SBA Communications (SBAC) DEF 14ADefinitive proxy

		SBA Communications Corporation 8051 Congress Avenue Boca Raton, Florida 33487

NOTICE OF 2023 ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

April 12, 2023

Dear Shareholder:

It is my pleasure to invite you to attend SBA Communications Corporation’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. local time at our corporate office, located at 8051 Congress Avenue, Boca Raton, Florida 33487. At the meeting, you will be asked to:

You are receiving this proxy statement because you own shares of our Class A common stock that entitle you to vote at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Our Board of Directors is soliciting proxies from shareholders who wish to vote at the Annual Meeting. Only shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 24, 2023 may vote at the Annual Meeting.

It is important that your shares be represented at the Annual Meeting, regardless of the number you may hold. Whether or not you plan to attend, please vote using the Internet, by telephone or by mail, in each case by following the instructions in our proxy statement. This will not prevent you from voting your shares in person if you are present.

I look forward to seeing you on May 25, 2023.

Sincerely,

Steven E. Bernstein

Chairman of the Board

We mailed a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials containing instructions on how to access our proxy statement and annual report on or about April 12, 2023.

SBA’s proxy statement and annual report are available online at www.edocumentview.com/SBAC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PROXY SUMMARY

This proxy summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this proxy statement and does not contain all information that you should review and consider. Please read the entire proxy statement with care before voting.

2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

Proposals and Board Recommendations

2022 FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

In 2022, SBA continued to deliver strong financial and operational results. We deployed over $2 billion of capital through (i) portfolio expansion, with the addition of over 5,000 towers, (ii) meaningful dividend growth and (iii) opportunistic share repurchases. In addition, we improved our balance sheet and liquidity position and posted industry leading tower cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA margins. Highlights include:

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PROXY SUMMARY

In 2022, we returned approximately $738.4 million in capital to our shareholders through the payment of $306.8 million in aggregate dividends during 2022 and the repurchase of approximately 1.3 million shares of our Class A common stock.

This performance has contributed to our ability to create significant shareholder value as we delivered 76% Total Shareholder Return (“TSR”) for the five years ended December 31, 2022. As the chart below demonstrates, our TSR over that period materially surpassed the TSR of our large public tower company peer group (approximately 56%) and significantly exceeded the TSR of the S&P 500 Index (approximately 57%) and the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index (approximately 24%).

Total Shareholder Returns

For more information relating to SBA’s financial performance, please review our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 1, 2023.

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PROXY SUMMARY

Proposal 1 – Election of Directors (page 8)

Board Composition

The director nominees and the continuing directors of our Board of Directors (the “Board”) are balanced with a mix of skills, experience, diversity and perspectives. See page 8 for more information.

Governance Highlights

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PROXY SUMMARY

Shareholder Engagement

We believe that shareholder engagement remains a key driver of our continued success. We engage with our shareholders on a regular basis through our active engagement program led by management and our Board. Through our engagement, we solicit shareholder views on matters including business strategy, corporate governance, executive compensation, environmental and social initiatives and other important topics. We use this feedback to assist SBA and the Board with matters requiring a broader shareholder perspective. We also listen to the feedback our shareholders provide through the annual say on pay advisory votes on our executive compensation. We have established a variety of communication channels to best accommodate our shareholders, facilitating effective discussions and feedback.

During the 2022-2023 shareholder engagement season, we continued to focus our shareholder engagement on understanding the views of our shareholders on a variety of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues as well as executive compensation matters. During this period, we reached out to shareholders representing approximately 65% of the common stock held by our top 20 shareholders at the time of such request. As a result, we exchanged correspondence and held meetings with our top 10 shareholders representing approximately 40% of our outstanding common stock. Our Lead Independent Director and/or our Chair of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (the “NCG Committee”) participated in substantially all of these meetings. Our shareholder engagement included discussions of a variety of ESG issues, including:

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PROXY SUMMARY

Our engagement with a number of leading sustainability rating agencies and data aggregators reflects our sustained efforts to evolve with best practices and implement feedback from our shareholders. We also recognize the increasing importance of assessing and disclosing material climate-related risks and opportunities. Our Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report and publication of our third corporate sustainability report demonstrate our continued commitment to meeting our shareholders’ sustainability expectations.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability

As a leader in wireless communications infrastructure and related solutions, we believe our duties extend beyond the cell site. We are firmly committed to sustainable leadership, benefiting our customers, shareholders, suppliers, employees and the communities in which we operate. We build resilient shared infrastructure for telecommunications networks in both developed and emerging markets, thereby enabling increased access to digital technologies with minimal environmental footprint.

Our sustainability strategy focuses on enacting business practices that are both responsible and drive long-term shareholder value. We believe this is best achieved by upholding the highest ethical standards while considering our impact on the planet, local communities and the economy. Our sustainability strategy and the various improvement programs are governed by the Executive Sustainability Committee, comprised of our President and Chief Executive Officer and members of our executive leadership team, and the Sustainability Steering Group, comprised of senior leaders across our business units. Together with our corporate values, the following core environmental, social and corporate governance pillars help guide and prioritize our corporate social responsibility and sustainability strategy and resources:

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PROXY SUMMARY

In December 2022, we published our third corporate sustainability report illustrating our commitment to continued engagement and communication of our sustainable and responsible business practices to our stakeholders. We invite you to review our sustainability report on our website at www.sbasite.com under “Company/Corporate-Responsibility/Sustainability”.

Our NCG Committee has oversight over our Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) initiatives, including our corporate sustainability report. Our NCG Committee has received reports from management on our sustainability program and initiatives at every regularly scheduled meeting of the NCG Committee since it was assigned the oversight responsibility.

Proposal 2 – Ratification of EY as Auditors (page 75)

The Audit Committee of the Board has appointed Ernst & Young LLP to continue to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2023 fiscal year.

Ernst & Young has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2002.

Each year, the Audit Committee evaluates the qualifications, performance and independence of SBA’s independent registered public accounting firm to determine whether to re-engage the same independent registered public accounting firm or whether it should be rotated.

Based on this evaluation, the Audit Committee believes that the continued retention of Ernst & Young is in the best interests of SBA and its shareholders.

Proposal 3 – Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation (page 79)

Overview of Executive Compensation Practices

We pay for performance. The core of our executive compensation philosophy is that our executives’ pay should be linked to the performance of SBA. Accordingly, our executives’ compensation is heavily weighted toward compensation that is performance-based or equity-based. The compensation of our named executive officers, or NEOs, for 2022 reflects this commitment. Our executives’ compensation for 2022 consisted of a base salary, an annual incentive bonus and long-term equity awards that vest over or at the end of a three-year period. For 2022, 91% of our CEO’s target total compensation and an average of 85% of our other NEOs’ target total compensation was performance-based or equity-based. As a result, our executives only recognize value approaching their target compensation when our shareholders have enjoyed value creation.

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PROXY SUMMARY

Our long-term incentive award program is responsive to our shareholders. Our long-term incentive awards for our senior executives, which we structured following extensive engagement with our shareholders regarding our executive compensation plan design, are performance-based and we do not award stock options as part of our executive compensation program. Our long-term equity incentive awards are (1) two-thirds in the form of three-year performance-based restricted stock units which are earned equally based on our AFFO growth and our relative TSR performance and (2) one-third in the form of time-based restricted stock units.

Our executive compensation policies align our executives’ interests with those of our shareholders.

What We Do				What We Do Not Do
		Robust stock ownership guidelines				Limited perquisites
		Robust “no-fault” clawback policy that exceeds Dodd-Frank				No acceleration of vesting of equity awards in connection with terminations, absent a change in control
		“Double trigger” change in control provisions in employment agreements				No pledging of shares subject to stock ownership requirements
		All equity awards include a “double trigger” in a change in control for acceleration				No hedging of shares
		Reduced severance multiple, or limited severance if retirement eligible, for termination without cause not associated with change in control				No tax gross-ups on perquisites or change in control benefits
		Annual incentive bonus tied to performance metrics designed to deliver long-term growth and drive shareholder value				No pension or supplemental retirement plan benefits
		2/3rds of equity awards are performance-based and vest over or at the end of a three-year period; all equity awards have multi-year vesting				No repricing or buy-outs of stock options without shareholder approval
		Compensation Committee composed entirely of independent directors				No stock options granted below fair market value
		Independent compensation consultants, report directly to Compensation Committee and provide no other services to Company				Equity plan does not permit liberal share recycling
		Comprehensive annual assessment of compensation risks				No liberal change in control definition in equity plan or employment agreements

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PROXY SUMMARY

Proposal 4 – Advisory Vote on Frequency of Future Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation (page 80)

We are required to hold a vote on the frequency of Say on Pay proposals every six years. At our 2017 annual meeting, our shareholders voted to hold an advisory vote on our executive compensation program every year. Accordingly, we have submitted Say on Pay proposals on the compensation of our named executive officers at every subsequent annual meeting. After careful consideration, our Board recommends that we continue to conduct an advisory vote on executive compensation annually. Our Board believes that a frequency of every year for the Say on Pay vote on executive compensation is the best approach for SBA and our shareholders. An annual advisory vote provides more frequent shareholder feedback to our Board and the Compensation Committee regarding our executive compensation programs and policies.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Balanced Board with Unique Perspectives

SBA has delivered TSR of 76% over the past five years, significantly surpassing the TSR of 57% delivered by the S&P 500 over that same period, and we believe that the sound stewardship of our Board has played an integral role in our ability to achieve this success. We are committed to ensuring that our Board is made up of directors who bring to the Board a wealth of leadership experience, diverse viewpoints, knowledge, skills and business experience in the substantive areas that impact our business and align with our strategy.

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, or NCG Committee, regularly reviews the characteristics, skills, background and expertise of the Board as a whole and its individual members to assess those traits against the developing needs of the Board and SBA. SBA is committed to seeking diversity and balance among directors of race, gender, geography, thought, viewpoints, backgrounds, skills, experience, and expertise. As the fundamentals of the wireless network ecosystem continue to evolve, SBA has continued to pursue ways to adapt and prosper from the ever-changing landscape and our NCG Committee has sought to expand the perspectives of our Board to provide us guidance and insight on this evolution.

As part of our ongoing board refreshment efforts, we have elected three new directors since 2015 and are nominating in this proxy statement two new independent director nominees. In conducting each of these director searches, our NCG Committee considered the leadership, technical skills and operational experience that we believed would address the Board’s then current needs. For each of these searches, we utilized the services of a professional recruiter who was instructed to conduct an extensive search to (1) identify candidates with the leadership, skills and experience targeted by the NCG Committee from, among other areas, the traditional corporate environment (including different stakeholders in the telecommunications and/or wireless industry), government, academia, private enterprise, non-profit organizations, and professions such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, and legal services and (2) ensure that the pool of candidates included diverse candidates with a particular focus on race and gender diversity. We believe that this board refreshment process has successfully allowed us to identify candidates who bring valuable viewpoints, backgrounds, skills, experience, and expertise, while also expanding the racial and gender diversity of our Board. Our three most recent nominations for the Board – Mr. Johnson in 2022, and Ms. Bowen and Ms. Wilson in 2023 – are illustrative of that effort. Mr. Johnson, brought to our Board his extensive experience in serving in senior finance roles at multiple REITs, including currently as Chief Financial Officer of Lamar Advertising Company, a leading outdoor advertising company REIT. Ms. Bowen brings to our Board her leadership experience in the development and execution of growth strategies across global portfolios of several multinational telecommunications companies. Finally, Ms. Wilson brings to our Board extensive corporate governance expertise as a corporate executive of a large publicly-traded company with a wealth of experience in global transactions.

