UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

(Mark One)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $8,322.4$12,819.9 million based on the last reported sale price of the Common Stock on the NASDAQNasdaq Global Select Market on June 30, 2017.28, 2019.

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, as of February 22, 2018: 170,031,58525, 2020: 161,881,857 shares.

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission relative to the registrant’s 20182020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III of this annual report on Form 10-K.

Akamai provides cloud servicessolutions for securing, delivering optimizing and securingoptimizing content and business applications over the Internet. As a global leader in content delivery network, or CDN, services,At the core of our goalsolutions is our globally-distributed Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform, which is designed to makehelp our customers leverage the power and reach of the Internet faster,while protecting them from malicious threats to their business. We deploy servers and technology at the “edge” of the Internet – establishing touch points on its perimeter in more reliablethan 130 countries and more secure for customers and usersnearly 1,500 networks around the world. For many enterprises, engagingThis approach affords us unique insight and visibility into traffic volumes, attack patterns, vulnerabilities and other activities across this complex cloud of networks and systems. Leveraging these insights and our position at the edge, we offer our customers through high-quality digital experiences has become mission critical. solutions designed to protect them from threats and attacks, while empowering them to securely deliver their business as they engage, entertain and interact with their customers; extend their internal systems beyond their corporate perimeters to control access and better leverage the cloud; and help them operate with the scale, resiliency and security competitiveness businesses demand.

We believe that the edge is why thousandsthe next frontier of organizations relydigital transformation – the intersection of users, digital technology and transactions, cloud computing and entertainment – and that our security, performance and delivery solutions can give our customers the competitive edge they need to capitalize on Akamai and our cloud delivery platform to make it easier for them to provide the best and most secure digital experiences to their customers.opportunities this intersection creates.

The Internet plays a crucial role in the way companies, government agencies and other enterprises conduct business and reach the public, and the world around ustechnology landscape is rapidly evolving. evolving, driving businesses to enhance their digital capabilities to improve productivity, transform customer experiences, increase brand awareness and drive competitive advantage.

The emergent network known as the Internet of Things, (IoT)or IoT, is now connecting billions of devices that transmit large volumes of data from and within offices, hospitals, manufacturing plants, power grids, roads, schools and homes every second. We believe that new technologies like blockchain are emerging that promise to surpass the ability of current methods to process transactions more quickly and deliver data and content more securely. In addition, organizations seeking streamlined operations, digital transformation and improved cost management are increasing their reliance on servers and networks comprising the “cloud” based on the promise of agility and scale – a promise that has not always been realized.

At the same time, securitythere are challenges and risks that have the potential to disrupt progress in every industry, compromise online experiences, and, in the most extreme cases, destroy value that took decades to build. Security threats are growing more sinister and advanced. Enterprise applications are moving from behind the firewall to the cloud at the same time thatwhile employees increasingly needdemand remote access from a variety of devices - making cybersecurity more complex– which we believe makes securing access harder to achieve than yesterday’swith just traditional perimeter defense.defenses. More consumers are "cutting the cord" and consuming entertainment over the Internet rather than through traditional cable, and they are increasingly using mobile devices to view content and shop. Web pages are also vastly more complex than ever before with advertisements, videos, graphics and other third-party content, causing speed and reliability to suffer. More and more, government agencies want citizens

We believe that Akamai is uniquely positioned to pay their taxes, submit applications and request information online. Smart enterprises want to take advantage of these trends safely, profitably and intelligently.

We believe that our scale, unique technology, leveraging a virtual Internet on top of the native Internet, our ability to efficiently manage a platform with millions of components, our high-quality intellectual property portfolio, ourindustry-leading security capabilities, strong relationships with hundreds of leading telecommunications carriers and thousands of major brands on the web, and our relentless and personalized attention to customer and partner needs create significant value for stockholders and provide a meaningful edge over the many competitors that desire to acquire a share of our business.competitors.

PerformanceWe offer online solutions for the security, delivery and acceleration of websites and applications. Our customers include a large percentage of the world’s most important brands, including hundreds of media companies, online retailers, major governments, financial institutions and other leading enterprises. Across all of these customers, our mission is to make digital experiences fast, intelligent and secure.

