2018 Guide to Effective Proxies

2.17.1 CD&A table of contents | 233 6 TH EDITION | GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE PROXIES EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION Compensation Discussion and Analysis Table of Contents Page No. Key Takeaways of 2017 Executive Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 I. Executive Summary of Pay-for-Performance Components and other Key Elements of the Executive Compensation Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Contextual Information for 2017 Executive Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Executive Management Succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 2016 Business Performance and Impact on 2017 Compensation Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 2017 Business Performance and Impact on 2017 Compensation Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Net Impact: Performance-Based Compensation Earned Reflected Our Relatively Favorable and Operational Performance in 2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 2017 CEO/NEO Compensation – Overview of Links to Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Graphical Illustration of 2017 Performance-Linked Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Overview of Key Pay-for-Performance Components and Application to 2017 Executive Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Annual Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Long-Term Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Performance Shares under the Stock Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Overview of Other Key Compensation Components and Application to 2017 Executive Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Summary of Actual Payment of Pay-for-Performance Components of Executive Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 II. Full Discussion and Analysis of Executive Compensation Program . . . . . . . . . . 53 Who has the direct responsibility for determining executive compensation? . . . . . . 53 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 What is our compensation philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Does the Committee review the executive compensation program periodically to determine if it still effectively implements our compensation philosophy? . . . . . . . . 55 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Do we reach out to stockholders to solicit their views on our executive compensation program? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 What changes did the Committee make to the executive compensation program in 2017? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 What specific policies do we have that impact executive compensation? . . . . . . . . 57 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 How does the Committee determine executive compensation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Summary of Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 40 2018 Proxy Statement Total of 02 pages in section AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION 2.17.1 CD&A table of contents or “road map” Each year more companies, in an attempt to help readers locate key compensation infor- mation, are splitting the TOC into two separate parts: a main table of contents at the begin- ning of the document, plus a CD&A or Executive Compensation TOC located at the beginning of this section of the proxy. Some companies present this in a more conversa-tional format, referring to it as their “CD&A Roadmap.” Providing two separate TOCs can avoid the creation of a table of contents that is prohibitively lengthy.