The matrix below sets forth the collective skills and experience that we have identified as being essential for our Board to provide sound stewardship and the relevance of such skill or experience to our long-term value creation. Our NCG Committee seeks to have a Board with unique and balanced perspectives; consequently, we do not expect nor seek for each director to have each skill or experience set forth in the matrix. The skills, experience and background of each of our continuing directors and director nominees, and the characteristics that our NCG Committee and our Board identified in connection with his or her nomination is set forth in the director’s or director nominee’s biography which starts on page 12 of this proxy statement.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  BOARD QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

The table below sets forth, for our director nominees and our continuing directors as a group, the diverse skills, experience and perspective that they bring to our Board and why our NCG Committee believes that the specific skill, experience or perspective is important to an effective SBA Board.

SKILLS/EXPERIENCE/PERSPECTIVE				RELEVANCE TO SBA		DIRECTORS
		GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE		Given that we operate in 16 countries across four continents, international experience helps our Board understand and anticipate the opportunities and challenges of our business and contributes to a diversity of perspectives in Board decision-making.			89%
		WIRELESS/TECHNOLOGY		Directors with technical knowledge, experience in our industry and experience implementing technology strategies provide the Board operational insight and strengthen the Board’s expertise in evaluating and managing evolving technologies such as mobile edge computing.			56%
		SENIOR LEADERSHIP		Significant leadership experience, including serving as a C-Suite or division executive, within a complex organization enhances the Board’s ability to manage risk and oversee operations.			100%
		FINANCIAL/ACCOUNTING		Directors with strong financial and accounting backgrounds allow effective oversight and understanding of financial reporting, financing transactions, complex acquisitions and internal controls.			67%
		INVESTMENT/CAPITAL ALLOCATION		Directors with experience with debt/capital market transactions and corporate finance experience assist in evaluating our financial vision and capital allocation strategy.			78%
		PUBLIC COMPANY BOARD/ CORPORATE GOVERNANCE		Prior public company board and corporate governance experience supports our goals of strong Board and management accountability, transparency, effective oversight and good governance.			100%
		RISK MANAGEMENT/ COMPLIANCE		Skills and experience in assessment and management of business and financial risk factors allow the Board to effectively oversee risk management and assist SBA in managing the risks that it encounters.			67%
		MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS/ STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS		As portfolio growth is a vital element in SBA’s long-term growth strategy, experience in evaluating and implementing M&A and strategic investments furthers the Board’s management and oversight of these transactions.			100%
		OPERATIONAL/ HUMAN RESOURCES		Directors with operational and human capital experience provide the Board insight into effective recruitment, retention and succession planning.			89%

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  BOARD QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

We seek to have a Board of independent directors that bring to us a wide range of viewpoints and experiences. As discussed later in this proxy statement, we annually evaluate the independence of each of our directors utilizing the definition of “independent director” in the listing rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Our Board consists of independent, unaffiliated directors with a diversity of age, gender and ethnicity and a range of tenure, with our longer-serving directors providing important institutional knowledge and experience and our newer directors bringing fresh perspectives to deliberations. As shown in the Average Tenure chart below, our director nominees and continuing directors, excluding Mr. Bernstein, who founded SBA, and Mr. Stoops, our CEO, have a range of experience and tenure on our Board with an average tenure of 7 years.

Assuming the election of our director nominees, the composition of the Board will be as follows:

As of April 12, 2023, the composition of our Board was as follows:

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  DIRECTORS AND DIRECTOR NOMINEES

Our Directors and Directors Nominees

Our Board, upon recommendation of our NCG Committee, has nominated Steven E. Bernstein, a current Class III Director, as well as Laurie Bowen and Amy E. Wilson, to be elected to serve as Class III directors of the Board for a three-year term expiring at the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. Each of Mr. Bernstein, Ms. Bowen and Ms. Wilson has consented to serve if elected. Two of our directors, Ms. Russo who has served since 2020, and Mr. Cocroft, one of our longest-serving directors having served on our Board since 2004, advised us that they would not be standing for re-election at this year’s annual meeting. We are extremely grateful for the years of service and insight Ms. Russo and Mr. Cocroft have provided the Board and SBA during their respective tenures.

Our Bylaws permit the Board of Directors to set the size of the Board. At the beginning of 2022, our Board of Directors had eight directors. Following the appointment and election of Mr. Johnson as a Class I director in March 2022, the Board size was expanded and returned to its historical level of nine directors, eight of whom are independent. For the size and scope of our business and operations, we believe a board of approximately this size is appropriate as it is small enough to allow for effective communication among the members but large enough so that we get a diverse set of perspectives and experiences in our board room.

Our Board of Directors is currently divided into three classes. We believe that the classified Board is the most effective way for the Board to be organized because it ensures a greater level of certainty of continuity from year-to-year which provides stability in organization and experience. This continuity and stability is particularly important given the long-term nature of the agreements under which we produce revenue. As a result of the three classes, at each Annual Meeting, directors are elected for a three-year term.

Our Board, current directors and classifications are as follows:

* Laurie Bowen and Amy E. Wilson have been nominated for election at the Annual Meeting and, if elected, will each serve as a Class III director, with a term expiring at the 2026 Annual Meeting.

Our Bylaws provide that, in uncontested elections, directors will be elected by a majority of the votes cast, and in contested elections, directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes cast. Our Bylaws further provide that a director who is not elected by a majority of the votes cast in an uncontested election must tender his or her resignation to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors, taking into consideration the recommendation of the NCG Committee, will then decide whether to accept or reject the resignation, or whether other action should be taken.

As discussed above, we believe that each of our continuing directors and director nominees possesses the experience, skills and qualities to fully perform his or her duties as a director and contribute to SBA’s success. Our directors and director nominees were nominated because each is of high ethical character, highly accomplished in his or her field with superior credentials and recognition, has a reputation, both personal and professional, that is consistent with SBA’s image and reputation, has the ability to exercise sound business judgment, and is able to dedicate sufficient time to fulfilling his or her obligations as a director. Each continuing director’s and director nominee’s principal occupation and other pertinent information about particular experience, qualifications, attributes and skills that led the Board to conclude that such person should serve as a director, appears on the following pages.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  NOMINEES FOR DIRECTOR

Nominees for Director

Class III Director Nominees

For Terms Expiring at the 2026 Annual Meeting

Qualifications. The Board nominated Mr. Bernstein to serve as a director of the Board because of his extensive senior management and operational experience in the wireless communications industry, including as the founder and first President and Chief Executive Officer of SBA.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  NOMINEES FOR DIRECTOR

Qualifications. The Board nominated Ms. Wilson to serve as a director of the Board because of the breadth of her corporate governance and global transactional experience. The Board also considered her senior management and public company experience.

Recommendation of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors recommends a vote “FOR” each of the director nominees.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  DIRECTORS CONTINUING IN OFFICE

Directors Continuing in Office

Class I Directors

Terms Expire at the 2024 Annual Meeting

Qualifications. The Board nominated Ms. Chan to serve as a director of the Board because of her extensive experience in the telecommunications and wireless technology industries, including her leadership experience in the development and execution of General Motors’ launch of 4G LTE connectivity across its global portfolio of vehicle brands. The Board also recognized her management experience gained through various senior management positions at large multinational companies.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  DIRECTORS CONTINUING IN OFFICE

Qualifications. The Board nominated Mr. Johnson to serve as a director of the Board because of his executive and management experience, financial expertise, and his extensive experience in real estate, REITs and financial services.

Qualifications. The Board nominated Mr. Krouse to serve as a director of the Board because of his years and depth of experience as a securities and M&A partner at a major law firm, where he counseled large companies on matters of corporate governance, risk oversight, capital markets, general business matters and acquisition transactions, as well as his senior financial and business management experience at this same firm.

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PROPOSAL 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS  >  DIRECTORS CONTINUING IN OFFICE

Class II Directors

Terms Expire at the 2025 Annual Meeting

Qualifications. The Board nominated Mr. Beebe to serve as a director of the Board because of his executive and management experience, and in particular his extensive experience in telecommunications and technology.

Qualifications. The Board nominated Mr. Langer to serve as a director of the Board because of his management and advisory experience with national and global companies as well as his vast experience in investment banking, including his experience in raising capital for companies and mergers and acquisitions.

Qualifications. The Board nominated Mr. Stoops to serve as a director of the Board because of his current and prior senior executive and financial management experience at SBA, his operational knowledge and experience at SBA and his business and competitive knowledge of the wireless infrastructure industry.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Corporate Governance Guidelines

The Board of Directors has voluntarily adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines describe our corporate governance practices and policies and provide a framework for our Board governance. The topics addressed in our Corporate Governance Guidelines include director independence, director qualifications, committee membership and structure, shareholder communications with the Board, director compensation and the annual performance evaluation of the Board. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide, among other things, that:

The NCG Committee reviews our Corporate Governance Guidelines not less than annually, and, if necessary, will recommend changes to the Board. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines are available to view at our website, www.sbasite.com, under the Investor Relations – Corporate Governance section.

Board Leadership Structure

As stated in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Board has not adopted a formal policy regarding the need to separate or combine the offices of Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and instead the Board remains free to make this determination from time to time in a manner that seems most appropriate for SBA. Currently, SBA separates the positions of CEO and Chair in recognition of the differences between the two roles. The CEO is responsible for the strategic direction of SBA and the day-to-day leadership and performance of SBA, while the Chair provides guidance to the CEO, sets the agenda for the Board meetings and presides over

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

meetings of the Board. In addition, SBA believes that the current separation provides a more effective monitoring and objective evaluation of the CEO’s performance. The separation also allows the Chair to strengthen the Board’s objective oversight of SBA’s performance and governance standards.

Lead Independent Director

In order to facilitate and strengthen the Board’s independent oversight of SBA’s performance, strategy and succession planning and to uphold effective governance standards, the Board has established the role of a Lead Independent Director. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines only require the appointment of a Lead Independent Director in the event that our Chair is not independent. Although our current Chair, Mr. Bernstein, is “independent” under the Nasdaq Listing Standards, the Board decided to continue to maintain a Lead Independent Director for 2023 as it believes that the Lead Independent Director provides additional perspective and expanded communication among directors. Mr. Langer currently serves as SBA’s Lead Independent Director.

The Lead Independent Director’s duties, which are listed in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, include:

Board Meetings

During 2022, the Board of Directors held a total of six meetings. Each incumbent director attended at least 75% of the aggregate of (1) the total number of meetings of the Board during the period in which he or she was a director and (2) the total number of meetings of all Board committees (“Committees”) on which he or she served during the period in which he or she was a director. It is the policy of the Board of Directors to encourage its members to attend SBA’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders. All members of the Board of Directors in 2022 were present at SBA’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

Board Committees

The Board has three standing Committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the NCG Committee. Copies of the Committee charters of each of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the NCG Committee setting forth the respective responsibilities of the Committees can be found under the Investor Relations – Corporate Governance section of our website at www.sbasite.com, and such information is also available in print to any shareholder who requests it through our Investor Relations department. Each of the Committees reviews, and revises (if necessary), its respective charter not less than annually.

Each Committee Chair reports on the Committee actions and recommendations at Board of Director meetings.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Role of Compensation Consultants and Advisors. The Compensation Committee has the authority, pursuant to its charter, to engage the services of outside legal or other experts and advisors as it in its sole discretion deems necessary and appropriate to assist the Compensation Committee in fulfilling its duties and responsibilities. For 2022, the Compensation Committee selected and retained F.W. Cook & Co., Inc. (“FW Cook”), an independent compensation consulting firm, and instructed FW Cook to provide the Compensation Committee with a review of competitive market data for each member of the Officer Group, and to work directly with the Compensation Committee to prepare proposals for 2022 executive compensation and director compensation. FW Cook also assisted with structuring our performance-based equity award program. FW Cook did not perform any services for us other than its services to the Compensation Committee. We believe that the use of independent consultants provides additional assurance that our programs are reasonable and consistent with our objectives. The Compensation Committee reviewed the independence of FW Cook in light of the SEC rules and the Nasdaq Listing Standards regarding compensation consultants and has concluded that FW Cook’s work for the Compensation Committee during 2022 did not raise any conflict of interest and that FW Cook is independent.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Role of Management and Delegation of Authority. As more fully discussed under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Evaluating Compensation Program Design and Relative Competitive Position,” our CEO provides the Compensation Committee with (1) evaluations of each named executive officer, including himself, and (2) recommendations regarding base salary levels for the upcoming year for each named executive officer (other than himself), an evaluation of the extent to which the named executive officer met his annual incentive plan bonus target, and the aggregate total long-term incentive value that each named executive officer (other than himself) should receive. Our CEO typically attends all regularly-scheduled Compensation Committee meetings to assist the Compensation Committee in its discussion and analysis of the various agenda items, and is generally excused from the meetings as appropriate, including for discussions regarding his own compensation. The Compensation Committee may delegate to SBA’s management the authority to administer incentive compensation and benefit plans provided for employees, as it deems appropriate and to the extent permitted by applicable laws, rules, regulations and Nasdaq Listing Standards.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation. During 2022, Ms. Chan and Messrs. Beebe, Cocroft and Langer served as members of the Compensation Committee, and none of these directors is or has been an officer or employee of SBA. During 2022, none of our executive officers served as a director of another entity, one of whose executive officers served on the Compensation Committee, and none of our executive officers served as a member of the compensation committee of another entity, whose executive officers served as a member of our Board.

There were no transactions during the 2022 fiscal year between SBA and any of the directors who served as members of the Compensation Committee for any part of the 2022 fiscal year that would require disclosure by SBA under the SEC’s rules requiring disclosure of certain relationships and related party transactions.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Consideration of Director Nominees. The NCG Committee considers possible candidates for nominees for directors from many sources, including management and shareholders. The NCG Committee evaluates the suitability of potential candidates nominated by shareholders in the same manner as other candidates recommended to the NCG Committee, in accordance with the Criteria for Nomination to the Board of Directors, which is attached as Annex A to the NCG Committee charter. The NCG Committee Charter requires, and the Criteria for Nomination provides, that, when considering nominees for the Board, the NCG Committee should seek to provide a diversity and balance among directors of race, gender, geography, thought, viewpoints, background, skills, experience and expertise. The Criteria for Nomination to the Board of Directors contains the following requirements, among others, for suitability:

The NCG Committee identifies nominees by first evaluating the current members of the Board willing to continue in service. Current members of the Board with skills and experience that are relevant to SBA’s business and who are willing to continue in service are considered for re-nomination, balancing the value of continuity of service by existing members of the Board with that of obtaining a new perspective. If any member of the Board does not wish to continue in service or if the NCG Committee or the Board decides not to re-nominate a member for re-election, the NCG Committee identifies the desired skills and experience of a new nominee in light of the Criteria for Nomination. Current members of the NCG Committee and Board are polled for suggestions as to individuals meeting the Criteria for Nomination of the NCG Committee.

From time to time, the NCG Committee has engaged, and may in the future engage, the services of executive search firms to assist the NCG Committee and the Board of Directors in identifying and evaluating potential director candidates. The NCG Committee Charter requires that any search firm retained to assist the NCG Committee in seeking candidates for the Board be instructed to seek to include diverse candidates in terms of the Criteria for Nomination from, among other areas, the traditional corporate environment, government, academia, private enterprise, non-profit organizations, and professions such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, and legal services.

Shareholder Nominations of Director Candidates. Our Bylaws permit an eligible shareholder or group of eligible shareholders of any size to nominate up to 25% of our board of directors for inclusion in our proxy statement if they have continuously owned at least 3% of our Class A common stock for at least three years. However, candidates who were previously nominated by shareholders for any of the two most recent annual meetings and who received less than 20% of the total votes cast at any of those annual meetings are not eligible to be nominated utilizing the proxy access provisions. Shareholders who wish to nominate directors for inclusion in our proxy statement or directly at an annual meeting in accordance with the procedures in our Bylaws should follow the instructions under “Shareholder Proposals and Director Nominations” in this proxy statement.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Board Independence

Pursuant to our Corporate Governance Guidelines, we require that a majority of our Board of Directors and all members of our three standing Committees be comprised of directors who are “independent,” as such term is defined in the listing standards of the Nasdaq Stock Market (the “Nasdaq Listing Standards”). Each year, the Board undertakes a review of the independence of directors and director nominees, which includes a review of responses to questionnaires asking about any relationships with us. This review is designed to identify and evaluate any transactions or relationships between a director or director nominee, or any member of his or her immediate family and us, or members of our senior management or other members of our Board of Directors, and all relevant facts and circumstances regarding any such transactions or relationships. Consistent with these considerations, our Board has affirmatively determined that each of Mses. Bowen, Chan, Russo and Wilson and each of Messrs. Beebe, Bernstein, Cocroft, Johnson, Krouse and Langer are independent.

Executive Sessions. The independent members of the Board of Directors generally meet in executive session at each regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.

Board and Committee Self-Evaluation and Refreshment

Our Board conducts annual self-evaluations to assess the effectiveness of the Board and its Committees. These annual self-evaluations are overseen by the NCG Committee and are designed to enhance the overall effectiveness of the Board and each Committee and identify areas of potential improvement. They include written questionnaires that solicit feedback from the Board and Committee members on a range of topics, including the Committees’ roles, structure and composition; the extent to which the mix of skills, experience and other attributes of the individual directors is appropriate for the Board and each Committee; the scope of duties delegated to the Committees, including the allocation of risk assessment between the Board and its Committees; interaction with management; information and resources; the adequacy of open lines of communication between directors and members of management; the Board and Committee meeting process and dynamics; and follow-through on recommendations developed during the evaluation process.

Our Board has also implemented annual individual director self-evaluations that require each director to assess his or her performance as a director and the performance of the Board as a whole. This process involves directors providing direct feedback to the Chair of the Board, the Lead Independent Director and the Chair of the NCG Committee who, in turn, review the self-evaluations for any actions that should be taken to enhance the effectiveness of the Board.

Following the annual self-evaluations, the NCG Committee discusses areas for potential improvement with the Board and/or relevant Committees and, if necessary, identifies steps required to implement these improvements. Director suggestions for improvements to the evaluation questionnaires and process are considered for incorporation for the following year. As part of the NCG Committee’s discussion and evaluation of areas for improvement, board refreshment, including the commitment to have a balanced Board with diversity of skills and experience, is a topic that is considered.

The NCG Committee and the Board regularly review Board composition and succession planning, including succession planning for the Chair of the Board and/or Lead Independent Director. As part of such review the NCG Committee and the Board considers the additional director qualifications, skills, experience, attributes and diversity that would enhance overall Board effectiveness. The NCG Committee also considers the size and composition of the Board and its Committees, as well as the Board leadership structure to ensure strong independent oversight and a Board that best meets the evolving needs of SBA. As embodied in our Governance

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Guidelines, SBA is committed to seeking diversity and balance on our Board with directors of race, gender, geography, thoughts, viewpoints, backgrounds, skills, experience and expertise. As part of our ongoing board refreshment efforts, we have elected three new directors since 2015 and are nominating in this proxy statement two new independent director nominees. In conducting each of these director searches, our NCG Committee considered the leadership, technical skills and operational experience that we believed would address the Board’s then current needs. For each of these searches, we utilized the services of a professional recruiter who was instructed to conduct an extensive search to (1) identify candidates with the leadership, skills and experience targeted by the NCG Committee from, among other areas, the traditional corporate environment (including different stakeholders in the telecommunications and/or wireless industry), government, academia, private enterprise, non-profit organizations, and professions such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources, and legal services and (2) ensure that the pool of candidates included diverse candidates with a particular focus on race and gender diversity. We believe that this board refreshment process has successfully allowed us to identify candidates who bring valuable viewpoints, backgrounds, skills, experience, and expertise, while also expanding the racial and gender diversity of our Board. Our three most recent nominees to the Board—Mr. Johnson in 2022, and Ms. Bowen and Ms. Wilson in 2023—are illustrative of that effort. Mr. Johnson, brought to our Board his extensive experience in serving in senior finance roles at multiple REITs, including currently as Chief Financial Officer of Lamar Advertising Company, a leading outdoor advertising company REIT. Ms. Bowen brings to our Board her leadership experience in the development and execution of growth strategies across global portfolios of several multinational telecommunications companies.    Finally, Ms. Wilson brings to our Board extensive corporate governance expertise as a corporate executive of a large publicly-traded company with a wealth of experience in global transactions.

Executive Succession Planning

Succession planning and execution is one of the Board’s most important responsibilities, and the success of our recent leadership transitions is a testament to the care and diligence that the Board has devoted to this key topic. For many years, the Board has focused attention on this area and has developed programs and procedures designed to address it. These plans became relevant and actionable when Kurt Bagwell, our Executive Vice President and President – International, and Thomas Hunt, our Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, each announced his intention to retire effective at the end of 2022. The resulting transition, which included Richard Cane being promoted to Executive Vice President and President – International and Joshua Koenig being promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, was carried out smoothly and orderly with the oversight of the NCG Committee and the Compensation Committee. More recently, Jeffrey Stoops announced that he would retire at the end of 2023 and the Board announced that our current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Brendan Cavanagh, would assume the position of President and Chief Executive Officer upon Mr. Stoops’ retirement.