Cloud Security Solutions

Web and Mobile Performance Solutions

The ultimate goal of our webWeb and mobile performance businessMobile Performance Solutions is to enable dynamic websites and applications to have instant response times, no matter where the user is, what device or browser they are using, or how they are connected to the Internet. This is accomplished through a variety of advanced technologies embedded in our platform, which can be thought of as a virtual, streamlined Internet overlayingbuilt on top of the native Internet. Key offerings include:

Media Delivery Solutions

Our Cloud Security Solutions, boosted by technology we acquired through our purchaseIn recent years, online and mobile gaming, as well as streaming of Nominum, Inc., or Nominum, in 2017 are designedmovies, television and live events, have come to defend websites, applications and data centers againstrepresent a multitudesignificant percentage of cyber attacks. These solutions include:

Media and Network OperatorCarrier Solutions

With the growth in consumer adoption of Internet videoIP-delivered television and other media and web usage,online/mobile gaming, carriers around the world have experienced significant traffic increases, resulting in congestion across networks from aggregation to backbone and to interconnection. In addition,Compounding this challenge, security and personalized services are now critical for carriers to protect and grow their revenue and subscriber base. Our Network Operatorbases. To address these needs, our carrier offerings are designed to help carrierscustomers operate a cost-efficient network that capitalizes on traffic growth and new subscriber services by reducing the complexity of building a content delivery network, or CDN, and interconnecting access providers. We also help network operators provide subscriber security and personalization services; these solutions were enhanced by our acquisition of Nominum in 2017. Our network operatorcarrier offerings include:

Services and Support Solutions

Akamai provides an array of service and support offerings that are designed to assist our customers with integrating, configuring, optimizing and managing our core offerings. Once customers are deployed on our network, they can rely on our professional services experts for customized solutions, problem resolution and 24/7 technical support. Special features available to enterprises that purchase our premium support solution include a dedicated technical account team, proactive service monitoring, custom technical support handling procedures and customized training.

The Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform provides the technological underpinnings for all of our solutions. We use data generated in connection with each of our servicessolutions to improve and augment the functionality of our overlay network and, in turn, to improve the effectiveness of our other services.solutions. In this approach, insights and learnings are integrated across the broader platform in servicesupport of our entire solution portfolio.

The Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform leverages more than 200,000250,000 servers deployed in more than 1,700nearly 1,500 networks ranging from large, backbone network providers to medium and small Internet service providers, or ISPs, to cable modem and satellite providers to universities and other networks. By deploying servers within a wide variety of networks across more than 130 countries, we are better able to manage and control routing and delivery quality to geographically diverse users. We also have thousands of peering relationships that provide us with direct paths to end-user networks, which reduce data loss, while also potentially giving us more options for delivery at reduced cost.

To make this wide-reaching deployment effective, we use specialized technologies, such as advanced routing, load balancing, data collection and monitoring. Our intelligent routing software is designed to ensure that website visitors experience fast page loading, access to applications and content assembly wherever they are on the Internet and regardless of global or local traffic conditions. Dedicated professionals staff our network operations command center 24 hours a day, seven days a week to monitor and react to Internet traffic patterns and trends. We frequently deploy enhancements to our software globally to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of our network.

Our platform offers flexibility too. Customers can control the extent of their use of Akamai services's technology to scale on demand, using as much or as little capacity of the global platform as they require, to support widely varying traffic and rapid growth without the need for expensive and complex internal infrastructure.

No customer accounted for 10% or more of total revenue for any of the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162019, 2018 and 2015. Six of our customers that are large Internet platform companies: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Netflix, or our Internet Platform Customers, in aggregate, accounted for 8%, 11% and 17% of our total revenue during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.2017. Less than 10% of our total revenue in each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 20162019, 2018 and 20152017 was derived from contracts or subcontracts terminable at the election of the federal government, and we do not expect such contracts to account for more than 10% of our total revenue in 2018.2020.

We market and sell our solutions globally through our direct sales and serviceservices organization and through many channel partners including AT&T, Deutsche Telecom, IBM, Microsoft, Orange Business Services and Telefonica Group. In addition to entering into agreements with resellers, we have several other types of sales and marketing focused alliances with entities such as system integrators, application service providers, referral partners and sales agents. By aligning with these partners, we believe we are better able to market our servicessolutions and encourage increased adoption of our technology throughout the industry.

