04/23/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/23/2025 14:50
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. )
Filed by the Registrant ☒
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ☐
Check the appropriate box:
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Preliminary Proxy Statement |
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Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
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Definitive Proxy Statement |
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Definitive Additional Materials |
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Soliciting Material under §240.14a-12 |
LifeStance Health Group, Inc.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)
Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):
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No fee required. |
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Fee paid previously with preliminary materials. |
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Fee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11. |
LifeStance Health Group, Inc.
4800 N. Scottsdale Road
Suite 2500
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
Dear Stockholders:
You are cordially invited to attend the LifeStance Health Group, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting") on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Our Annual Meeting will be in a fully virtual format. We believe hosting a virtual meeting will allow for greater stockholder attendance at the Annual Meeting by enabling stockholders who might not otherwise be able to travel to a physical meeting to attend online and participate from any location. Stockholders will be able to register to attend and vote online (for those who intend to vote at the Annual Meeting) at www.proxydocs.com/LFST. Upon completing your registration, you will receive further instructions via email, including a unique link that will allow you to access, and to vote and submit questions during, the Annual Meeting. The Company has designed the format of the Annual Meeting to ensure that stockholders are afforded the same rights and opportunities to participate as they would at an in-person meeting, using online tools to ensure stockholder access and participation.
On April 23, 2025, we mailed to our stockholders a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the "Notice") containing instructions on how to access our proxy statement for the Annual Meeting and our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Notice also provides instructions on how to vote online or by telephone and includes instructions on how to receive a paper copy of the proxy materials by mail. The matters to be acted upon at the meeting are described in the attached Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement.
The proxy statement accompanying this letter describes the business we will consider at the meeting. Your vote is important regardless of the number of shares you own. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote your shares promptly by mail, telephone or Internet as instructed on the enclosed proxy card or voting instruction card. Proxies forwarded by or for brokers or fiduciaries should be returned as requested by them.
We hope that you will be able to join us virtually on June 3rd.
Sincerely, |
|
David Bourdon |
|
Chief Executive Officer |
IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING
The Notice of Internet Availability, proxy card, or voting instruction form that accompanied your proxy materials includes your control number, which when entered at www.proxydocs.com/LFSTwill serve as an admission ticket for one stockholder to register for and attend the Annual Meeting. On April 23, 2025, we also first mailed this Proxy Statement and the enclosed proxy card to certain stockholders. If you received a paper copy of the proxy materials in the mail, the proxy card includes the control number for one stockholder to attend the Annual Meeting. Stockholders holding stock in brokerage accounts ("street name" holders) will need to obtain the control number reflecting their stock ownership as of the record date, April 11, 2025 from their broker, bank or other nominee.
LifeStance Health Group, Inc.
4800 N. Scottsdale Road
Suite 2500
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
Dear Stockholder:
The 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting") of LifeStance Health Group, Inc. (the "Company") will be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Our Annual Meeting will be in a fully virtual format. We believe hosting a virtual meeting will allow for greater stockholder attendance at the Annual Meeting by enabling stockholders who might not otherwise be able to travel to a physical meeting to attend online and participate from any location. The Annual Meeting may be accessed by entering the control number provided on your proxy card, voting instruction form, or Notice of Internet Availability at www.proxydocs.com/LFST. Login will be available starting at 12:45 p.m. Pacific Time and the meeting will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, for the following purposes:
These proposals are more fully described in the Proxy Statement accompanying this Notice.
April 11, 2025 has been fixed as the record date for the determination of the stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any adjournments thereof. Only stockholders of record at the close of business as of the record date will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting. If you would like an opportunity to view the stockholder list, it will be available 10 days in advance of the meeting. Please contact the Corporate Secretary to make accommodations to view the list. Your vote is important. Whether or not you expect to attend the Annual Meeting, we encourage you to vote by Internet, by telephone or by completing, signing and dating your printable proxy card and returning it as soon as possible. If you are voting by Internet or by telephone, please follow the instructions on your proxy card. If you attend the Annual Meeting and vote during the meeting, your proxy will not be used.
If you need assistance voting your shares, please send an e-mail to investor.relations@lifestance.com.
You may attend the Annual Meeting and vote your shares during the meeting, even if you previously voted by Internet, telephone or if you returned your proxy card. Your proxy (including a proxy granted by the Internet or by telephone) may be revoked by sending in another signed proxy card with a later date, sending a letter revoking your proxy to the Company's Corporate Secretary in Scottsdale, Arizona, voting again by Internet or telephone, or attending the Annual Meeting and voting during the meeting. If you are a registered stockholder (meaning you hold your shares directly in your name), you must enter a valid control number to attend the meeting. If you are a beneficial stockholder (meaning your shares are held in the name of a broker, bank, nominee or other holder of record), you will also need to enter a valid control number showing proof of ownership to attend the meeting.