The Board’s succession planning activities are strategic, long-term and supported by the Board’s committees and external consultants. As a result of the Board’s thoughtful approach to executive succession planning, the Board was well-positioned to effectuate the recent leadership transitions. The Board was intensively involved in evaluating each of these executives prior to their promotions and had opportunities to observe each executive through presentations to the Board as well as through significant informal contact.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Risk Management

Board Role in Management of Risk

The Board is actively involved in the oversight and management of risks that could affect SBA. This oversight and management is conducted primarily through Committees, as disclosed below, but the full Board has retained responsibility for general oversight of risks. The NCG Committee is responsible for annually reviewing and delegating the risk oversight responsibilities of each Committee and ensuring that each Committee should be primarily responsible for that oversight.

Although each Committee is responsible for overseeing the management of certain risks as delegated to such Committees by the full Board, the Committees report back to the full Board regarding the risks described above. This enables the Board and the Committees to coordinate risk oversight and the relationships among the various risks faced by us.

Oversight of Cybersecurity Risks

Our Board believes a strong cybersecurity strategy is vital to protect our business, customers and assets. The Audit Committee oversees SBA’s internal cybersecurity and other information technology and data privacy risks, controls, strategies and procedures. In addition, the Audit Committee periodically evaluates our cyber strategy to ensure its effectiveness and, if appropriate, includes a review from third-party experts. Our Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer reports to the Audit Committee at every regularly scheduled meeting of the Audit Committee (or more frequently, as needed) regarding cybersecurity risk exposure and cybersecurity risk management strategy. Our Executive Leadership Team governs our cybersecurity strategy and programs through regularly scheduled meetings. In addition, our Board also may review and assess cybersecurity risks as part of its responsibilities for general risk oversight.

We are members of global industry organizations such as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC) and International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Our information security management systems are comprehensive and leveraged to drive our cybersecurity program. Our cybersecurity policies, procedures, controls and risk assessments are based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. We leverage the core functions of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework – Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover, to identify opportunities for improvement and risk mitigation. We also leverage the principles of the ISO 27001 standard and have achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification for one of our data centers. Key elements of our information security management systems include, among others:

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We maintain a data incident response and a business continuity management plan to timely, consistently and compliantly address cyber threats that may occur despite our safeguards. The response plan covers the major phases of the incident response process, including (1) preparation, (2) detection and analysis, (3) containment and investigation, (4) notification, which may include timely notice to our Board if deemed material or appropriate, (5) eradication and recovery and (6) incident closure and post-incident analysis. Our response plan is reviewed annually, regularly tested and kept up to date. The scope of this plan is global and includes our business units, regions, subsidiaries and affiliates. Our business continuity management system includes targets and objectives, impact analyses and risk assessments, business continuity procedures, exercise and testing, monitoring and corrective action plans, training and awareness, documentation and data compilation and standards for data centers and servers. We work with third-party industry experts to conduct annual vulnerability assessments and penetration testing. In the past three years, we have not experienced a material information security breach. As such, we have not incurred any material expenses from cybersecurity breaches or any expenses from penalties or settlements related to a cybersecurity breach during that time.

We maintain a robust privacy compliance program. New hires are required to participate in cybersecurity onboarding training, and current employees are responsible for completing mandatory cybersecurity training annually and quarterly phishing awareness training. Our leadership team participates in advanced, targeted cybersecurity training and exercises to ensure additional security.

Compensation Risks

In early 2023, as part of our risk management process, we conducted an annual comprehensive review and evaluation of our compensation programs and policies. The assessment covered each material component of executive and non-executive employee compensation. Based on a review and analysis of our incentive plans, policies and programs, we believe these programs are not reasonably likely to give rise to risks that would have a material adverse effect on our business. In evaluating our compensation components, we took into consideration the following risk-limiting characteristics:

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Executive Compensation “No Fault” Recoupment or “Clawback” Policy

Our Board has adopted the Executive Compensation Recoupment or “Clawback” Policy (the “Recoupment Policy”), which covers all our executive officers (the “Covered Officers”), and applies to incentive compensation paid or awarded from the 2014 fiscal year and onwards. Under the Recoupment Policy, in the event of (1) a restatement of SBA’s financial results due to the material noncompliance with any financial reporting requirement under the securities laws or (2) a determination by the Compensation Committee that a financial, operational or other metric upon which incentive-based compensation was paid or awarded was inaccurate, in either case regardless of fault, the Compensation Committee will review the impact, if any, of such events on the incentive compensation paid or awarded to the Covered Officers. If the Compensation Committee determines that a Covered Officer was paid or awarded more than he or she would have been paid or awarded absent the financial restatement or inaccurate performance metrics, then the Compensation Committee may, to the extent permitted by applicable law, seek to recover such excess compensation. This recovery may include repayment by the Covered Officer, forfeiture of unvested restricted stock units and unvested stock options, offset against any severance payable to such Covered Officer, and other legal or equitable remedies that might be available to SBA. Incentive-based compensation paid or awarded during the three years preceding any financial restatement or inaccurate performance metrics is subject to recoupment.

Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct

Code of Ethics. Our Board has adopted a Code of Ethics that sets forth standards of conduct applicable to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer to promote honest and ethical conduct, proper disclosure in SBA’s periodic filings, and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. Our Code of Ethics is available to view at our website, www.sbasite.com, under the Investor Relations – Corporate Governance section. We intend to provide disclosure of any amendments or waivers of our Code of Ethics on our website within four business days following the date of the amendment or waiver.

Code of Conduct. Our Board has adopted a Code of Conduct which applies to all of our directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives. The Code of Conduct is designed to (i) promote honest and ethical conduct, including fair dealing and the ethical handling of conflicts of interest; (ii) promote full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure; (iii) promote compliance with applicable laws and governmental rules and regulations; (iv) ensure the protection of our legitimate business interests, including corporate opportunities, assets and confidential information; and (v) deter wrongdoing. Our Code of Conduct contains our Related Party Transactions Policy and our “Political Contributions Policy”, which are described below. Additionally, our Code of Conduct includes policies on compliance with anti-bribery and anticorruption laws, labor and human rights and workplace practices.

Policies Regarding Political Contributions and Lobbying. Our Board of Directors has developed policies and procedures regarding political contributions and lobbying, which are set forth in our Code of Conduct and are reviewed annually by our Board of Directors. In accordance with this policy, we prohibit directors, officers or

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employees from making individual contributions with company funds, being reimbursed for any political contributions, coercing other directors, officers or employees to make contributions or, as part of any individual partisan political activities, stating or implying that they are speaking or acting on behalf of SBA. In those limited circumstances where SBA would be permitted to make a corporate political contribution under federal, state or local laws, our Board has delegated to the Chief Executive Officer the responsibility for providing prior authorization for any such contribution. In 2022, we contributed $10,000 to Hometown Housing Trust, a local 501(c)(4) organization committed to educating citizens and building community support for affordable housing solutions in Palm Beach County—where a significant number of our corporate employees reside.

With respect to lobbying activities, our Board of Directors’ approved policy and procedures provide that any corporate lobbying activities on behalf of SBA must be conducted only with the prior authorization of our Chief Executive Officer. Such activities must (1) comply with all lobbying laws and disclosure requirements, (2) be legal, ethical and consistent with our various policies, including our Anti-Corruption Compliance Policy, and (3) be related to business activities being conducted by SBA at that time. Typically, these activities are conducted only through activities organized by trade groups and associations to which we belong or by our employees whose duties specifically contemplate such activities.

Vendor Code of Conduct. Our commitment to excellence and quality extends to our engagement with suppliers. Our Vendor Code of Conduct communicates the ethical and sustainable practices by which we operate and encourages our suppliers to uphold the same principles. We expect our vendors to act in accordance with the ethical standards to which we hold ourselves, such as the promotion of diversity and inclusion, as well as a safe and healthy work environment free of harassment or discrimination. Moreover, we expect our suppliers and vendors to comply with applicable laws regarding work hours, wages, benefits and freedom of association for employees. We also require third parties to contractually agree to adhere to applicable anti-bribery, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, economic sanctions and anti-boycott laws. We utilize a third-party firm to review the qualifications of suppliers and subcontractors in the areas of insurance, safety, compliance and sustainability. Our sustainability questionnaire allows us to assess the maturity of our suppliers’ sustainability programs and business practices. We leverage the insights gained to offer feedback and training to our suppliers. The engagement process benefits our company and our suppliers, as it ensures the adoption and adherence to responsible, ethical and sustainable business practices across our supply chain. We also strive to foster and promote diverse suppliers and currently have over 300 active or pending suppliers with diversity certifications. Our Vendor Code of Conduct can be accessed on our website.

Copies of our Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct are available on our website under “Investors/Governance” while our Code of Vendor Conduct is available on our website under “Corporate Responsibility/Sustainability”.

Related Party Transactions, Insider Trading and Anti-Hedging

Related Party Transaction Policy and Transactions. Our Code of Conduct requires directors, officers and all other employees to conduct themselves in an honest and ethical manner, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest. Our Code of Conduct generally requires (1) officers and directors to disclose any outside activities, financial interests or relationships that may present a possible conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict to the General Counsel and (2) employees to disclose any outside activities, financial interests or relationships that may present a possible conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict to their immediate supervisor. The General Counsel will determine if any such outside activities, financial interests or relationships constitute a conflict of interest and a related person transaction on a case-by-case basis and will promptly disclose such activities, interests or relationships to the appropriate Committee for their review and appropriate action, if necessary. It is our preference to avoid related person transactions generally. Under applicable Nasdaq Listing Standards, all related person transactions must be approved by our Audit Committee or

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another independent body of the Board of Directors. Current SEC rules define transactions with related persons to include any transaction, arrangement or relationship (1) in which SBA is a participant, (2) in which the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and (3) in which any executive officer, director, director nominee, beneficial owner of more than 5% of SBA’s Class A common stock, or any immediate family member of such persons has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. All directors must recuse themselves from any discussion or decision affecting their personal, business or professional interests. All related person transactions will be disclosed in our applicable SEC filings as required under SEC rules.

As approved by our Audit Committee, our executive officers are permitted to use our fractional ownership aircraft for personal purposes from time to time when the aircraft is not already committed to business use, provided that the incremental cost, including all hourly costs, fuel costs and a pro-rata portion of the fixed management fee, is reimbursed to us. During 2022, Mr. Stoops reimbursed us $181,751 in connection with personal travel.