Our sales, serviceservices and marketing professionals are based in locations across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and focus on direct and channel sales, sales operations, professional services, account management and technical consulting. As of December 31, 2017,2019, we had 3,5943,639 employees in this organization.these roles.

To support our sales efforts and promote the Akamai brand, we conduct comprehensive marketing programs. Our marketing strategies include an active public relations campaign, print advertisements, online advertisements, participation at trade shows, strategic alliances, ongoing customer communication programs, training and sales support.

Competition

The market for our servicessolutions is intensely competitive and characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and frequent new product and service innovations. We expect competition for our servicesofferings to increase both from existing competitors and new market entrants. We compete primarily on the basis of:

We compete with companies offering products and services that address Internet performance problems, including companies that provide Internet content delivery and hosting services, security solutions, technologies used by network operatorscarriers to improve the efficiency of their systems, streaming content delivery services and equipment-based solutions for Internet performance problems, such as load balancers and server switches. Other companies offer online distribution of digital media assets through advertising-based billing or revenue-sharing models that may represent an alternative method for charging for the delivery of content and applications over the Internet. In addition, existing and potential customers may decide to purchase or develop their own hardware, software or other technology solutions rather than rely on a third-party provider like us. Our security solutions compete with those offered by both hardware and software providers, many of externally-managed services like Akamai.which are more established security vendors than we are.

We believe that we compete favorably with other companies in our industry through the global scale of the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform, which we believe provides the most effective means of meeting the needs of enterprise customers and is unique to us. In our view, we also benefit from the superior quality of our offerings, our customer service and the information we can provide to our customers about their online operations and value.

Our success and ability to compete are dependent on developing and maintaining the proprietary aspects of our technology and operating without infringing on the proprietary rights of others. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright laws and contractual restrictions to protect the proprietary aspects of our technology. As of December 31, 2017,2019, we owned, or had exclusive rights to, more than 330416 U.S. patents covering our technology as well as patents issued by other countries. Our U.S.-issued patents have terms extendable to various dates between 20182020 and 2036.2039. We do not believe that the expiration of any particular patent in the near future would be materialmaterially detrimental to our business. In October 1998, we entered into a license agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, under which we were granted a royalty-free, worldwide exclusive right to use and sublicense the intellectual property rights of MIT under various patent applications and copyrights relating to Internet content delivery technology. We seek to limit disclosure of our intellectual

property by requiring employees and consultants with access to our proprietary information to execute confidentiality agreements with us and by restricting access to our source code.

As of December 31, 2017,2019, we had 7,6507,724 full-time and part-time employees. Our future success will depend in part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified technical, managerial and other personnel for whom competition is intense. Our employees are not represented by any collective bargaining unit. We believe our relations with our employees are good, and we have been acknowledged in respected publications as an excellent place to work.

Akamai was incorporated in Delaware in 1998, and we have our corporate headquarters at 150145 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our Internet website address is www.akamai.com. We make available, free of charge, on or through our Internet website, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments thereto that we have filed or furnished with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Commission, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with the Commission. We are not, however, including the information contained on our website, or information that may be accessed through links on our website, as part of, or incorporating such information by reference into, this annual report on Form 10-K.

The following are important factors that could cause our actual operating results to differ materially from those indicated or suggested by forward-looking statements made in this annual report on Form 10-K or presented elsewhere by management from time to time.

Slower traffic growth on our networkWe and numerousthe other factorscompanies that compete in this industry and these markets experience continually shifting business relationships, commercial focuses and business priorities, all of which occur in reaction to industry and market forces and the emergence of new opportunities. These shifts have led or could cause our revenue growth rate to slow and profitability to decline.