We look forward to seeing you. Thank you for your ongoing support of and interest in LifeStance Health Group, Inc.
By Order of the Board of Directors, |
Ryan Pardo |
Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary |
April 23, 2025
Important notice regarding the Internet availability of proxy materials for the stockholders meeting to be held on June 3, 2025. Stockholders may access, view and download the 2025 Proxy Statement and the 2024 Annual Report at www.proxydocs.com/LFST.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction |
1 |
Information About the Annual Meeting and Voting |
2 |
Proposal No. 1: Election of Directors |
6 |
Board of Directors |
7 |
Corporate Governance |
10 |
Board Composition |
10 |
Director Independence |
11 |
Annual Board and Committee Performance Review |
11 |
Board of Directors Leadership Structure |
11 |
Board Meetings, Attendance and Committees |
12 |
Board Oversight of Risk Management |
14 |
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation |
14 |
Code of Conduct |
14 |
Policy Against Hedging of Stock |
14 |
Insider Trading Policy |
15 |
Corporate Governance Guidelines |
15 |
Director Nomination Process |
15 |
Board Membership Criteria |
15 |
Stockholder Engagement |
15 |
Communications with Directors |
16 |
Proposal No. 2: Ratification of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
17 |
Policy on Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
17 |
Principal Accountant Fees and Services |
17 |
Proposal No. 3: Advisory Vote on Named Executive Officer Compensation |
18 |
Executive and Director Compensation |
19 |
Compensation Discussion and Analysis |
19 |
2024 Highlights |
19 |
Overview of our Executive Compensation Program |
19 |
Components of our Executive Compensation Program |
20 |
Agreements with our Named Executive Officers |
24 |
Other Compensation-Related Matters |
24 |
Compensation Committee Report |
26 |
Summary Compensation Table |
27 |
Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table |
29 |
Option Exercises and Stock Vested |
34 |
Pension Benefits and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation |
34 |
Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control |
34 |
Director Compensation |
37 |
Pay Versus Performance |
38 |
2024 CEO Pay Ratio |
43 |
Executive Officers |
44 |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Party Stockholder Matters |
46 |
Beneficial Ownership |
46 |
Equity Compensation Plan Information |
48 |
Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports |
48 |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions |
49 |
Related Person Transactions Policy |
49 |
Audit Committee Report |
50 |
Additional Information |
51 |
Requirements for Stockholder Proposals to be Considered for Inclusion in our Proxy Materials |
51 |
Requirements for Stockholder Proposals to be Brought Before an Annual Meeting |
51 |
Incorporation by Reference |
51 |
Householding |
51 |
Voting by Telephone or the Internet |
51 |
Other Matters |
52 |
Appendix A - Non-GAAP Measures |
A-1 |
LifeStance Health Group, Inc.
PROXY STATEMENT
FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
June 3, 2025
INTRODUCTION
This Proxy Statement provides information for stockholders of LifeStance Health Group, Inc. ("we," "us," "our," "LifeStance" and the "Company"), as part of the solicitation of proxies by the Company and its board of directors (the "Board of Directors") from holders of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per share, for use at the Company's annual meeting of stockholders to be held in a virtual format at www.proxydocs.com/LFSTat 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time on June 3, 2025, and at any adjournments or postponements thereof (the "Annual Meeting").
At the Annual Meeting, stockholders will be asked to vote either directly or by proxy on the following matters discussed herein:
A Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the "Notice") containing instructions on how to access our proxy materials, including this Proxy Statement and our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, is being mailed to stockholders on or about April 23, 2025. The Notice also provides instructions on how to vote over the Internet, by phone or by mail. If you receive a Notice by mail, you will not receive printed and mailed proxy materials unless you specifically request them.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING AND VOTING
We include this Q&A section to provide some background information and brief answers to several questions you might have about the Annual Meeting. We encourage you to read the enclosed Proxy Statement in its entirety.
Why are we providing these materials?
Our Board of Directors is providing these materials to you in connection with our Annual Meeting, which will take place on June 3, 2025, and will be held in a virtual format accessible by registering at www.proxydocs.com/LFST. Stockholders are invited to participate in the Annual Meeting and are requested to vote on the proposals described herein. Please be sure to retain the control number listed on your proxy card, voting instruction form, or Notice in order to attend our virtual stockholders' meeting.
What information is contained in this Proxy Statement?
This Proxy Statement contains information relating to the proposals to be voted on at the Annual Meeting, the voting process, the compensation of our directors and most highly paid officers, and other required information.
What proposals will be voted on at the Annual Meeting?
