AIRGAIN, INC. (NASDAQ:AIRG) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
Item 5.02
Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Promotion of Jacob Suen to President
Effective January 16, 2019, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Airgain, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Jacob Suen as President of the Company. Mr. Suen has served as the Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales of the Company since May 2017. A copy of the press release announcing Mr. Suen’s appointment is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.
In connection with his appointment, Mr. Suen’s compensation package remains unchanged from the compensation package in effect prior to his promotion.Specifically, he will continue to be paid an annual salary of $310,000 and his target annual bonus will be equal to 90% of his annual base salary.Mr. Suen also entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with the Company and received an annual equity award on the terms described below in connection with his promotion.
Mr. Suen, age 45, was appointed as our President in January 2019.He has been with the Company since April 2006, most recently as the Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, a position he held since May 2017.Previously, Mr. Suen served as the Director of Business Development from 1998 to 2005 at Paradyne Corporation. Prior to Paradyne, Mr. Suen was a Development Engineer at GVN Technologies in 1998. From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Suen was a Software Development Engineer for Motorola Incorporation. Mr. Suen holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Communication Systems and a minor in Engineering Management from the University of South Florida. Mr. Suen also has his Master of Business Administration with a focus on International Business and Entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado.
There are no family relationships between Mr. Suen and any director or executive officer of the Company, and he has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction required to be disclosed to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Promotion of Kevin Thill to Senior Vice President, Engineering
Effective January 16, 2019, the Board appointed Kevin Thill as Senior Vice President, Engineering of the Company. Mr. Thill has served as the Vice President, Antenna-Plus since April 27, 2017. A copy of the press release announcing Mr. Thill’s appointment is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.
In connection with his appointment, Mr. Thill’s compensation package was adjusted. Specifically, effective January 1, 2019, his annual salary will be $275,000 and his target annual bonus will be equal to 60% of his annual base salary.Mr. Thill also entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with the Company and received an annual equity award on the terms described below in connection with his promotion.
Mr. Thill, age 58, was appointed as our Senior Vice President, Engineering in January 2019.He has been with the company since April 2017 as the Vice President, Antenna-Plus.Previously, Mr. Thill founded Antenna Plus, LLC in 1991 and was the owner until its acquisition by the Company in 2017.Prior to Antenna Plus, Mr. Thill was a Senior Antenna Design Engineer at Motorola.Prior to Motorola, Mr. Thill was an Antenna Engineer at Northrop and prior to that he was an Antenna Engineer at McDonald Douglass.Mr. Thill received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University.
There are no family relationships between Mr. Thill and any director or executive officer of the Company, and he has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction required to be disclosed to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
Amended and Restated Executive Employment Agreements
Effective January 16, 2019, the Company entered into amended and restated employment agreements with each of Jacob Suen, the Company’s President, Anil Doradla, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Secretary, and Kevin Thill, the Company’s Senior Vice President, Engineering.
The amended and restated employment agreements provide for an indefinite term and for at-will employment.The agreements also set forth each executive’s annual base salary and target bonus opportunity, right to the 2019 annual equity awards (as described below), and provide that each executive will be entitled to the benefits provided to employees generally.
to the amended and restated employment agreements, if we terminate an executive’s employment without cause (as defined below) or he resigns for good reason (as defined below), he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan or practice to which he is entitled; (2) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to 6 months of his base salary as in effect immediately prior to the date of termination plus an amount equal to his target bonus for the calendar year during which his date of termination occurs, prorated for such portion of the calendar year during which such termination occurs that has elapsed through the date of termination; and (3) continuation of health benefits at our expense for a period of 6 months following the date of termination.
In the event an executive’s termination without cause or resignation for good reason occurs within 12 months following a change in control, he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan or practice to which he is entitled; (2) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to 12 months of his base salary as in effect immediately prior to the date of termination; (3) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to his target bonus for the year in which the termination of his employment occurs; and (4) continuation of health benefits at our expense for a period of 18 months following the date of termination. All of an executive’s outstanding equity awards will become fully vested and exercisable in the event of a termination without cause or resignation for good reason at any time following a change in control.