Our business is dependent on providingThe Akamai Intelligent Edge network transmits and stores both our customers with fast, efficient and reliable distribution of applications and content over the Internet. We transmit and store our customers' information, data, and encryption keys as well as our own;keys; customer information and data may, in turn, include individual data of and about their customers.individual end-users. Maintaining the security of the information we hold and availability of our services,solutions, network and internal IT systems, and the securitywhich include hundreds of information we holdthousands of servers, is a critical issue for us and our customers. AttacksInternet-based attacks on our customers and our own network are frequent, rapidly evolving and take a variety of forms, including DDoS attacks, infrastructure attacks, botnets, malicious

In recent years, Internet-based attacks have increasedMoreover, the complexities in size, sophisticationmanaging the security profile of a distributed network with vast scale and complexity, increasing exposure for our customers and us. In addition, as we expand our emphasis on selling security-related solutions, we may become a more attractive target for attacks on our infrastructure intendedgeographic reach that evolves to destabilize, overwhelm or shut down our platform. The costs toincorporate new capabilities expose us to avoidboth known and unknown vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities, resident in either software or alleviate cyber or other security problems and vulnerabilities are significant. However, our efforts to address these problemsconfigurations, may not be successful. Any significant breachpersist for extended periods of our security measures could:

Although we take steps intended to improve the security controls across our servicesbusiness groups and geographies, our security controls over personal data, our training of employees and third parties on data security, and other practices we follow may not prevent the improper disclosure or misuse of customer or end user data we store and manage. Improper disclosure or misuse of personal data could harm our reputation, lead to legal exposure to end customers or end users, or subject us to liability under laws that protect personal data, resulting in increased costs or loss of revenue.

A significant portion of our revenue growth in recent quarters has been attributable to revenue gains outside the United States. Our operations are dependent in part upon transmission capacity providedforeign countries subject us to risks (in addition to the regulatory risks discussed above) that may increase our costs, make our operations less efficient and require significant management attention. These risks include:

We entered into a Non-Prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Commission, in June 2016 in connection with resolution of an investigation relating to sales practices in a country outside the U.S. In the event we violate the terms of this Non-Prosecution Agreement, we could be subject to additional investigation or enforcement by third party telecommunications network providersthe Commission or the Department of Justice. Although we have implemented policies and accessprocedures designed to co-location facilities to house our servers. Thereensure compliance with the Non-Prosecution Agreement and relevant laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that we are adequately prepared for unexpected increases in bandwidth demands by our customers, particularly those under cyber-attack. The bandwidth we have contracted to purchase may become unavailable for a variety of reasons, including payment disputes, network providers going out of business, natural disasters, networks imposing traffic limits,employees, contractors or governments adopting regulations that impact network operations. In some regions, network providers may choose to compete with us and become unwilling to sell us adequate transmission capacity at fair market prices. This risk is heightened where market power is concentrated with oneagents will not violate our policies or a few major networks. We also may be unable to move quickly enough to augment capacity to reflect growing traffic or security demands. Failure to put in place the capacity we requireapplicable laws. Any such violations could result in fines and penalties, criminal sanctions against us or our employees and prohibitions on the conduct of our business and on our ability to

Revenue generated and expenses incurred by our international subsidiaries are often denominated in the currencies of the local countries. As a reductionresult, our consolidated U.S. dollar financial statements are subject to fluctuations due to changes in exchange rates as the financial results of our international subsidiaries are translated from local currencies into U.S. dollars. In addition, our financial results are subject to changes in exchange rates that impact the settlement of transactions in non-functional currencies. While we have implemented a foreign currency hedging program to mitigate transactional exposures, there is no guarantee that such program will be effective.

Our solutions are highly complex and are designed to be deployed in and across numerous large and complex networks that we do not control. From time to time, we have needed to correct errors and defects in the software that underlies our platform that have given rise to service incidents or otherwise impacted our operations. We have also experienced customer dissatisfaction with the quality of some of our media delivery and other services, which has led to loss of business and could lead to loss of customers in the future. While we have robust quality control processes in place, there may be additional errors and defects in our software that may adversely affect our operations. We may not have in place adequate quality assurance procedures to ensure that we detect errors in our software in a timely manner, and we may have insufficient resources to efficiently address multiple service incidents happening simultaneously or in rapid succession. If we are unable to efficiently and cost-effectively fix errors or other problems that may be identified and improve the quality of our solutions or systems, or if there are unidentified errors that allow persons to improperly access our services or systems, we could experience loss of revenue and market share, damage to our customersreputation, increased expenses, delayed payments and ultimatelybe exposed to legal actions by our customers.