There are four proposals scheduled to be voted on at the Annual Meeting:
We will also consider other business that properly comes before the Annual Meeting.
What shares can I vote?
You may vote all shares of common stock that you owned as of the close of business on the record date, April 11, 2025. You may cast one vote per share, including shares (i) held directly in your name as the stockholder of record and (ii) held for you as the beneficial owner through a broker, bank, or other nominee. The proxy card will indicate the number of shares.
As of April 11, 2025, there were 388,882,916 shares of common stock outstanding, all of which are entitled to be voted at the Annual Meeting.
A list of stockholders will be available at our headquarters at 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2500, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 for a period of 10 days prior to the Annual Meeting.
What are the voting rights of stockholders?
Each share of our common stock is entitled to one vote. There is no cumulative voting.
What is the difference between being a stockholder of record and a beneficial owner?
Many of our stockholders hold their shares through brokers, banks, or other nominees, rather than directly in their own names. As summarized below, there are some differences between being a stockholder of record and a beneficial owner.
Stockholder of record:If your shares are registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Equiniti Trust Company, LLC, you are the stockholder of record, and these proxy materials are being sent directly to you. As the stockholder of record, you have the right to grant your voting proxy directly to the individuals named on the proxy card or to vote at the Annual Meeting.
Beneficial owner:If your shares are held in a stock brokerage account or by a bank or other nominee, you are the beneficial owner of shares held in "street name," and these proxy materials are being forwarded to you by your broker, bank or other nominee, who is considered to be the stockholder of record. As the beneficial owner, you have the right to tell your nominee how to vote, and you are also invited to attend the Annual Meeting. However, since you are not the stockholder of record, you may not vote your shares at the Annual Meeting unless you obtain a legal proxy from your nominee authorizing you to do so. Your nominee has sent you instructions on how to direct the nominee's vote. You may vote by following those instructions and the instructions on the Notice.
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How do stockholders vote?
Stockholder of record: If you are a stockholder of record, you may have your shares voted on matters presented at the Annual Meeting in any of the following ways:
If you properly cast your vote by either voting your proxy via Internet, telephone or by executing and returning the proxy card, and if your vote is not subsequently revoked by you, your vote will be voted in accordance with your instructions. If any other matter is presented, your proxy will vote in accordance with the proxy holders' best judgment. At the time we mailed these proxy materials, we knew of no matters that needed to be acted on at the Annual Meeting other than those discussed in this Proxy Statement.
If you sign the proxy card but do not make specific choices, the proxy holder will vote your shares as recommended by the Board of Directors. If you are a street name holder and wish to vote at the meeting, you must first obtain a proxy from your broker, bank or other nominee authorizing you to vote.
A control number, located on your proxy card, voting instruction form, or Notice, is designed to verify your identity and allow you to vote your shares, and to confirm that your voting instructions have been properly recorded when voting over the Internet or by telephone. Please be aware that if you vote by telephone or Internet, you may incur costs such as telephone and Internet access charges for which you will be responsible.
Beneficial owner:If you are the beneficial owner of shares held in "street name," you may vote by following the instructions sent to you by your broker, bank or other nominee and the instructions on the Notice. Alternatively, you may vote by telephone or over the Internet as instructed by your broker, bank or other nominee.
What is a proxy holder?
We are designating Ryan McGroarty, our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and Ryan Pardo, our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, to hold and vote all properly-tendered proxies (except votes "withheld"). If you have indicated a vote, Mr. McGroarty or Mr. Pardo will vote accordingly. If you have left a vote blank, Mr. McGroarty or Mr. Pardo will vote as the Board of Directors recommends. While we do not expect any other business to come up for a vote, if it does, the proxy holder will vote in his discretion. If a director nominee is unwilling or unable to serve, the proxy holder will vote in his discretion for an alternative nominee.
How does the Board of Directors recommend that I vote?
The Board of Directors recommends that you vote your shares:
May my broker vote for me?
If your broker holds your shares in street name, the broker may vote your shares on routine matters even if it does not receive instructions from you.
What are abstentions and broker non-votes?