Other than as disclosed above, during 2022 we have not had any relationships or transactions with any of our executive officers, directors, beneficial owners of more than 5% of our Class A common stock or any immediate family member of such persons that were required to be reported pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

Insider Trading and Anti-Hedging Policy. Our Insider Trading Policy prohibits all directors, officers and employees from engaging in transactions in our common stock while in possession of material non-public information and restricts directors, officers and other “designated insiders” from engaging in most transactions involving our Class A common stock during periods, that we have determined, that those individuals are most likely to be aware of material, non-public information. Our Insider Trading Policy also prohibits any officer or director from entering into any transaction which has the effect of hedging or locking in the value of his or her stock holdings, such as zero-cost collars and forward sale contracts. Additionally, our Insider Trading Policy prohibits any officer, director or employee from, directly or indirectly, engaging in “short sales” of our Class A common stock or transactions involving trading activities which by their aggressive or speculative nature may give rise to an appearance of impropriety, including the purchase or writing of put or call options.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability

We are helping to meet today’s challenge of building sustainable telecommunications networks. As a leader in wireless communications infrastructure and related solutions, we are committed to sustainable leadership by integrating sustainability into how we do business. We build and operate shared infrastructure for telecommunications networks in developed and emerging markets, enabling increased access to digital technologies with a minimal environmental footprint. SBA is committed to positively impacting the local communities and economies in which we operate.

In December 2022, we published our third corporate sustainability report illustrating our commitment to continued engagement and communication of our sustainable and responsible business practices to our stakeholders. We invite you to review our 2021 Sustainability Report on our website at www.sbasite.com under “Company/Corporate Responsibility/Sustainability”.

Oversight

Our corporate responsibility spans beyond our operations and people to also benefit our shareholders, customers and communities. To this end, we have developed effective governance processes that facilitate the integration of our sustainability commitment across our business and value chain. Our sustainability strategy and programs are governed by (1) the Executive Sustainability Committee, comprised of our President and Chief Executive Officer and members of the executive leadership team, and (2) the Sustainability Steering Group, comprised of senior

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leaders across our business units. The Executive Sustainability Committee and Sustainability Steering Group convene regularly to agree on strategic priorities, investments, and initiatives and to review progress against targets and objectives. These meetings allow us to leverage the diverse expertise of our executives and senior leaders, ensuring that our sustainability strategy is embedded within our core business and contributes to a positive bottom line for our shareholders.

Our NCG Committee has oversight of our environmental, social and governance initiatives and receives reports from management on our strategy and initiatives at each regularly scheduled meeting.

Our Strategy

Our sustainability strategy centers on the environmental, social and governance issues most material to our business and stakeholders. We conduct an annual ESG materiality assessment to inform our overall strategy. These conversations inform our overall ESG strategy, goals, initiatives and risk management processes. Based on these conversations, we have focused our strategy on implementing responsible business practices, policies and programs that drive long-term shareholder value. We believe that this goal is best met by conducting business according to the highest ethical and legal standards, promoting socially responsible practices and diversity in our workforce and supply chain, mitigating the environmental impact and carbon footprint of our operations and creating economic value through critical infrastructure investments and local community engagement.

Mitigating the environmental impact and carbon footprint of our operations is a core pillar of our sustainability strategy. We are proud to announce that SBA has committed to setting science-based emission reduction targets with the Science Based Targets initiative. Our emissions reduction targets will complement our five-year energy efficiency targets for our domestic tower lighting systems. We seek to further reduce our greenhouse gas emissions through additional investments in energy conservation, efficiency programs and renewable energy.

We recognize our operations’ importance and essential role in contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our primary contribution toward the achievement of the SDGs is our commitment to responsible and ethical business practices. Our secondary contribution is the integration of the SDGs into our sustainability strategy and programs.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Achievements

In addition to our commitment to good Governance, which is discussed throughout this proxy statement, our Environment, Social Responsibility and Communities pillars focus on the following:

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Director Compensation

General. The Board maintains a compensation arrangement for the non-employee directors of the Board. The Board compensation arrangement is comprised of the following types and levels of compensation:

Initial Equity Grant. Each newly elected independent director, defined as a director who is a non-employee director pursuant to Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), at the time of such initial election, is entitled to receive a grant of non-qualified stock options. These options vest and become exercisable in equal annual installments over a period of years following the grant date so long as the director continues to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Johnson received an initial equity grant of options to purchase 10,000 shares of Class A common stock on March 28, 2022, the effective date of his appointment to the Board. The options have a per share exercise price equal to the fair market value per share of shares of Class A common stock at the grant date and will vest and become exercisable in equal annual installments on each of the first five anniversaries of the grant date so long as the director continues to serve as a member of our Board of Directors.

Annual Equity Grant. At each annual meeting, non-employee directors receive an equity grant in the form of restricted stock units. For 2022, the value of the equity grant was $180,000. The stock price used in the calculation of the number of restricted stock units is a derived price equal to the average closing price of our Class A common stock in the two calendar months of March and April. The restricted stock units vest ratably over three years on May 1 of each year. In addition to the acceleration provisions provided under the relevant equity plan, annual equity grants to directors immediately vest if a director resigns from the board of directors, provided the director has completed three full years of service as a director prior to the effective date of such resignation.

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Pursuant to this policy, on May 12, 2022, each non-employee director of the Board was granted 525 restricted stock units. The restricted stock units vest in three equal annual installments on May 1, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Retainer and Fees Paid in Cash. For 2022, each non-employee director was entitled to an annual cash retainer of $95,000. In addition, the Chair of the Board was entitled to an additional annual retainer of $110,000, which was increased to $135,000 effective June 1, 2022. The Lead Independent Director was entitled to an additional retainer of $25,000, and the Chairs of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the NCG Committee were entitled to an additional retainer of $25,000, $25,000 and $25,000, respectively. Non-employee directors are also reimbursed for incidental expenses associated with each Board of Directors and/or Committee meeting. Other than the Chair of each of the Committees, directors who serve on any of the Committees of the Board of Directors described above do not receive any additional compensation for their services as a Committee member. Directors who are employees do not receive any additional compensation for their services as a director.

The following table sets forth information regarding the compensation of our non-employee directors for 2022. Mr. Stoops, our Chief Executive Officer and President, is omitted from the table as he does not receive any additional compensation for his services as a director. For more information on Mr. Stoops’ compensation, see “Executive Compensation” beginning on page 56.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Set forth below is certain information relating to our current executive officers and key employees. Biographical information with respect to Mr. Stoops is set forth above under “Proposal 1 – Election of Directors.”

Brendan T. Cavanagh, CPA, has served as our Executive Vice President since January 2014 and Chief Financial Officer since September 2008. Prior to serving as Executive Vice President, from September 2008 to December 2013, Mr. Cavanagh served as our Senior Vice President. Mr. Cavanagh joined SBA in 1998 and has held various positions, including serving as Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer from June 2004 to September 2008 and Vice President – Site Administration from January 2003 to June 2004. Prior to joining us, Mr. Cavanagh was with Arthur Andersen LLP.

Richard M. Cane has served as our Executive Vice President and President – International since January 2023. Prior to serving as Executive Vice President and President – International, from November 2019 to January 2022, Mr. Cane served as our Senior Vice President – International Operations. Prior to joining SBA, from August 2017 to November 2019, Mr. Cane was a Principal at Smart Aerial Solutions, where he advised municipalities and multiple start-ups to develop businesses related to 5G and mmW antenna communications, intelligent transport systems, wireline network transformations, fiber broadband, and smart cities. From August 2012 to August 2017, Mr. Cane served in a variety of senior roles at Ericsson, supporting managed services and field operations in North America. Mr. Cane also previously served as a senior executive for several wireless network operators including as Chief Operating Officer for Woosh Wireless in New Zealand, Chief Technical Officer for Bell Atlantic International/Grupo Iusacell in Mexico and Chief Operating Officer for PrimeCo Personal Communications in Chicago.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND KEY EMPLOYEES

Mark R. Ciarfella has served as our Executive Vice President – Operations since January 2014. From October 2010 to December 2013, Mr. Ciarfella served as our Senior Vice President – Operations. He joined SBA in July 2007 as our Vice President – Tower Development. From 1997 to 2007, Mr. Ciarfella was the co-owner of a Florida based site development services company that provided site acquisition, zoning, construction management and program management services to the wireless telecommunication industry and was a partner in a communication tower company that specialized in building towers in the State of Florida. Mr. Ciarfella also has more than 20 years of experience in the wireless telecommunication industry working directly with PrimeCo Personal Communications and as a consultant for multiple other carriers.

Joshua Koenig joined SBA in January 2010 and has served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel since January 1, 2023. Since joining SBA, Mr. Koenig has served in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including Assistant Secretary & Corporate Counsel – Finance & Compliance, Vice President & Associate General Counsel – International, and Senior Vice President, Legal – International. Prior to joining SBA, Mr. Koenig was an associate with the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, specializing in corporate and financing transactions. Mr. Koenig is a member of the New York Bar and authorized house counsel in Florida.

Jason V. Silberstein has served as our Executive Vice President – Site Leasing since January 2014. From February 2009 to December 2013, Mr. Silberstein served as our Senior Vice President – Property Management. Mr. Silberstein joined SBA in 1994 and has held various positions with us, including Vice President – Property Management from April 2000 to February 2009.

Below is a summary of the business experience of each of our key employees.

Brian Allen has served as our Senior Vice President of Site Leasing since January of 2014. Prior to serving as our Senior Vice President, from July 2011 to December 2013, Mr. Allen served as our Vice President. Mr. Allen originally joined SBA in January 1992, and has served in a variety of roles, including Project Director, Area Director and General Manager. In addition to his service at SBA, he served as a Business Development Manager for TowerCo, an independent wireless tower company, and as an independent consultant providing site development services to wireless service providers and public utility companies.

Elvis T. Clemetson has served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer since March 2022. Prior to joining SBA, from April 2018 to March 2022, Mr. Clemetson was the Chief Information and Technology Officer at Carolina Tractor & Equipment, where he led all information technology, strategic program management and digital functions across the enterprise. From April 2013 to April 2018, Mr. Clemetson served as Global Vice President, Business Technology, at SPX FLOW, responsible for enterprise business applications and related technology teams across all divisions and locations in 40 countries of operations. Mr. Clemetson also previously served as a senior executive with technology enterprises including Citrix Systems, Inc., TYCO (now Johnson Controls) and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions.

Donald Day has served as our Senior Vice President – Services since May 2018. Mr. Day joined SBA in May 2011 as the North Regional Vice President and was promoted to Vice President – Services in January 2013. Prior to joining SBA, Mr. Day was a Vice President at General Dynamics, a defense industry contractor, where he was responsible for managing the market and budget objectives of wireless deployment teams throughout the United States and served from January 2004 to May 2011. Prior to General Dynamics, Mr. Day served from March 2003 to January 2004 in a variety of roles at DWCC, Inc., a wireless services company, and from August 2000 to March 2003 in a variety of roles at Crown Castle International, an owner of wireless communications infrastructure. Prior to that, Mr. Day served in the United States Army for 4 years.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND KEY EMPLOYEES

Michelle Eisner joined SBA in October 2018 as our Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Prior to joining SBA, Ms. Eisner spent 17 years at Hollander Sleep Products, LLC, a manufacturer of pillows and mattress pads in North America, progressing from Director of Human Resources to Chief Human Resources and Talent Officer since she joined in 2002. Prior to Hollander Sleep Products, Ms. Eisner served as Senior Vice President Human Resources at Tyson Foods, a multinational protein-focused food company she joined in 2000.