Our business relies on our data systems, traffic measurement systems, billing systems, ordering processes and other operational and financial reporting and control systems. All of these systems have become increasingly complex due to the diversification and complexity of our business, acquisitions of new businesses with different systems, and increased regulation over controls and procedures. As a loss of those customers.result, these systems could generate errors that impact traffic measurement or invoicing, revenue recognition and financial forecasting. We will need to continue to upgrade and improve our data systems, traffic measurement systems, billing systems, ordering processes and other operational and financial systems, procedures and controls. These upgrades and improvements may be difficult and costly. If we are unable to adapt our systems and organization in a timely, efficient and cost-effective manner to accommodate changing circumstances, our business may be adversely affected.

We expect to continue to pursue acquisitions and other types of strategic relationships that involve technology sharing or close cooperation with other companies. Acquisitions and other complex transactions are accompanied by a number of risks, including the following:

Any inability to integrate completed acquisitions or combinations in an efficient and timely manner could have an adverse impact on our results of operations. If we use a significant portion of our available cash to pay for acquisitions that are not successful, it could harm our balance sheet and limit our flexibility to pursue other opportunities without having enjoyed the intended benefits of the acquisition. As we complete acquisitions, we may encounter difficulty in incorporating acquired technologies into our offerings while maintaining the quality standards that are consistent with our brand and reputation. If we are not successful in completing acquisitions or other strategic transactions that we may pursue in the future, we may incur substantial expenses and devote significant management time and resources without a successful result. Future acquisitions could require use of substantial portions of our available cash or result in dilutive issuances of securities. Technology sharing or other strategic relationships we enter into may give rise to disputes over intellectual property ownership, operational responsibilities and other significant matters. Such disputes may be expensive and time-consuming to resolve.

Our future operating results will depend on our ability to manage our operations. As a result of the diversification of our business, personnel growth, increased usage of alternative working arrangements, acquisitions and international expansion in recent years, many of our employees are now based outside of our Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters; however, most key management decisions are made by a relatively small group of individuals based primarily at our headquarters. If we are unable to appropriately increase management depth, enhance succession planning and decentralize our decision-making at a pace commensurate with our actual or desired growth rates, we may not be able to achieve our financial or operational goals. It is also important to our continued success that we hire qualified personnel, properly train them and manage out poorly-performing personnel, all while maintaining our corporate culture and spirit of innovation. If we are not successful in these efforts, our growth and operations could be adversely affected.

Over the past several years, we have implemented internal restructurings and reorganizations designed to reduce the size and cost of our operations, improve operational efficiencies, enhance our ability to pursue market opportunities and accelerate our technology development initiatives. We may take similar steps in the future as we seek to realize operating synergies, optimize our operations to achieve our target operating model and profitability objectives, respond to market forces, or better reflect changes in the strategic direction of our business. Disruptions in operations may occur as a result of taking these actions. Taking these actions may also result in significant expense for us, including with respect to workforce reductions, as well as decreased productivity due to employee distraction and unanticipated employee turnover. Substantial expense or business disruptions resulting from restructuring and reorganization activities could adversely affect our operating results.

Our future success depends upon the services of our executive officers and other key technology, sales, marketing and support personnel who have critical industry experience and relationships. There is significant competition for talented individuals in the regions in which our primary offices are located, which affects both our ability to retain key employees and hire new ones. In making employment decisions, particularly in our industry, job candidates and current personnel often

As we expand our business and develop new technologies, products and services, we mayhave become increasingly subject to intellectual property infringement and other claims including those that may arise under international laws. In many cases, weand related litigation. We have also agreed to indemnify our customers and channel and strategic partners if our servicessolutions infringe or misappropriate specified intellectual property rights; therefore,as a result, we have been and could again become involved in litigation or claims brought against customers or channel or strategic partners if our servicessolutions or technology are the subject of such allegations. Any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, brought against us or pursuant to which we indemnify our customers or channel or strategic partners could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and require us to do one or more of the following:

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and contractual restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. These legal protections afford only limited protection. We have previously brought lawsuits against entities that we believed were infringing our intellectual property rights but have not always prevailed. Such lawsuits can be expensive and require a significant amount of attention from our management and technical personnel, and the outcomes are unpredictable. Monitoring unauthorized use of our servicessolutions is difficult, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken or will take will prevent unauthorized use of our technology. Furthermore, we cannot be certain that any pending or future patent applications will be granted, that any future patent will not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, or that rights granted under any patent that may be issued will provide competitive advantages to us. If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights from unauthorized use, the value of our intellectual property assets may be reduced. Although we have licensed from other parties proprietary technology covered by patents, we cannot be certain that any such patents will not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Such licenses may also be non-exclusive, meaning our competition may also be able to access such technology.