If an executive’s employment is terminated as a result of his death or following his permanent disability, he or his estate, as applicable, is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan or practice to which he is entitled; and (2) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to his “earned” bonus for the calendar year during which his date of termination occurs calculated as of the date of termination (wherein “earned” means that he has met the applicable bonus metrics as of date of such termination, as determined by the board of directors), prorated for such portion of the calendar year during which such termination occurs that has elapsed through the date of termination.
The foregoing descriptions of the amended and restated employment agreements does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the amended and restated employment agreements, which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed with respect to the fiscal year ending December 31, 2018.
Annual Bonuses for 2018 and 2019 Annual Bonus Program
On January 16, 2018, the Board and its Compensation Committee approved the following 2018 annual bonuses for the Company’s executive officers, based on an assessment of the achievement of corporate goals set out and approved by our Board and Compensation Committee in 2018:
Name |
Title |
2018 Annual Bonus |
Jim Sims |
Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer |
$437,403.85 |
Jacob Suen |
President |
$334,800.00 |
Anil Doradla |
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary |
$234,000.00 |
Kevin Thill |
Senior Vice President, Engineering |
$165,600.00 |
The Compensation Committee also adopted a 2019 annual bonus program for the executive officers of the Company.Under the 2019 program, 90% of an executive’s annual bonus will be tied to corporate revenue and EBITDA performance, with “threshold,” “target” and “maximum” performance levels corresponding to the payout levels for the corporate component of each executive’s target annual bonus payout (with target performance representing a 50% payout level for each financial measure and maximum or greater performance representing a 150% payout level for each financial measure). The other 10% of an executive’s annual bonus will continue to be determined in the discretion of the Board or the Compensation Committee based on the executive’s individual performance and such other factors as the Board or the Compensation Committee deems appropriate, with a maximum payout level of 150%. to his interim chief executive officer agreement with the Company, Mr. Sims’ annual bonus remains in the discretion of the Board.
The Compensation Committee also confirmed the target bonuses for the executive officers for 2019 as follows:Mr. Suen, 90% of his annual base salary, Mr. Doradla, 60% of his annual base salary, and Mr. Thill, 60% of his annual base salary.
The Company expects to adopt a similar bonus program for future fiscal years, which will reward achievement at specified levels of corporate financial performance and individual performance and will contain target bonuses consistent with those disclosed above.
Annual Executive Equity Awards
On January 16, 2018, the Board and its Compensation Committee approved the annual equity awards for the Company’s executive officers under the Company’s 2016 Incentive Award Plan as follows:
Name |
Title |
Stock Options |
Restricted Stock Units |
Jim Sims |
Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer |
50,000 |
20,326 |
Jacob Suen |
President |
87,500 |
35,570 |
Anil Doradla |
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary |
37,500 |
15,244 |
Kevin Thill |
Senior Vice President, Engineering |
25,000 |
10,163 |
The stock options were granted with an exercise price equal to the closing price per share of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and have a term of ten years.The stock options will vest over a four-year period, commencing January 1, 2019, with 25% of the options vesting on January 1, 2020, and 1/48th of the original number of shares subject to the options vesting on each one-month period thereafter.The restricted stock units vest in four equal annual installments on each of March 1, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.Vesting of the equity awards is
subject to the executive’s continued employment or service with the Company through the applicable vesting date.The equity awards are subject to acceleration as set forth in the Company’s agreements with each of the executives.
Item 5.02 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
AIRGAIN INC Exhibit
EX-99.1 2 airg-ex991_16.htm EX-99.1 airg-ex991_16.htm Exhibit 99.1 Company Contact Jules Cassano Director of Marketing Airgain,…
To view the full exhibit click here
About AIRGAIN, INC. (NASDAQ:AIRG)
Airgain, Inc. is a provider of embedded antenna technologies used to enable wireless networking across a range of home, enterprise and industrial devices. The Company’s antennas are found in devices deployed in carrier, enterprise and residential wireless networks and systems, including set top boxes, access points, routers, gateways and digital televisions. It offers six product lines, including MaxBeam High Gain Embedded Antennas, Profile Embedded Antennas, Profile Contour Embedded Antennas, Ultra Embedded Antennas, OmniMax High Performance External Antennas and MaxBeam Carrier Class Antennas. The Company, through its design, integration and testing of embedded antenna technology, provides its technology to the residential wireless local area network, wireless fidelity and antenna market, and also supplies to carriers, original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers and system designers. The Company supplies its products in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia.