.9 million was reflected in general and administrative, and $3.0 million was reflected in research and development, in each case, within the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Escrowed Shares
In connection with the closing of Business Combination, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Jonah Peretti, Jonah Peretti, LLC, NBCUniversal Media, LLC (“NBCU”), and PNC Bank National Association, entered into an amended and restated escrow agreement (the “Escrow Agreement”). The Escrow Agreement provides for, among other things, the escrow of 1,200,000 shares of our Class A common stock or our Class B common stock (the “Escrowed Shares”) exchangeable by Jonah Peretti, LLC in connection with the Business Combination. Pursuant to the Escrow Agreement, in the event the Transfer Date SPAC Share Price (as defined in the Escrow Agreement) is less than $12.50 per share on the Transfer Date (as defined in the Escrow Agreement), Jonah Peretti, LLC, and NBCU will instruct the escrow agent to transfer (1) to NBCU a number of Escrowed Shares equal to the Make Whole Shares (as defined in the Escrow Agreement) and (2) to Mr. Peretti, the remainder of the Escrowed Shares, if any. If the Transfer Date SPAC Share Price is equal to or greater than $12.50 on the Transfer Date, Jonah Peretti, LLC, and NBCU will instruct the escrow agent to transfer all of the Escrowed Shares to Mr. Peretti.
The Escrow Agreement was accounted for as a compensatory stock-based compensation award with a market condition. As there are no future service conditions, the $5.4 million fair value of the award was recognized within general and administrative expense at the time of closing of the Business Combination. The fair value was estimated using a model based on multiple stock price paths developed through the use of a Monte Carlo simulation that incorporates into the valuation the likelihood that the market condition will be satisfied.