Certain of our service offerings use software that is subject to open-source licenses. Open-source code is software that is freely accessible, usable and modifiable; however, certain open-source code is governed by license agreements, the terms of which could require users of such software to make any derivative works of the software available to others on unfavorable terms or at no cost. Because we use open-source code, we may be required to take remedial action in order to protect our proprietary software. Such action could include replacing certain source code used in our software, discontinuing certain of our products or taking other actions that could be expensive and divert resources away from our development efforts. In addition, the terms relating to disclosure of derivative works in many open-source licenses are unclear. If a court interprets one or more such open-source licenses in a manner that is unfavorable to us, we could be required to make certain of our key software available at no cost. Furthermore, open-source software may have security flaws and other deficiencies that could make our solutions less reliable and damage our business.

Our operations are dependent in part upon transmission capacity provided by third party telecommunications network providers and access to co-location facilities to house our servers. There can be no assurance that we are adequately prepared for unexpected increases in bandwidth demands by our customers, particularly those under cyber-attack. Failure to put in place the capacity we require to operate our business effectively could result in a reduction in, or disruption of, service to our customers and ultimately a loss of those customers. The Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform relies on hundreds of thousands of servers deployed around the world. Disruptions in our supply chain could prevent us from purchasing servers at attractive prices or at all. For example, it may be unsuccessful at developingdifficult to purchase servers and maintaining strategic relationships with third partiesother equipment that expandare manufactured in areas that face disruptions to operations due to unrest or other political activity, public health issues (for example, an outbreak of a contagious disease such as the novel coronavirus), safety issues, natural disasters or general economic conditions. Failure to have adequate server deployment could harm the quality of our distribution channels and increase revenue,services, which could significantly limit our long-term growth.lead to the loss of customers and revenue.

The market price of our relationships with resellers, systems integrators, product makerscommon stock has historically been volatile. Trading prices may continue to fluctuate in response to a number of events and factors, including the following:

Furthermore, our revenue, particularly that portion attributable to usage of our solutions beyond customer commitments, can be difficult to forecast, and, as a result, our quarterly operating results can fluctuate substantially. This concern is particularly acute with onerespect to our media and commerce customers. We have introduced new billing models over the years, including recently offering a zero overage plan that eliminates surcharges for certain traffic. In the future, our customer contracting models may change to move away from a committed revenue structure to a "pay-as-you-go" approach, which could make it easier for customers to reduce the amount of thembusiness they do with us or leave altogether. Changes in billing models and committed revenue requirements could, therefore, create challenges with our forecasting processes. Because a significant portion of our cost structure is largely fixed in the short-term, revenue shortfalls tend to have an adversea disproportionately negative impact on our financial condition. The needprofitability. If we announce revenue or profitability results that do not meet or exceed our guidance or make changes in our guidance with respect to develop such relationships can be particularly acute in areas outsidefuture operating results, our stock price may decrease significantly as a result.

Any of the U.S. We have not always been successful at developing these relationships due to the complexity of our services, our historical reliance on an internal sales force and other factors. Recruiting and retaining qualified channel partners and training them in the use of our technology and services and ensuring that they are compliant with our ethical expectations requires significant time and resources. In order to develop and expand our distribution channel, we must continue to expand and improve our portfolio of solutionsevents, as well as other circumstances discussed in these Risk Factors, may cause the systems, processes and procedures that support our channels. Those systems, processes and procedures may become increasingly complex and difficult to manage. The time and expense required for the sales and marketing organizationsprice of our channel partnerscommon stock to become familiar withfall. In addition, the stock market in general, and the market prices of stock of publicly-traded technology companies in particular, have experienced significant volatility that often has been unrelated to the operating performance of affected companies. These broad stock market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our offerings, includingcommon stock, regardless of our new services developments, may make it more difficult to introduce those products to enterprises. Our failure to maintain and increase the number and quality of relationships with channel partners, and any inability to successfully execute on the partnerships we initiate, could significantly impede our revenue growth prospects in the short and long term.operating performance.

Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments about, among other things, taxes, revenue recognition, stock-based compensation costs, capitalization of internal-use software development costs, investments, contingent obligations, allowance for doubtful accounts, intangible assets, and restructuring charges. These estimates and judgments affect, among other things, the reported amounts of our assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, the amounts of charges accrued by us, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances and at the time they are made. If our estimates or the assumptions underlying them are not correct, actual results may differ materially from our

Our future income taxes could be adversely affected by earnings being lower than anticipated in jurisdictions that have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated in jurisdictions that have higher statutory tax rates, or changes in tax laws, regulations, or accounting principles, as well as certain discrete items such as equity-related compensation. In particular, we do not yet know the full effect that the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and subsequent related regulations will have on our business and tax exposure assessment. We have recorded certain tax reserves to address potential exposures involving our income tax and sales and use tax positions. These potential tax liabilities result from the varying application of statutes, rules, regulations and interpretations by different jurisdictions. We are currently subject to tax audits in various jurisdictions including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the second quarter of 2018, we filed an appeal with the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board contesting adverse audit findings relating to our eligibility to claim certain tax benefits and exemptions. The appeal hearing was held in late 2019. If the outcome of such audit orthis appeal and other audits were to beare adverse to us, our reserves may not be adequate to cover our total actual liability.liability, and we would need to take a financial charge. Although we believe our estimates, our reserves and the positions we have taken in all jurisdictions are reasonable, the ultimate tax outcome may differ from the amounts recorded in our financial statements and may materially affect our financial results in the period or periods for which such determination is made.

We have complied with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by assessing, strengthening and testing our system of internal controls. Even though we concluded our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report, we need to continue to maintain our processes and systems and adapt them to changes as our business evolves and we rearrange management responsibilities and reorganize our business. This continuous process of maintaining and adapting our internal controls and complying with Section 404 is expensive and time-consuming and requires significant management attention. We cannot be certain that our internal control measures will continue to provide adequate control over our financial processes and reporting and ensure compliance with Section 404. Furthermore, as our business changes, including by expanding our operations in different markets, increasing reliance on channel partners and completing acquisitions, our internal controls may become more complex and we will requirebe required to expend significantly more resources to ensure our internal controls remain effective. Failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. If we or our independent registered public accounting firm identify material weaknesses, the disclosure of that fact, even if quickly remediated, could reduce the market's confidence in our financial statements and harm our stock price.

As of December 31, 2017,the date of this report, we had total par value of $690.0$1,150.0 million of convertible senior notes outstanding due in 2019.2027 and we had total par value of $1,150.0 million of convertible senior notes outstanding due in 2025. We also entered into a credit facility in May 2018 that provides for an initial $500.0 million in revolving loans; under specified circumstances, we would be able to borrow an additional $500.0 million thereunder. Our ability to repay any amounts we borrow under our credit facility, refinance the notes, make cash payments in connection with conversions of the notes or repurchase the notes in the event of a fundamental change (as defined in the applicable indenture governing the notes) will depend on market conditions and our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. We also may not use the cash we have raised through future borrowing under the credit facility or the issuance of the convertible senior notes in an optimally productive and profitable manner. If we are unable to remain profitable or if we use more cash than we generate in the future, our level of indebtedness at such time could adversely affect our operations by increasing our vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic and industry conditions and by limiting or prohibiting our ability to obtain additional financing for additional capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate and other purposes. In addition, if we are unable to make cash payments upon conversion of the notes, we would be required to issue significant amounts of our common stock, which would be dilutive to the stock of existing stockholders. If we do not have sufficient cash to repurchase the notes following a fundamental change, we would be in default under the terms of the notes, which could seriously harm our business. In addition,Although the terms of our credit facility include certain financial ratios that potentially limit our future indebtedness, the terms of the notes do not limit the amount of future indebtedness we may incur.do so. If we incur significantly more debt, this could intensify the risks described above.

