VanEck挑战Metaplanet高管稀释论，尽管存在削减措施

VanEck severely criticizes Metaplanet's executive compensation design: Measures to dilute shareholders 'equity are still insufficient

Asset management company VanEck has sharply criticized Metaplanet's executive compensation structure design. VanEck believes that the Japanese Bitcoin company Treasury's efforts to limit shareholder dilution are not enough. In a report released on Friday on the compensation practices of the world's top ten digital asset treasury companies, VanEck concluded that Metaplanet's compensation structure was the only case that fell into the lowest rating in the report.

VanEck's comparative analysis mainly points to two dimensions: one is the size of Metaplan's equity incentive plan, and the other is the risk exposure of its executives. The company pointed out that Metaplanet's equity plan is equivalent to 14.7% of total fully diluted equity, while executive exposure is 8.2%. VanEck said these numbers are significantly higher than peers.

Summary of core opinions

• Bottom of the rating: VanEck rated Metaplanet's executive compensation as "Bad", the only company in the lowest category in a peer review of the ten major Bitcoin Treasury companies.
• There is a disparity in data: VanEck cited data showing that Metaplanet's equity plan accounts for 14.7% of the fully diluted shares, and executive exposure is 8.2%; in contrast, the average executive exposure of peers is only 0.8%, and the overall plan size is less than a quarter of Metaplanet's.
• Automatic expansion mechanism: VanEck pointed out that a previous compensation mechanism allowed Metaplanet to automatically expand its options pool when issuing new shares to buy Bitcoin.
• Rectification not met: Although Metaplanet stopped its automatic adjustment mechanism in August and reduced its options pool by 41% in September, VanEck believes these remedies are "far from reaching the mark."
• Specific recommendations: VanEck urged Metaplanet to reverse the expansion of approximately 273 million shares caused by early adjustment clauses and replace remaining rights with a shareholder-approved compensation plan.

Why VanEck believes Metaplanet's incentive mechanism is biased

VanEck's report assessed executive compensation at the largest publicly traded digital asset treasury company, focusing on how equity plans resulted in the dilution of existing shareholders. Within this framework, VanEck points out that Metaplanet stands out because of the size of its equity reserves and the size of executive ownership exposure.

The asset manager believes Metaplanet's executive exposure (8.2%) is approximately ten times the average of the nine other companies reviewed (0.8%). In addition, Metaplanet's broader equity plan is almost four times the peer average, raising concerns that incentives may be exaggerated relative to the returns received by shareholders.

Comparison with Strategy "Fixed" Model

VanEck的报告将Metaplanet与Strategy（即MicroStrategy）进行了直接比较，后者被描述为最大的企业级比特币持有者。根据VanEck的数据，Strategy的股权计划相当于完全稀释股份的2%，高管敞口为0.5%。VanEck将Strategy的薪酬结构评为“好”（Good），并指出其股权储备是固定的，且计划增加需经股东投票批准。

这种“自动扩展”与“经股东批准的调整”之间的差异，似乎是VanEck批评的核心所在。对投资者的启示显而易见：与资本筹集同步扩大的薪酬结构（即使是为了购买比特币而进行的筹资），可能会随着时间的推移放大稀释压力。

引发过去稀释效应的机制

VanEck指出，部分差异可追溯至Metaplanet此前的薪酬设置。在变更发生前，当Metaplanet发行股份为比特币收购融资时，其期权池会自动增长。VanEck报告显示，这一机制使期权池从4600万股扩大至3.195亿股，增加了约2.73亿股的潜在股份。

当时，这一扩张引发了部分Metaplanet股东的批评。此前的报道指出，市场对该调整机制导致池子扩大的方式表示强烈反对，并呼吁取消由该条款产生的额外潜在股份。

Metaplanet的削减措施——VanEck仍不满意

作为对争议的回应，Metaplanet于8月终止了自动调整机制。随后在9月，它将整体期权池减少了41%，从3.195亿股降至1.882亿股。

然而，VanEck认为新的安排并未完全解决根本问题。该公司表示，这些变化仍然“远未达标”，并指出Metaplanet应解决归因于早期调整条款的约2.73亿股扩张问题。VanEck进一步强调，除非追回过去的授予，否则大部分稀释效应已经发生——这对股东来说是一个重要的区别。即使未来的期权池减少，先前的股权权利仍可能根据行权和转换动态影响股份数量和每股指标。

在实际操作层面，VanEck的建议是：Metaplanet应撤销早期机制创造的额外股份潜力，并用经股东批准的薪酬计划替换剩余的权利。

VanEck希望Metaplanet下一步做什么

除了撤销早期的扩张外，VanEck还建议围绕更符合股东利益的指标重构薪酬体系。该公司表示，高管薪酬应与诸如“完全稀释后的比特币持有量”等指标挂钩，而不是依赖在发行股份购买比特币时自动扩大的机制。

VanEck还呼吁制定书面的授予时机政策。其意图在于减少关于股权授予时间的模糊性，并使投资者更容易根据既定的稀释目标来评估薪酬实践。

背景信息

Metaplanet是一家日本的比特币国库公司，目前排名第三大公开交易的企业比特币持有者，持有43,000枚BTC（据BitcoinTreasuries.net数据）。

关注企业比特币国库的投资者可能需要观察Metaplanet能否将其“反稀释”意图转化为可执行的结构性变化——特别是关于是否撤销或减轻先前的股权扩张。VanEck的批评表明，关键问题不仅在于未来如何处理期权池，还在于过去授予中已嵌入的稀释效应将如何应对。