Larry Harris has served as our Senior Vice President – U.S. Business Development since February 2019. From January 2009 to February 2019, Mr. Harris served as our Vice President – Mergers and Acquisitions. Mr. Harris joined SBA in March 1995 as a Site Selection Specialist and has since served in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility.

Brian D. Lazarus, CPA, has served as our Senior Vice President since January 2014 and Chief Accounting Officer since September 2008. Prior to serving as Senior Vice President, from September 2008 to December 2013, Mr. Lazarus served as our Vice President. Mr. Lazarus joined SBA in October 2006 and served as SBA’s Controller from October 2006 to September 2008. Prior to joining SBA, Mr. Lazarus was the Corporate Controller for AllianceCare, a privately owned multi-state health care organization, from December 2003 until October 2006. Mr. Lazarus previously was a Senior Audit Manager with Ernst & Young LLP and spent six years with KPMG LLP.

David Porte has served as our Senior Vice President of International Strategy and Business Development since May 2018 having joined SBA as Vice President of International in May 2013. Prior to joining SBA, Mr. Porte was Chief Operating Officer of Lightbridge Communications Corporation, a privately owned international wireless services company, since its May 2010 acquisition of Wireless Facilities, Inc., for which Mr. Porte had served as Chief Executive Officer since May 2008. Mr. Porte previously held senior executive roles with American Tower Corp., an owner of wireless communications infrastructure, and Crown Castle. Mr. Porte has announced that he will be retiring from SBA in July 2023.

Neil H. Seidman has served SBA in merger and acquisition activity since June 1997. From June 1997 to December 2001, Mr. Seidman served as our Director of Acquisitions and Associate General Counsel. From January 2002 to December 2008, Mr. Seidman served as our primary outside mergers and acquisitions counsel as a partner in the law firm of Seidman, Prewitt, DiBello & Lopez, P.A. In January 2009, Mr. Seidman rejoined SBA as our Vice President – Mergers and Acquisitions. Since January 2014, Mr. Seidman has served as our Senior Vice President – Mergers and Acquisitions. Mr. Seidman is a member of the Florida, New York, Maryland and Washington D.C. bars.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

Our named executive officers are those executive officers listed below:

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive Summary

We Have Delivered Strong Shareholder Value-Creating Results

Our primary focus is the creation of shareholder value. We take a long-term view of our business, and we believe that growth in AFFO per share has the greatest impact on shareholder value creation. This metric underscores the strength of our business and long-term recurring cash flow potential of SBA. In order to maximize growth in AFFO per share, during the past five years we have focused on Adjusted EBITDA growth, same-tower organic growth, margin enhancements, portfolio growth on attractive terms, optimizing our capital structure, and a disciplined approach to capital allocation.

The following graphs illustrate our strong performance over the past five years.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

We believe that these financial results have resulted in our delivery of significant long-term shareholder value, reflected through our TSR growth of 76% over a five-year period compared to increases in TSR of 57% for the S&P 500, 24% for the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITS Index and 47% for our 2022 Compensation Peer Group over that same five-year period.

Our Executive Compensation Is Linked to Performance

The core of our executive compensation philosophy is that our executives’ pay should be linked to the performance of SBA. Accordingly, our executives’ compensation is heavily weighted toward compensation that is performance-based or equity-based. The compensation of our named executive officers, or NEOs, for 2022 reflects this commitment. For 2022, 91% of our CEO’s target total compensation and an average of 85% of our other NEOs’ target total compensation was performance-based or equity-based. As a result, our executives only recognize value approaching their target compensation when our shareholders have enjoyed value creation.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our Performance Metrics Drive Shareholder Value

We reward financial, operational and qualitative metrics that we believe will drive long-term shareholder value appreciation. For 2022, our annual incentive bonus for our CEO and each of our NEOs was:

Our Executive Compensation Program is Responsive to Shareholders

We believe that shareholder engagement remains a key driver of our continued success. We engage with our shareholders on a regular basis through our active engagement program led by management and our Board of Directors. Through our engagement, we solicit shareholder views on matters including business strategy, corporate governance, executive compensation, environmental and social initiatives, and other important topics. We use this feedback to assist SBA and the Board with matters requiring a broader shareholder perspective. We also listen to the feedback our shareholders provide through the annual say on pay advisory votes on our executive compensation.

Historically, our shareholders have overwhelmingly supported our executive compensation program, which received the support of 95% of the votes cast at our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. During the 2022-2023 shareholder engagement season, we reached out to shareholders representing approximately 60% of the common stock held by our top 20 shareholders at the time of such request. As a result, we exchanged correspondence and held meetings with our top 20 shareholders representing approximately 40% of our outstanding common stock held by our shareholders at the time of such request. Our Lead Independent Director and chair of the Compensation Committee, the chair of the NCG Committee and members of our management team actively participated in discussions with shareholders concerning our executive compensation program.

Aligning our Executive Compensation Program with our ESG and DEI Commitments

We are committed to sustainable leadership by integrating sustainability into how we do business. As part of that commitment, we engaged with our shareholders to solicit their feedback on ESG and DEI topics. In our engagement, we learned that shareholders supported sustainability-linked targets and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) targets as part of the executive compensation program. Based on this feedback, the Compensation Committee revised the 2021 compensation program (and continuing with the 2022 compensation program) to (1) embed DEI objectives as a component of our executives’ performance reviews and objectives and (2) provide that a portion of their variable compensation be linked to the progress of our sustainability initiatives.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our Strong Corporate Governance Policies Further Align our Executives’ Interests with Those of our Shareholders.

The Compensation Committee seeks to align our compensation practices with strong governance practices. For example, all equity grants to all employees are subject to “double-trigger” acceleration. For the 2022 compensation program, and continuing with the 2023 program, we also implemented DEI objectives as a component of our executives’ performance reviews and objectives, and a portion of their variable compensation is linked to the progress of our sustainability initiatives.

As is evidenced below, we believe that robust corporate governance practices are integrated into our 2022 executive compensation program.

What We Do				What We Do Not Do
		Robust stock ownership guidelines - 6x base salary for CEO and 3x for other NEOs				Limited perquisites – All Other Compensation represented 0.1% of CEO’s 2022 Total Compensation
		Robust “clawback” policy that exceeds Dodd-Frank.				No acceleration of vesting of equity awards in connection with terminations, absent a change in control
		“Double trigger” change in control provisions in employment agreements				No pledging of shares subject to stock ownership requirements
		All new equity awards include a “double trigger” in a change in control for acceleration				No hedging of shares
		Reduced severance multiple, or limited severance if retirement eligible, for termination without cause not associated with change in control				No tax gross-ups on perquisites or change in control benefits
		Annual incentive bonus tied to performance metrics designed to deliver long-term growth and drive shareholder value				No pension or supplemental retirement plan benefits
		2/3rds of equity awards are performance-based over a three-year period; all equity awards have multi-year vesting				No repricing or buy-outs of stock options without shareholder approval
		Compensation Committee composed entirely of independent directors				No stock options granted below fair market value
		Independent compensation consultants, report directly to Compensation Committee and provide no other services to Company				Equity plan does not permit liberal share recycling
		Comprehensive annual assessment of compensation risks				No liberal change of control definition in equity plan or employment agreements

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION PHILOSOPHY/PROGRAM DESIGN

Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

The Compensation Committee believes that the caliber and motivation of all of our employees, and especially our executive leadership, are essential to SBA’s performance. The Compensation Committee believes our management compensation programs contribute to our ability to differentiate our performance from others in the marketplace and thereby deliver shareholders superior value. Moreover, we believe that SBA’s overall executive compensation philosophy and programs are market competitive, performance-based and shareholder aligned. The three principles of our compensation philosophy are as follows:

This philosophy is the basis of the Compensation Committee’s decisions regarding each of the following three components of pay: base salary, annual incentive compensation and equity-based compensation, each of which is discussed in detail below. The Compensation Committee does not decrease total direct compensation based upon realized or unrealized gains from prior compensation nor does it increase or decrease total direct compensation to compensate for stock price fluctuations. The Compensation Committee believes that doing so would reduce the motivation for continued high achievement and lower the correlation to gains or losses of our shareholders. Similarly, our severance and change in control arrangements, which we discuss later in this proxy statement under the heading “Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change-in-Control” on page 62, have not affected the Compensation Committee’s decisions regarding other components of compensation. Those arrangements serve very specific purposes that are unrelated to the determination of an NEO’s total direct compensation for a specific year.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION PHILOSOPHY/PROGRAM DESIGN

Compensation Setting Process

Annually, the Compensation Committee evaluates the design and competitiveness of SBA’s executive compensation program. As discussed above under the responsibilities of the Compensation Committee on page 19, the Compensation Committee has authority to retain compensation consultants, outside legal counsel and other advisors as it deems appropriate to assist in fulfilling its responsibilities. For 2022, the Compensation Committee selected and retained F.W. Cook & Co., Inc. (“FW Cook”) to:

FW Cook does not perform any other services for SBA other than its consulting services to the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee has reviewed the independence of FW Cook in light of SEC rules and Nasdaq Listing Standards regarding compensation consultants and has concluded that FW Cook’s work for the Compensation Committee during 2022 did not raise any conflict of interest and that FW Cook is independent.

Evaluating Compensation Program Design and Relative Competitive Position

At the beginning of the executive compensation setting process each year, the Compensation Committee considers the results of the prior year advisory vote on our say-on-pay proposal and the results of shareholder engagement, including the outreach discussed earlier on page 4. In addition, the Compensation Committee, in consultation with its independent compensation consultant, FW Cook, assesses the executive compensation program design and its relative competitive position by (i) reviewing the continued suitability of the current companies within the peer group and (ii) identifying potential candidates for addition to the peer group, based on US-based public companies in related industries that fall within 1/3X–3X SBA’s size relative to the identified measures.

The Compensation Committee strives to select companies that are of similar size (based on revenues, EBITDA/FFO, market capitalization and enterprise value), operate in similar business areas (i.e., companies that are either in the communications industry or REIT industry) and compete for the same talent. While the Compensation Committee endeavors to select peer companies that are similar to SBA with respect to all these criteria, it recognizes that it cannot develop a peer group in which all companies satisfy all criteria. The Compensation Committee believes that, given the relatively high market capitalization to revenue ratio that has been characteristic of the communications infrastructure industry, including SBA and the two other public tower companies, American Tower and Crown Castle International, it would be detrimental to SBA and shareholders to focus primarily on any one factor, such as revenues, when selecting peer companies as this could adversely affect its ability to attract and retain high-quality executive talent.

2022 Peer Group. In mid-2021, the Compensation Committee requested that FW Cook reevaluate the companies that comprise the Peer Group to determine if the Peer Group continues to reflect the size and other characteristics of SBA. Based on such review, FW Cook recommended, and the Compensation Committee approved, maintaining the same peer companies for 2022 compensation setting purposes as those that were used in 2021.