Our Board of Directors has the authority to issue additional shares of our common stock or other instruments convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, shares of our common stock. If we issue additional shares of our common stock or instruments convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, shares of our common stock, it may materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We have customer contracts with the U.S. government, as well as foreign, state and local governments and their respective agencies. Such government entities often have the right to terminate these contracts at any time, without cause. There is increased pressure for governments and their agencies, both domestically and internationally, to reduce spending. Most of our government contracts are subject to legislative approval of appropriations to fund the expenditures under these contracts. These factors combine to potentially limit the revenue we derive from government contracts in the future. Additionally, government contracts generally have requirements that are more complex than those found in commercial enterprise agreements and therefore are more costly to comply with. Such contracts are also subject to audits and investigations that could result in civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, refund of a portion of fees received, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions or debarment from future government business.

From time to time, we are or may become involved in various legal proceedings relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business, including patent, commercial, product liability, breach of contract, employment, class action, whistleblower and other litigation and claims, and governmental and other regulatory investigations and proceedings. In addition, under our charter, we could be required to indemnify and advance expenses to our directors and officers in connection with their involvement in certain actions, suits, investigations and other proceedings. Such matters can be time-consuming, divert management’s attention and resources and cause us to incur significant expenses.

Our deployed networkThe long-term effects of servers consumes significant energy resources, including those generated byclimate change on the burningglobal economy and our industry in particular remain unknown. Changes in weather where we operate may increase the costs of fossil fuels.powering and cooling computer hardware we use to develop software and provide cloud-based services. Catastrophic natural disasters could negatively impact our office locations. In response to concerns about global climate change, governments may adopt new regulations affecting the use of fossil fuels or requiring the use of alternative fuel sources. Our deployed network of servers consumes significant energy resources, including those generated by the burning of fossil fuels. While we have invested in projects to support renewable energy development, our customers, investors and other stakeholders may require us to take more steps to demonstrate that we are taking ecologically responsible measures in operating our business. The costs and any expenses we may incur to make our network more energy efficientenergy-efficient and comply with any new regulations could make us less profitable in future periods. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations or other requirements imposed on us could lead to fines, lost revenue and damage to our reputation.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, for use in the operation of our business and do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future on our common stock. As a result, the success of an investment in our common stock will depend upon any future appreciation in its value. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which stockholders have purchased their shares.

Provisions of our charter, by-laws and Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third party to control or acquire us, even if doing so would be beneficial to our stockholders. These provisions include:

Further, as a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to certain Delaware anti-takeover provisions. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other things, the board of directors has approved the transaction. Our Board of Directors could rely on Delaware law to prevent or delay an acquisition of us.

None.

We lease approximately 490,000 square feet of propertyOur headquarters is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts where our primary corporate offices are located. The majority of the current leases for such space are scheduled to expire in December 2019. In November 2016, we executed a lease for a new primary headquarters space at 145 Broadway in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The lease is for approximately 480,000653,000 square feet and is expected to commence at the termination of our existing corporate headquarter lease at 150 Broadway in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The initial lease term is 15 years. During 2017 we also extended our lease for 150 Broadway in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which represents 177,000 square feet of our current footprint in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The term of the extended lease is coterminous with the 145 Broadway lease.

We are party to litigation that we consider routine and incidental to our business. We do not currently expect the results of any of these litigation matters to have a material effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

Not applicable.

Our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, trades under the symbol “AKAM” on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low sales price per share of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market:

As of February 22, 2018,25, 2020, there were 320218 holders of record of our common stock.

We have never paid or declared any cash dividends on shares of our common stock or other securities and do not anticipate paying or declaring any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all future earnings, if any, for use in the operation of our business.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following is a summary of our repurchases of our common stock in the fourth quarter of 20172019 (in thousands, except share and per share data):

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and other financial data included elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K. The consolidated statements of income and balance sheet data for all periods presented is derived from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K or in prior year annual reports on Form 10-K on file with the Commission.

The following table sets forth selected financial data for the last five fiscal years (in thousands, except per share data):