An abstention represents the action by a stockholder to refrain from voting "for" or "against" a proposal. A "broker non-vote" occurs when a broker, bank or other nominee holding shares for a beneficial owner does not vote the shares on a proposal because the broker, bank or other nominee does not have discretionary voting power for a particular item and has not received instructions from the beneficial owner regarding voting. Brokers, banks or other nominees who hold shares for the accounts of their clients have discretionary authority to vote shares if specific instructions are not given with respect to routine matters. Although the determination
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of whether a broker, bank or other nominee will have discretionary voting power for a particular item is typically determined only after proxy materials are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), we expect that the proposal on ratification of the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm (Proposal 2) will be a routine matter and that the election of each nominee for director (Proposal 1) and the advisory vote on the compensation paid to the Company's named executive officers (Proposal 3) will each be a non-routine matter. Accordingly, if you hold your shares through a broker, bank or other nominee and you do not timely provide your broker, bank or other nominee with specific instructions on how to vote your shares, your broker, bank or other nominee would not be authorized to cast a vote on your behalf on Proposal 1 (election of each nominee for director) and Proposal 3 (approval on a non-binding advisory basis of the compensation paid to the Company's named executive officers) but would be authorized to cast a vote on your behalf, in its discretion, on Proposal 2 (ratification of the appointment of PwC). In such cases, a "broker non-vote" may be entered with respect to your shares on Proposal 1 and Proposal 3 to reflect that your broker was present with respect to your shares at the meeting but was not exercising voting rights on your behalf with respect to those shares. Broker non-votes and abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of each proposal. Brokers, banks and other nominees generally have discretionary authority to vote on the ratification of the appointment of an independent registered public accounting firm (Proposal 2); thus, we do not expect any broker non-votes on this matter.
Can I change my vote or revoke my proxy?
Yes, you may change your vote after you send in your proxy card or vote your shares via the Internet or by telephone by following these procedures:
What constitutes a quorum for the Annual Meeting?
The presence at the meeting, in person at the virtual meeting or by proxy, of the holders of common stock representing a majority of the total votes entitled to be cast by the holders of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company on the record date will constitute a quorum, permitting the meeting to conduct its business.
As of the record date, there were 388,882,916 shares of common stock outstanding, all of which are entitled to be voted at the Annual Meeting. Both abstentions and "broker non-votes" (when a broker does not have authority to vote on the proposal in question) are counted as present for the purpose of determining the presence of a quorum.
What vote is required to approve the election of directors (Proposal 1)?
Director nominees are elected by plurality vote. Therefore, if you do not vote "for" a nominee, or you "withhold" authority to vote for a nominee, your vote will not count either "for" or "against" the nominee. Broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of Proposal 1.
What vote is required to ratify the selection of PwC as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2025 (Proposal 2)?
Proposal 2 will be approved if a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively on the matter is cast "for" the proposal. You may vote "for" or "against," or abstain from voting on Proposal 2. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of Proposal 2.
What vote is required to approve, on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation of the Company's named executive officers (Proposal 3)?
Proposal 3 will be approved if a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively on the matter is cast "for" the proposal. You may vote "for" or "against," or abstain from voting on Proposal 3. Because the vote to approve the compensation of the Company's named executive officers is advisory, it will not be binding on the Board of Directors. However, our compensation committee intends to take into account the outcome of the vote when considering future executive compensation arrangements. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of Proposal 3.
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What does it mean if I receive more than one Notice?
You may receive more than one Notice if, for example, you hold your shares in multiple brokerage accounts. You must vote based on the instructions in each Notice separately.
How are votes counted?
Mediant Communications, Inc. has been appointed to be the Inspector of Elections and in this capacity will supervise the voting, decide the validity of proxies and certify the results. We will publish final vote counts within four business days after the Annual Meeting on a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Is my vote confidential?
Proxy instructions, ballots, and voting tabulations that identify individual stockholders are handled in a manner that protects your voting privacy. Your vote will not be disclosed, either within the Company or to third parties, except as necessary (i) to meet applicable legal requirements, (ii) to allow for tabulation and certification of the vote, and (iii) to facilitate successful proxy solicitation by the Board of Directors.
Who pays for costs relating to the proxy materials and Annual Meeting?
The costs of preparing, assembling and mailing this Proxy Statement, the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and the enclosed Annual Report and proxy card, along with the cost of posting the proxy materials on a website, are borne by us. In addition to the use of mail, our directors, officers and employees may solicit proxies personally and by telephone and other electronic means. They will receive no compensation in addition to their regular salaries. We may request banks, brokers and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries to forward copies of the proxy materials to their principals and to request authority for the execution of proxies. We may reimburse these persons for their expenses in doing so.
Who can attend the Annual Meeting?
Any Company stockholder as of the close of business on the record date may attend the meeting. Stockholders must present a valid control number in order to be admitted to the meeting.
How can I attend the virtual annual meeting?
Only stockholders of record and beneficial owners of shares of our common stock as of the close of business on the record date may attend and participate in the Annual Meeting, including voting and asking questions during the virtual Annual Meeting. You will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting physically in person.
In order to attend the Annual Meeting, you must register at www.proxydocs.com/LFST. Upon completing your registration, you will receive further instructions via email, including a unique link that will allow you access to the Annual Meeting and to vote and submit questions during the Annual Meeting.
