A severe or prolonged downturn in the U.S. or global economy could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
COVID-19 has had a severe and negative impact on the global economy since early 2020. Since the pandemic global central banks and governments have accelerated expansionary monetary and fiscal policies which have led to inflation rates in the U.S. that rival those seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Unrest, terrorist threats, and the potential for war may increase market volatility across the globe. In particular, the military conflicts of Russia with Ukraine and the escalation of tension between Russia and other countries, including the U.S. and European countries, as well as between China and other countries, including surrounding Asian countries, may have unpredictable economic consequences. There is still significant uncertainty about the future relationship among these countries with respect to territorial disputes, trade policies, treaties, government regulations, and tariffs. Any severe or prolonged slowdown in the global or US economy or any country in which we have operations may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We have granted, and may continue to grant, share options, restricted share units, and other share-based awards under our equity incentive plans, which may result in increased share-based compensation expenses.
We have adopted seven equity incentive plans for Renren Inc. in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2018 and 2021, respectively. As of March 31, 2022, options and restricted share units to acquire 169,984,085 Class A ordinary shares of Renren Inc. were outstanding. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2020 and 2021, we recorded US$8.6 million, US$15.3 million and US$8.5 million, respectively, in share-based compensation expenses. As of December 31, 2021, we had US$0.5 million of unrecognized share-based compensation expenses relating to share options, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted average vesting period of 0.25 years, and US$5.6 million of unrecognized share-based compensation expenses relating to non-vested restricted share units, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted average vesting period of 1.4 years.
On March 24, 2020, our compensation committee approved a reduction in the exercise price for all outstanding options previously granted by our company with an exercise price higher than US$0.0113 per ordinary share to US$0.0113 per share, representing the closing price of our ADSs on the NYSE on March 18, 2020.
On November 4, 2021, our board of directors approved a 2021 Equity Incentive Plan for each of Renren, Inc., Chime Technologies, Inc., and Trucker Path, Inc. As of December 31, 2021, no shares have been issued under these plans. Share awards granted under these plans are expected to result in increased share-based compensation expenses in 2022 as shares are issued pursuant to these awards.
We believe the granting of share options, restricted share units and other share-based awards is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain key personnel and employees, and we will continue to grant share options and restricted share units to key personnel and employees in the future. As a result, our expenses associated with share-based compensation may increase, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our ownership interest in our SaaS operating businesses Chime and Trucker Path may be diluted if the respective companies issue new shares to third parties to raise capital or pursuant to their equity incentive plans.
We have adopted two equity incentive plans in 2020 and 2021 for each of our subsidiaries Chime Technologies, Inc. and Trucker Path, Inc. As of March 31, 2022, options and restricted stock units to acquire 10,642,100 shares of common stock of Chime Technologies, Inc. were outstanding. As of March 31, 2022, options and restricted stock units to acquire 10,341,600 shares of common stock of Trucker Path, Inc. were outstanding. If Chime Technologies, Inc. and Trucker Path, Inc. issue new shares upon vesting and/or exercise of these share-based awards, such new issuances would dilute our ownership and economic interests in such companies, and correspondingly those of our shareholders, including holders of our ADSs. In addition, each of Chime Technologies, Inc. and Trucker Path, Inc. may in the future issue additional shares to raise capital to fund their respective business growth. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our proportion of ownership interest in either company after the completion of such capital-raising activities.