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The table below sets forth the companies included within the 2022 Peer Group.

The table below reflects SBA’s position compared to the 25^th, median and 75^th percentile of the 2022 Peer Group with respect to the four measures identified by the Compensation Committee.

Data Source: S&P’s Capital IQ ($M)

(1) Excludes Viasat as it does not report FFO.

Once the 2022 Peer Group had been selected, the Compensation Committee began the 2022 executive compensation setting process by reviewing historical compensation data and estimated 2022 target compensation levels of the 2022 Peer Group. The Compensation Committee sets target compensation in January and February of each year. Therefore, the historical compensation data available to the Compensation Committee is based principally upon the data available from each company’s prior year’s proxy statement (which reflects compensation paid for two years prior). Estimated 2022 compensation levels were based on an assumed four percent increase to prior year base salaries and target total cash compensation and a nine percent increase to long term incentive awards, unless a company had actually disclosed a different increase or reduction prior to the time that the estimated target compensation levels were calculated. The assumed rates of annual increases were based on a multi-year analysis of Peer Group compensation increases.

Based upon the factors set forth above, FW Cook prepared a review of the compensation data for the 2022 Peer Group for the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee compared (1) base salaries, (2) target total cash compensation (salary plus annual bonus target), (3) long-term incentive, or LTI, awards and (4) target total direct compensation, or TDC, (salary plus annual bonus target plus value of LTI) payable to each NEO to the 25^th percentile, the median and 75^th percentile target opportunity of the 2022 Peer Group. In addition, the Compensation Committee reviewed these metrics against the average of the ten middle companies in the 2022 Peer Group. The Compensation Committee uses the average of the middle ten as a supplemental data point as it is a statistical measure of the midpoint of the Peer Group compensation data, and has the benefit of being less volatile than the commonly used median.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

The Compensation Committee seeks to set base salaries and target total cash compensation at approximately the median of the Peer Group. The Compensation Committee then uses long-term incentive awards, which are completely “at-risk” to ensure that total direct compensation is at the level that the Compensation Committee believes is appropriate for the executive, which may be above or below the median of the Peer Group. The Compensation Committee utilizes this comparative data as an important, but not sole, means to ensure that SBA is setting target compensation at a competitive level.

2023 Peer Group. In mid-2022, the Compensation Committee requested that FW Cook reevaluate the companies that comprise the Peer Group to determine if the Peer Group continues to reflect the size and other characteristics of SBA. Based on such review, FW Cook recommended, and the Compensation Committee approved, removing CyrusOne and adding Equity Residential, while maintaining the remaining peer companies used in 2022 for the 2023 compensation setting purpose.

Evaluating Company and NEO Performance

Annually, our CEO provides the Compensation Committee a performance assessment for each named executive officer, including himself, and a compensation recommendation for each named executive officer, other than himself. The performance assessment includes an analysis of SBA’s performance against each of its quantitative and qualitative metrics and an evaluation of the contributions of each NEO to such performance. Our CEO also reviews each executive’s three-year compensation history and current compensation data provided by our independent compensation consultant. On the basis of this evaluation, our CEO provides the Compensation Committee recommendations regarding base salary levels for the upcoming year, an evaluation of the extent to which the NEO met his annual incentive plan target, and the aggregate total long-term incentive value that each NEO should receive. In addition, the CEO offers his proposal for the performance metrics, relative weightings and threshold and target levels for our annual incentive compensation for the upcoming year.

Establishing Individual Executive Compensation Packages

The Compensation Committee conducts an annual review of the executive compensation packages. Based on this review, the Compensation Committee approves, after considering the CEO’s recommendations, the following:

The Compensation Committee also approves such compensation package components for the CEO.

Executive Compensation Components and 2022 Compensation Decisions

To achieve its compensation philosophy and objectives, the Compensation Committee has utilized three components of total direct compensation: (1) base salary, (2) annual incentive compensation and (3) long-term equity-based incentive compensation. As previously stated, we do not currently provide our NEOs with a pension plan, deferred compensation or other long-term incentive compensation other than the ability to contribute their earnings to SBA’s 401(k) Plan on the same basis available to all employees of SBA.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

As discussed further below, each element of our 2022 compensation program is intended to encourage and foster the following results and behaviors.

We designed our compensation program to provide executives the appropriate incentives to pursue quality long-term growth without encouraging inappropriate risk taking. As discussed below, under our program, our annual incentive opportunities are capped for each of our NEOs. Our equity-based incentive compensation component consists of restricted stock units, of which one-third were in the form of time based restricted stock units (“Time RSUs”), which vest over three years, and two-thirds were in the form of three-year performance-based restricted stock units (“Performance RSUs”). The Performance RSUs are divided equally, with (i) 50% earned based on the cumulative AFFO per share that we are able to deliver and (ii) 50% earned based on our TSR relative to the TSR of the S&P 500, in each case over a three-year performance period.

The Compensation Committee selected AFFO per share as one of the two Performance RSU metrics as it believes that AFFO per share is the primary metric that investors and analysts evaluate in establishing the long-term valuation of wireless communications tower companies and REITs such as SBA.

The Compensation Committee selected relative TSR, rather than an absolute metric, as the second performance metric as it believes that relative TSR most accurately reflects management’s success in delivering value to shareholders, rather than just the performance of the market in general. We believe that this component of our long-term incentive program is responsive to our shareholders expressed positions and continues to align our executives’ interests with the interests of shareholders.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

Base Salaries

Why we pay base salaries. The Compensation Committee believes that payment of competitive base salaries is an important element for attracting, retaining and motivating our executives. In addition, the Compensation Committee believes that having a certain level of fixed compensation allows our executives to dedicate their full-time business attention to our company. Each executive’s base salary is designed to provide the executive with a fixed amount of annual compensation that is competitive with the marketplace.

How base salaries are determined. To the extent that we have entered into an employment agreement with a NEO, such employment agreement provides a minimum level of base salary for the NEO. The Compensation Committee, however, can increase each officer’s salary as it deems appropriate. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Compensation Committee reviews our CEO’s salary recommendations for each other NEO, and then establishes salaries for such year through Compensation Committee deliberations. When we set the base salaries for the NEOs, we consider a number of factors, including compensation market data discussed above, the position’s complexity and level of responsibility, the position’s importance in relation to other executive positions, and the assessment of the executive’s performance and other circumstances, including, for example, time in position. In addition, the Compensation Committee takes into consideration evaluations of each individual NEO, market changes and the economic and business conditions affecting SBA at the time of the evaluation.

2022 Base Salary Decisions. In early 2022, the Compensation Committee evaluated the base salaries of the NEOs based on an evaluation of the 2022 Peer Group compensation data. Based on such evaluation, the Compensation Committee decided to increase salaries by 3.4% for Mr. Stoops and by a range of 3.2% to 4.4% for our other NEOs. As a result of the increase, Mr. Stoops’ base salary was slightly above the base salary of the median and the average of the middle ten companies within the 2022 Peer Group. However, Mr. Stoops’ target bonus opportunity (150% of base salary as discussed below) was at the 25^th percentile. Consequently, Mr. Stoops’ target total cash compensation (base salary plus target annual cash incentive compensation) was slightly below both the median for the 2022 Peer Group and average of the middle ten companies within the 2022 Peer Group.

Annual Incentive Compensation

Our annual incentive compensation program has traditionally consisted of an annual cash bonus payment that we award based on (1) achievement of company-wide annual performance measures and (2) the Compensation Committee’s subjective evaluation of the executive’s contribution to SBA’s other financial, operational and qualitative metrics during the year. The Compensation Committee believes that by providing annual incentive compensation in the form of a cash bonus, it achieves an appropriate balance between cash (salary and annual incentive) and non-cash annual compensation for our NEOs.

Why we pay annual incentive compensation. The Compensation Committee believes that the annual incentive compensation program encourages executive officers to focus on those short-term financial, operational and qualitative performance metrics that will be the basis of long-term growth. The Compensation Committee annually reviews, and revises if necessary, the appropriateness of each of these performance metrics, their correlation to SBA’s overall growth strategy and the impact of such performance metrics on long-term shareholder value.

How annual incentive compensation awards are determined. Annual incentive compensation awards in 2022 were determined in five steps:

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

How performance is measured. At the end of each year, the Compensation Committee determines the level at which SBA met its company-wide performance metric(s). For 2022, achievement at the minimum level (set slightly below budget), entitled the NEO to approximately 50% of the amount of bonus earnable by the NEO for the applicable performance metric. Achievement at the budget level entitled the NEO to 75% of the amount of bonus earnable by the NEO for the applicable performance metric. Achievement at the stretch level entitled the NEO to 100% of the amount of bonus earnable by the NEO for the applicable performance metric. Achievement at the maximum level entitled the NEO to 200% of the amount of bonus earnable by the NEO for the applicable performance metric. If SBA achieves between (i) the minimum level and the budget level, (ii) the budget level and the stretch level, or (iii) the stretch level and the maximum level, the amount of the bonus payment with respect to that metric will be calculated on a linear basis.

With respect to the subjective component of the annual cash incentive compensation, the Compensation Committee first determined the extent to which SBA met the selected financial, operational and qualitative metrics that were set at the beginning of the year and then evaluated, based on the CEO’s recommendation, the contribution that each executive made in the attainment of such metric. The subjective component, similar to the financial and/or operational performance metrics, was awarded a score, with approximately 50% being performance at the minimum level for which a bonus would be awarded, 75% for performance at budget or expected levels, 100% for an excellent year and 200% for an extraordinary year. This evaluation, which is inherently subjective and depends on an overall analysis of the effectiveness of the individual executive and his contribution to SBA’s performance, allows the Compensation Committee to take into account events and priorities for a given fiscal year that were not evident or budgeted for at the beginning of such year, to the extent appropriate.

In determining annual incentive compensation, the Compensation Committee calculates the actual results during the year on a constant currency basis (utilizing the budgeted exchange rates to eliminate the impact of movements in foreign currency) due to the belief that an individual should not benefit nor be penalized as a result of movements in foreign currency that are outside their control. No adjustments are made to equity-based compensation for movements in foreign currency exchange rates, consistent with the impact of such movements to our shareholders.

2022 Annual Incentive Compensation Decisions

For 2022, the Compensation Committee maintained the annual incentive compensation program from 2021, allocating 60% of the bonus target to the achievement of financial metrics, equally divided between Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO per share. The bonus targets remained at 150% of base salary for Mr. Stoops and 100% for the other NEOs and the bonus opportunity cap remained at 200% of the annual bonus target for each of the NEOs. As a result, for 2022:

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

The table below sets forth the performance levels set by the Compensation Committee for Annualized Adjusted EBITDA, reflected in millions, and AFFO per share for 2022 and the actual amount achieved in 2022.