As part of the registration process, you must enter the control number located on your proxy card, voting instruction form, or Notice. If you are a beneficial owner of shares registered in the name of a broker, bank or other nominee, you will also need to provide the registered name on your account and the name of your broker, bank or other nominee as part of the registration process.
On the day of the Annual Meeting, stockholders may begin to log in to the virtual-only Annual Meeting 15 minutes prior to the Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
We will have technicians ready to assist you with any technical difficulties you may have accessing the Annual Meeting. If you encounter any difficulties accessing the virtual-only Annual Meeting platform, including any difficulties voting or submitting questions, you may call the technical support number that will be posted in your instructional email.
How can I submit questions before and during the virtual annual meeting?
Our virtual Annual Meeting will allow stockholders to submit questions before and during the Annual Meeting. During a designated question and answer period at the Annual Meeting, we will respond to appropriate questions submitted by stockholders.
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PROPOSAL 1:
Election of Directors
Our business operates under the direction of our Board of Directors. In accordance with our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, our Board of Directors consists of three classes of approximately equal size: Classes I, II, and III, with terms expiring in 2025, 2026, and 2027, respectively. Mr. Crisan, Dr. DeLuca, Ms. Wood and Ms. Verma are the Class I directors whose terms expire at the Annual Meeting. Mr. Crisan and Ms. Verma will not stand for reelection at the Annual Meeting. Our Board of Directors has nominated, and stockholders are being asked to reelect, Dr. DeLuca and Ms. Wood for three-year terms expiring at our 2028 annual meeting of stockholders. Our Board of Directors has also nominated, and stockholders are being asked to elect, Eric Palmer as a new director for a three-year term expiring at our 2028 annual meeting of stockholders. If elected, the nominees will each hold office until the conclusion of our 2028 annual meeting of stockholders and a successor is duly elected and qualified or until earlier death, resignation, or removal.
The Board of Directors is not aware of any nominee who will be unable or unwilling to serve as a director if elected at the Annual Meeting. In the event that one or more nominees is unexpectedly not available to serve, proxies may be voted for another person nominated as a substitute by the Board of Directors, or the Board of Directors may reduce the number of directors to be elected at the Annual Meeting. Information relating to each nominee for election as director and for each continuing director, including his or her period of service as a director of the Company, principal occupation and other biographical material, is shown later in this Proxy Statement.
The Board of Directors recommends a vote FORthe election of each of the nominees as director.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The following table sets forth the name, age, and position, as of April 11, 2025, of individuals who currently serve as directors on our Board of Directors.
Name |
Age |
Position |
||
Kenneth Burdick |
66 |
Executive Chairperson of the Board of Directors |
||
Robert Bessler |
53 |
Director |
||
Darren Black |
53 |
Director |
||
David Bourdon |
56 |
Director and Chief Executive Officer |
||
Jeffrey Crisan (1) |
51 |
Director |
||
Teresa DeLuca |
59 |
Director |
||
William Miller |
58 |
Director |
||
Jeffrey Rhodes |
50 |
Director |
||
Eric Shuey |
57 |
Director |
||
Katherine Wood |
40 |
Director |
||
Seema Verma (1) |
54 |
Director |
Nominees for Class I Directors
Teresa DeLuca, M.D.has served on our Board of Directors since March 2024. Dr. DeLuca served as a Managing Director at Columbia University's NY Life Science Venture Fund from January 2018 until January 2023 and continues to serve as a Faculty Advisor at the university's School of Entrepreneurship. She previously served as Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City from 2014 to 2017 and as the Chief Medical Officer of Magellan Pharmacy Solutions at Magellan Health from 2012 to 2014. Prior to that, she served as SVP of Pharmacy Health Solutions at Humana, VP of Clinical Sales Solutions & National Medical Director at Walgreen Co., and VP of Personalized Medicine, and VP of Medical Policy & Clinical Quality at Medco. Prior to taking on these executive leadership roles, Dr. DeLuca was a Senior Director of Global Product Development Services at PRA International and a Senior Medical Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. DeLuca has served as a director of Surgery Partners since September 2016 and Rejuveron since March 2022. Previously, she served as a director of North Bud Farms, Inc. from May 2018 to February 2020 and of 180 LifeSciences from May 2021 until 2023. Dr. DeLuca completed her residency at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and earned her M.B.A. from Drexel University. We believe that Dr. DeLuca is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on her healthcare knowledge, experience and skills gained from being a physician, as well as previous leadership experience.
