VanEck挑战Metaplanet：薪酬削减后的高管稀释问题

Asset management firm VanEck has sharply criticized Metaplanet's executive compensation design. VanEck believes that while the company has recently taken steps to reduce shareholder dilution associated with Bitcoin treasury activity, this does not fully address the fundamental mismatch between management incentives and existing shareholder interests. [TAG

In a research report released Friday, VanEck examined the executive compensation structures of the 10 largest digital asset treasury companies by market capitalisation and rated Metaplanet's methodology as "Bad," the only company to fall into the lowest category. VanEck notes that Metaplanet's compensation framework still leaves executives holding much higher equity exposure than their peers and suggests higher dilution pressures that investors should not tolerate.

Summary of Core Views

• Rating "Poor": VanEck rated Metaplanet's executive compensation as "Poor" citing its equity incentive plan accounting for 14.7% of the fully diluted shares.
• Executive exposure is too high: VanEck estimates Metaplanet's executive equity exposure at 8.2%, which is about 10 times the average of 0.8% for the nine other Treasury companies reviewed.
• Above peers: Even after recent cuts, VanEck said Metaplanet's executive equity exposure and overall option pool size are still significantly higher than peers.
• Mechanism flaws: VanEck blamed part of the problem on previous options pool mechanisms, which automatically expanded when new shares were issued to buy Bitcoin.
• Recommended actions: VanEck urged Metaplanet to cancel previous expansion terms and replace remaining rights with a shareholder-approved compensation plan.

Why VanEck believes Metaplanet's incentives are still not met

VanEck's report focuses on how corporate bitcoin holders can structure executive compensation-especially as equity compensation may increase with treasury activity. Its core argument is concise: If executive incentives are tied to actions that require a share issue, investors may still face dilution risks even if management claims the strategy is designed to increase long-term value.

According to VanEck, Metaplanet's equity plan accounts for 14.7% of the fully diluted shares, with executive exposure of 8.2%. VanEck compared these data with nine other companies in its sample, which had an average executive exposure of just 0.8%, and had significantly smaller equity plans.

VanEck also compared Metaplanet with Strategy, which is recognized as the largest holder of corporate Bitcoin among its peers. VanEck rated Strategy's compensation structure as "good", citing its equity plan of only 2% of the fully diluted shares and 0.5% executive exposure. VanEck pointed out that Strategy's equity reserve is fixed and any increase in the plan requires a shareholder vote-an investor-friendly setup designed to prevent automatic expansion of equity.

Option pool mechanism that leads to over-dilution

VanEck认为这种差异并非偶然。报告指出，Metaplanet之前的薪酬结构包含一个期权池，当公司为购买比特币而发行额外股份时，该期权池会自动扩张。

在该机制下，VanEck称期权池从4600万股增加到3.195亿股——增加了约2.73亿潜在股份。报告指出，这种设计如何将稀释嵌入薪酬框架：当国库公司发行股票收购比特币时，股权补偿池可以同步扩张，从而对现有股东产生复合效应。

这种扩张在当时已经引起了Metaplanet股东的 scrutiny（审查/关注）。此前的报道指出，期权池的增长遭到了抵制，一些股东呼吁Metaplanet取消调整条款产生的额外潜在股份。

情况有何变化——以及为何VanEck认为这还不够

根据VanEck报告中描述的时间线，作为回应批评，Metaplanet在8月停止了自动调整机制，并在9月将整体期权池削减了41%。期权池从3.195亿股降至1.882亿股。

即使做出这些改变，VanEck也表示Metaplanet目前的结构“远未达标”。这意味着公司的修订可能减少了期权池未来的增长，但并未完全解决之前扩张的规模——特别是那些与比特币购买相关的发行同时也扩大了期权池的时期。

VanEck的建议更进一步。报告呼吁Metaplanet逆转由先前调整条款创造的约2.73亿股的扩张，并用经股东批准的薪酬计划取代剩余的权利。

VanEck还警告说，除非追回过去的授予，否则大部分稀释影响可能已经发生。这是一个重要的投资者考量因素：即使在新的更严格框架下发放新的授予，已经交付或不可撤销地授予的补偿仍可能让股东承担成本。

提议的解决方案：加强与每股比特币指标的对齐

除了主张对股权计划进行结构性改变外，VanEck还建议Metaplanet如何更好地将高管成果与与企业比特币表现相关的投资者利益对齐。

报告建议将高管薪酬与可衡量的指标（如完全稀释后的每股比特币数量）挂钩。VanEck还表示，Metaplanet应采用书面授予时间政策，旨在减少自由裁量权，并围绕相对于股份稀释和国库活动的薪酬授予时间制定更清晰的规则。

企业比特币持有者的一个更广泛的主题是，薪酬设计既可以抑制稀释担忧，也可以加剧它们。VanEck的同业比较凸显出，并非所有企业比特币国库都依赖相同的机制：在其分析中，拥有固定股权储备和股东批准要求的公司在投资者对齐方面得分优于Metaplanet以前的自动扩张期权池。

Metaplanet在企业比特币格局中的地位

Metaplanet是一家日本比特币国库公司，根据BitcoinTreasuries.net的数据，它目前是全球第三大公开交易的企业比特币持有者，持有43,000枚BTC。这一地位使得薪酬争议不仅仅是治理上的吹毛求疵：Metaplanet的治理选择可能会影响全球投资者如何评估更广泛的“国库公司”模式，以及在积累比特币敞口的过程中，经济模型是否仍然对股东友好。

对于投资者而言，下一个关键问题是Metaplanet是否会实质性地取消与先前期权池扩张相关的过去稀释，以及任何替代薪酬计划的结构方式——特别是是否会引入股东批准、追回条款和绩效指标，以减少比特币购买与高管股权增长之间的联系。