In early 2023, the Compensation Committee reviewed SBA’s 2022 Annualized Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO per share performance against the minimum, budget, stretch and maximum levels. The Compensation Committee determined that Annualized Adjusted EBITDA was above the maximum level and that AFFO per share was above

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

the stretch level but below the maximum level. As a result, each NEO earned 200.0% and 163.7% of their respective opportunity for Annualized Adjusted EBITDA and AFFO per share results.

The table below sets forth the financial and operational metrics that were established at the beginning of the period as part of the 2022 annual incentive compensation program as well as (i) the minimum, stretch and maximum performance levels established by the Compensation Committee and (ii) the actual 2022 performance achieved as a percentage of the budget/target performance level. The Compensation Committee selected these financial and operational metrics and it believed that each of these metrics were contributors to the overall performance of SBA as the metric either contributed to increased revenue or reduced expenses that could be directly impacted by the executive.

The Compensation Committee then reviewed the extent to which SBA met its financial and operational metrics. The Compensation Committee noted that while SBA was below the minimum performance level for three of the metrics, it surpassed budget for the other six metrics (exceeding target for two of the six metrics and maximum for three of the six metrics). Finally, the Compensation Committee evaluated the contribution that each NEO made to these financial and operational metrics and the performance of the NEO against the other qualitative measures that the Compensation Committee believed strengthened SBA for the long-term and thereby created value for shareholders. In connection with such evaluation, the Compensation Committee cited the following:

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

Based on these financial and operational results and these evaluations, the Compensation Committee then approved the 2022 bonuses for each of the NEOs. The table below sets forth, in dollars and percentages, the annual bonus target of each of our NEOs in 2022 and the annual incentive bonus earned by each NEO for his 2022 performance as a percentage of annual bonus target.

Equity-Based Compensation

Why we pay equity-based compensation. The Compensation Committee’s philosophy is that a majority of an executive’s compensation should be based directly upon the value of long-term incentive compensation in the form of equity awards so as to align the financial interests of our executives with those of our shareholders. The Compensation Committee believes that providing executives with the opportunities to acquire significant stakes in our growth and prosperity (through grants of equity-based compensation), while maintaining other components of our compensation program at competitive levels, will incentivize and reward executives for sound business management, develop a high-performance team environment, foster the accomplishment of short-term and long-term strategic and operational objectives and compensate executives for improvement in shareholder value, all of which are essential to our ongoing success.

How equity-based compensation is determined. Annually, the Compensation Committee evaluates the appropriate form and mix of equity-based compensation that SBA will grant as part of its long-term incentive compensation and approves the dollar value of long-term equity awards that will be granted to each NEO. In addition, the Compensation Committee approves the final list of equity award recipients.

Initially, the Compensation Committee reviews the various forms of equity that may be awarded, including stock options, restricted stock units and other forms of equity-based compensation and receives reports from its compensation consultant with alternatives and recommendations. For the 2022 compensation program, the

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

Compensation Committee continued the structure of the equity awards, providing 2/3^rds of the equity award in the form of three-year Performance RSUs and 1/3^rd in the form of Time RSUs, which vest over three years.

For 2022, the Compensation Committee maintained the same two financial metrics upon which the Performance RSUs would vest:

In connection with the award of the Performance RSUs, the Compensation Committee established a threshold, target and maximum performance level and determined the percentage of the RSUs that would be earned at each performance level as set forth below:

The Compensation Committee then approves a target dollar value of the long-term incentive grants (“LTI Value”) for each NEO based on a review of the Peer Group analysis and an evaluation of the individual NEO’s responsibilities, contributions and performance in the prior year. Once a target LTI Value is approved, the Compensation Committee then determines the target number of restricted stock units for each form of equity award based on dividing one-third of the LTI Value by a derived price equal to the average closing price of our common stock in the two calendar months of January and February (the “derived price”). The Compensation Committee believes that utilizing a two-month measurement period is appropriate because a longer reference period mitigates the potential short-term volatility of SBA’s stock price.

2022 Long-Term Incentive Awards. For 2022, the absolute LTI Value granted to our NEOs increased slightly, with our CEO LTI value increasing 6.2% and the increases for our other NEOs ranging from 6.5% to 8.1%. Specifically, the Compensation Committee approved the following LTI Value, Performance RSU and Time RSU awards for our NEOs:

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

The Performance RSUs and the Time RSUs were granted on March 4, 2022, with the three-year performance period for the Performance RSUs commencing on January 1, 2022. The actual grant date value of the restricted stock units granted to our NEOs is set forth under “Stock Awards” on the “Summary Compensation Table” later in this proxy statement. Year-over-year increases in LTI values shown in the Summary Compensation Table are influenced by the difference between the derived price used to determine the number of restricted stock units awarded and the fair market value of such awards on the date of grant as well as the impact of the Monte Carlo valuation used for accounting valuation purposes for the Relative TSR RSUs. This differential can fluctuate materially based on market conditions on the date of grant. Consequently, we believe that the year-over-year change in LTI values approved by the Compensation Committee, as described above, is a more accurate indication of compensation actions taken by the Compensation Committee.

Payout Under the 2020 Performance RSUs

In early 2023, the Compensation Committee evaluated the performance of SBA’s cumulative AFFO per share for the relevant three-year performance period against the pre-established levels and SBA’s relative TSR against the S&P 500 for the three-year performance period. As indicated below, (1) our AFFO per share for the three-year period exceeded the maximum, consequently these PSUs paid out at 200% of target and (2) our relative TSR for the three-year period was slightly below the 50^th percentile and therefore these PSUs paid out at 92.5% of target.

Other Benefits

We do not provide pension, supplemental retirement benefits or material perquisites to our executives as they are not tied to performance. Consequently, “All Other Compensation” constitutes less than 0.15% of the total compensation paid during 2022 to our CEO or any of our other NEOs.

Our NEOs are eligible to participate in our active employee flexible benefits plans, which are generally available to all full-time employees. Under these plans, all employees are entitled to medical, vision, dental, life insurance and long-term disability coverage. All full-time employees are also entitled to vacation, sick leave and other paid holidays. SBA also provides all full-time employees, including our NEOs, with a 75% match on their 401(k) contributions up to $4,000. In addition to the benefits provided to all full-time employees, SBA’s officers, including our NEOs, are provided supplemental medical insurance for which SBA pays the premiums. The Compensation Committee believes that SBA’s commitment to provide these employee benefits recognizes that the health and well-being of SBA’s NEOs contributes directly to a productive and successful work life that enhances results for SBA and its shareholders.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

Severance and Change in Control Benefits

We currently have employment agreements with each of Messrs. Stoops and Cavanagh that provide for certain severance payments and benefits if the executive’s employment terminates under certain circumstances, including as a result of, or following, a change in control. These severance payments are greatly reduced, or in the case of executives who are “retirement eligible” (as defined in our equity plan retirement policy) limited, in the event of a covered termination not associated with a change in control. These severance and change in control severance benefits, as well as a summary of potential payments relating to these and other termination events, can be found under the heading “Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change-in-Control” on page 62.

Other Compensation Practices

Equity Grant Practices. It is the Compensation Committee’s practice to ensure that equity awards are not impacted by the release of material non-public information. Traditionally, the Compensation Committee has granted employee and executive officer equity awards after the release of SBA’s annual financial and operational results.

Officer and Director Stock Ownership Guidelines. Our Stock Ownership Guidelines establish minimum equity ownership requirements for our CEO, our Executive Vice Presidents, each of our other officers and each member of our Board. The purposes of the Guidelines are to align the interests of those officers and directors with the interests of shareholders and further promote our commitment to sound corporate governance. The minimum required ownership is determined (i) with respect to each officer, as a multiple of the officer’s annual base salary as of the date of calculation and (ii) with respect to each director, as a multiple of the director’s annual retainer as of the date of calculation and, in each instance, then converted to a fixed number of shares. As of December 31, 2022, the minimum ownership levels are as follows:

The Guidelines provide that (1) outstanding shares directly owned, (2) outstanding shares indirectly owned (but only to the extent that the officer or director has an economic interest in, or a voting right over, such shares) and (3) shares held in savings, retirement or deferred compensation plans may be included in determining whether an officer or a director has met the minimum ownership requirement. Until an officer or director has met his or her minimum required ownership, he or she must retain 100% of all shares, net of taxes, received from the settlement of restricted stock unit awards granted under our incentive plans. Shares that are used in determining if an officer or a director has met the minimum ownership requirements may not be pledged.

Prohibition on Hedging. Officers, directors and employees and their respective family members are not permitted to enter into hedging arrangements with respect to shares of SBA Class A Common Stock that they beneficially own.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS  >  COMPENSATION COMPONENTS AND DECISIONS

Tax Deductibility of Compensation

Code Section 409A. Under Section 409A of the Code, amounts deferred by an NEO under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan (including certain severance plans) may be included in gross income when earned and subject to a 20% additional federal tax, unless the plan complies with certain requirements related to the timing of deferral election and distribution decisions. We administer our plans consistent with Section 409A requirements and have amended plan documents to reflect Section 409A requirements.

Code Sections 280G and 4999. Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code limit a public company’s ability to take a tax deduction for certain “excess parachute payments” (as defined in Sections 280G and 4999) and impose excise taxes on each executive that receives “excess parachute payments” in connection with his or her severance from a public company in connection with a change in control. The Compensation Committee considers, as one of many factors, the adverse tax liabilities imposed by Sections 280G and 4999, as well as other competitive factors, when it structures certain post-termination compensation payable to our NEOs. The potential adverse tax consequences to our company and/or the executive, however, are not necessarily determinative factors in such decisions.

Non-GAAP Reconciliation

This Compensation Discussion and Analysis includes the following non-GAAP financial measures: Annualized Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, AFFO per share, Tower Cash Flow, Tower Cash Flow Margin and Return on Invested Capital. Please see Appendix A of this proxy statement for a reconciliation of such measures.

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COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed the disclosure set forth above under the heading “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” with management and, based on such review and discussions, it has recommended to the Board that the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” be included in this proxy statement.

Respectfully submitted by the Compensation Committee of the Board,

The Compensation Committee

Jack Langer

Kevin L. Beebe

Mary S. Chan

Duncan H. Cocroft

April 5, 2023

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Summary Compensation Table

The following table presents certain summary information for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 concerning compensation earned for services rendered in all capacities by our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Financial Officer and our other three most highly compensated executive officers, in each instance whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. We refer to these officers collectively as our named executive officers.

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION  >  SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION  >  GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

The following table provides information about cash (non-equity) and equity incentive compensation awarded to our named executive officers in 2022 including: (1) the range of possible cash payouts under our annual incentive compensation program; (2) the grant date of equity awards; (3) the number of time-based and performance-based restricted stock units granted; and (4) the grant date fair value of the time-based and performance-based restricted stock unit grants calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. The time-based and performance-based restricted stock unit awards were granted under SBA’s 2021 Performance and Equity Incentive Plan, which is discussed in greater detail in this proxy statement under the caption “Compensation Discussion and Analysis.”