Eric Palmeris a nominee for election as a director at the Annual Meeting and is not currently serving on our Board of Directors. Mr. Palmer previously served in various leadership roles at The Cigna Group from April 2012 through March 2025, including as Executive Vice President for Enterprise Strategy for The Cigna Group from January 2024 until March 2025 and President and Chief Executive Officer of Evernorth Health Services from January 2022 until March 2025, President and Chief Operating Officer from January 2021 until December 2021, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from June 2017 to January 2021. Mr. Palmer graduated with honors from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in actuarial science and is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. We believe Mr. Palmer is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his experience serving in financial and leadership roles in the healthcare industry.
Katherine Wood has served on our Board of Directors since 2020. Ms. Wood is a Partner of TPG Capital, where she focuses on investments in the health care sector. Ms. Wood also serves on the boards of Surescripts, Nextech Systems, Convey Health Solutions and Ellodi, and was previously on the boards of Neogene Therapeutics, Adare and AskBio. She has also been involved in TPG's investments in Allogene Therapeutics, Aptalis, EnvisionRx, IASIS and Par Pharmaceutical. Prior to joining TPG in 2009, Ms. Wood worked in health care investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Wood holds a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and cell biology from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. We believe Ms. Wood is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on her investment experience in the healthcare industry.
Class II-Directors with Terms Expiring in 2026
Darren Black has served on our Board of Directors since 2017, and on the board of our predecessor since 2015. Mr. Black is a Managing Director with Summit Partners. Mr. Black joined Summit Partners in 2013 and focuses primarily on the health care and life sciences sector. Mr. Black also serves on the boards of InnovaCare Health, Leon Medical Centers, Paradigm Outcomes, PharmScript, Sound Physicians, VaxCare, Veranex Group Holdings, L.P. and U.S. Renal Care. Prior to Summit, Darren was a Managing Partner with SV Life Sciences, where he focused on health care services, health care information technology and pharmaceutical services. Prior to SV Life Sciences, Darren was Cofounder and President of two companies-ClinCare and PharmaStar. Previously, he was a health care consultant for Accenture. Darren holds an AB in government from Harvard College and an MBA from the Wharton
7
School of the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Mr. Black is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his investment experience in the healthcare industry.
David Bourdonhas served as our Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board of Directors since March 2025. Previously, Mr. Bourdon served as our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer from November 2022 until March 2025. Prior to joining LifeStance, Mr. Bourdon served as the Chief Financial Officer of Magellan Health, Inc., from September 2020 until November 2022. Mr. Bourdon previously served in multiple roles at Cigna Corporation since 1999, including as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer - Integrated Medical, International Markets and Group Life & Disability of Cigna from December 2018 through September 2020, Chief Financial Officer, Cigna U.S. Commercial Employer Healthcare and Group Life & Disability from June 2017 through December 2018 and as Chief Financial Officer, Cigna International Markets from August 2013 through May 2017. Mr. Bourdon holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Coast Guard Academy and an MBA from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business. We believe Mr. Bourdon is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his knowledge of our Company through his role as our Chief Executive Officer.
Eric Shuey has served on our Board of Directors since 2018. Mr. Shuey is a Partner at Revelstoke Capital Partners LLC where he focuses on the health care services sector. Mr. Shuey also serves on the boards of Genea, Partners Surgical, Sound Physicians and U.S. Renal Care. Prior to Revelstoke, he was a co-founder and served as the President of Liberty Health Partners which was merged with Remedy Partners. In addition, he served as a senior Corporate Development executive for Fresenius Medical Care North America from 2012 until 2017, and Chief Financial Officer of Liberty Dialysis LLC from 2006 until 2012. Prior to joining Liberty Dialysis, he served as a Director at DB Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Deutsche Bank, and a Principal at Aurora Capital Group. Mr. Shuey earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He earned his BA degree from California State University, Fullerton. We believe Mr. Shuey is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his financial and leadership experience.
Robert Bessler, M.D. has served on our Board of Directors since 2017. Dr. Bessler founded Sound Physicians in 2001 and served as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman until September 2023. Since April 2024, Dr. Bessler has served as Chief Executive Officer of Honest Health. Dr. Bessler also serves on the boards of directors of private organizations, including UpStream Rehabilitation and BroadJump, LLC. Dr. Bessler holds a Bachelors' degree from Tufts University and an MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Bessler completed his residency in emergency medicine at the MetroHealth Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland Ohio. We believe Dr. Bessler is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his experience and leadership roles in the medical industry.
Class III-Directors with Terms Expiring in 2027
Kenneth Burdickhas served as our Executive Chairperson of our Board of Directors since March 2025. Previously, Mr. Burdick served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors from September 2022 until March 2025. Prior to joining LifeStance, Mr. Burdick served as the Executive Vice President of Markets and Products of Centene Corporation from January 2020 until February 2021. Mr. Burdick served as the Chief Executive Officer of WellCare Health Plans, Inc. from 2015 until January 2020 when the company was acquired by Centene. Mr. Burdick joined WellCare in 2014, serving initially as President, National Health Plans and then as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Burdick served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota from February 2012 to July 2012. From August 2010 to February 2012, Mr. Burdick served as Chief Executive Officer of the Medicaid and Behavioral Health businesses of Coventry Health Care, Inc. From October 1995 to May 2009, Mr. Burdick held a variety of positions with UnitedHealth Group, Inc., including Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare from 2006 to 2008 and Chief Executive Officer of Secured Horizons (Medicare division of UnitedHealthcare) from 2008 to 2009. Mr. Burdick currently serves on the Board of Directors of Centene Corporation. He also served on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America from 2017 to 2022, including as National Board Chair from July 2018 to June 2022. Mr. Burdick holds a BA in American Studies from Amherst College and a JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law. We believe Mr. Burdick is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his knowledge of our business, strategy, people and operations and his leadership experience, including as our prior Chief Executive Officer.
Jeffrey Rhodeshas served on our Board of Directors since 2020. Mr. Rhodes is a Co-Managing Partner of TPG Capital and Co-Managing Partner of TPG Healthcare Partners. Mr. Rhodes co-leads TPG Capital's health care group and investment activities in the healthcare services, healthcare IT, pharmaceutical and device sectors. Mr. Rhodes has served on the boards of directors of TPG Inc. since December 2023, ArchWell Health since January 2024, Covetrus since October 2022, Lyric (formally ClaimsXten) since October 2022, Troon Golf since December 2021, Pediatric Associates since December 2021, BVI since January 2017, and WellSky since February 2017. Mr. Rhodes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Williams College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. We believe that Mr. Rhodes' longstanding experience in healthcare and service on boards of public companies make him well qualified to serve on our Board of Directors.
William Millerhas served on our Board of Directors since 2020. Mr. Miller is Chairman and CEO of WellSky. Prior to joining WellSky in July 2017, Mr. Miller served as the CEO of OptumInsight, a division of Optum, which is the health services platform of UnitedHealth Group. Prior to OptumInsight, Mr. Miller served as senior vice president of technologies at Cerner Corporation, where he had global responsibility for the company's managed services, outsourcing, and technology services business units. Mr. Miller
8
holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Kansas and a master's degree in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Kansas. We believe Mr. Miller is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his industry experience, including as a chief executive officer of a health services company.
9
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Board Composition
Our business and affairs are managed under the direction of the Board of Directors. Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that our Board of Directors shall consist of at least three directors but not more than twelve directors and that the number of directors may be fixed from time to time by resolution of our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors is divided into three classes, as follows:
At this time, the Board of Directors believes that the classified board structure is in the best interests of the Company. The three-year term will ensure that at any given time the majority of the directors will have deep knowledge of the Company and a firm understanding of its goals, and it allows for continuity and stability of our Board of Directors, promoting the balance of long-term and short-term interests of the Company and its stockholders. The structure also safeguards the Company from third-party takeover attempts, as it will require a longer period to change majority control of the Board of Directors. A classified board remains accountable to the Company's stockholders. The directors continue to have a fiduciary responsibility to the stockholders, and the stockholders have the ability to elect one third of the Board of Directors annually to ensure their interests are represented.
Amendments to certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws, including the classified board provision, require the approval of, (i) prior to the first date (the "Trigger Date") on which affiliates of TPG Inc. ("TPG"), Summit Partners, L.P. ("Summit"), and Silversmith Capital Partners, L.P. ("Silversmith"), and their respective successors, transferees and affiliates (collectively, the "Sponsor Investors") cease collectively to beneficially own (directly or indirectly) more than 50% of our outstanding shares of common stock, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company and (ii) from and after the Trigger Date, by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the voting power of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company. The Company believes this heightened threshold following the Trigger Date is appropriate as it relates to fundamental elements of our corporate governance. The provision does not preclude changes being made to governing documents but rather it requires broad stockholder consensus in order to effect change. By requiring a 66 2/3% stockholder vote, the Board of Directors will be better positioned to protect the Company from third-party takeover attempts and encourage those interested in acquiring the Company to negotiate directly with the Board of Directors.
In connection with our initial public offering, we entered into a stockholders' agreement with investment entities controlled by the Sponsor Investors that provides the Sponsor Investors with nomination rights with respect to our Board of Directors. Under the agreement, we and the Sponsor Investors are required to take all necessary action to cause the Board of Directors to include individuals designated by the Sponsor Investors in the slate of nominees recommended by the Board of Directors for election by our stockholders, as follows:
10
TPG, Summit and Silversmith also have the exclusive right to remove their respective designees and to fill vacancies created by the removal or resignation of their designees, and the Company is required to take all necessary action to cause such removals and fill such vacancies at the request of TPG, Summit or Silversmith, as applicable. The Stockholders Agreement provides that, in the event that any provision thereof would, under applicable law, be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision shall be construed by modifying or limiting it so as to be valid, legal and enforceable to the maximum extent compatible with, and possible under, applicable law.
William Miller, Jeffrey Rhodes, Katherine Wood, Seema Verma and Eric Palmer were each designated by TPG for nomination to our Board of Directors. Darren Black was designated by Summit for nomination to our Board of Directors. Jeffrey Crisan was designated by Silversmith for nomination to our Board of Directors.
Director Independence
We are a "controlled company" under the listing standards of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq"). As a "controlled company," we may elect to not comply with certain governance requirements, including the requirements to (i) have a majority of independent directors, (ii) maintain a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors and (iii) maintain a corporate governance and nominating committee composed of independent directors or have the responsibilities that would otherwise be undertaken by a corporate governance and nominating committee undertaken solely by the independent directors of the Board of Directors.
Accordingly, if we choose to avail ourselves of these exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements and the ability of our independent directors to influence our business policies and affairs may be reduced. When we cease to be a "controlled company," we will be required to comply with these provisions within the transition periods specified in Nasdaq rules.
These exemptions do not modify the independence requirements for our Audit Committee, and we comply with the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Nasdaq rules with respect to our Audit Committee. See "Board Meetings, Attendance and Committees-Audit Committee."
The Board of Directors evaluates the relationships of each director and any director nominees with the Company and makes an affirmative determination whether such director or nominee is independent. Pursuant to our corporate governance guidelines, an independent director shall be one who meets the qualification requirements for being an independent director under applicable laws and the corporate governance listing standards of Nasdaq, including the requirement that the Board of Directors must have affirmatively determined that the director has no material relationships with the Company, either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the Company. To guide its determination as to whether or not a business or charitable relationship between the Company and an organization with which a director is so affiliated is material, the Board of Directors, or a designated committee of the Board of Directors, may from time to time adopt categorical standards of independence. Our Board of Directors has determined that Robert Bessler, Darren Black, Teresa DeLuca, William Miller, Jeffrey Rhodes, Eric Shuey, Katherine Wood and Eric Palmer are independent directors under the rules of Nasdaq.
Annual Board and Committee Performance Review
Pursuant to our corporate governance guidelines, our nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for reporting annually to the Board of Directors an evaluation of the overall performance of the Board of Directors. Additionally, the charters of our audit committee, compensation committee, quality and compliance committee and nominating and corporate governance committees each provide that the respective committee is responsible for performing or participating in an annual evaluation of its performance, the results of which are to be presented to the Board of Directors.
Board of Directors Leadership Structure
Beginning in March 2025, the role of Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer have been separated, with Mr. Burdick serving as Executive Chairperson and Mr. Bourdon serving as Chief Executive Officer. Prior to transitioning to the role of Executive Chairperson, Mr. Burdick served as our Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer since 2022. Therefore, Mr. Burdick has experience in leading the Company through a range of changes in business environments and has vast
11
institutional knowledge about our business, industry and people. Our Board of Directors believes that Mr. Burdick continuing to serve on our Board of Directors as Executive Chairperson will allow the Board of Directors to better execute its oversight role of key company business activities and risks.
Our corporate governance guidelines provide maximum flexibility to the Board of Directors in choosing a Chairperson of the Board of Directors. The corporate governance guidelines provide that such offices may be held by different people or the same person, as determined by the Board of Directors. Furthermore, the Board of Directors may designate a standing Chairperson as an Executive Chairperson. The Board of Directors believes that it is in the best interests of the Company for the Board of Directors to make a determination regarding whether or not to separate the roles of the Chairperson and the Chief Executive Officer based on the then-current circumstances.
Our corporate governance guidelines also provide that if the Chairperson is not an independent director, the Board of Directors may designate one of the independent directors on the Board to serve as a lead independent director, with responsibilities as may be designated by the Board of Directors from time to time.
Board Meetings, Attendance and Committees
Our Board of Directors met five times during 2024. Each director attended at least 75% of the aggregate meetings of the Board of Directors and meetings of the board committees on which such director served in 2024. The Board of Directors also approved certain actions by unanimous written consent in lieu of a meeting.
It is our policy that our directors attend annual meetings of stockholders. All of our directors attended our 2024 annual meeting.
As of the date of this Proxy Statement, our Board of Directors has four standing committees: the audit committee; the compensation committee; the quality and compliance committee; and the nominating and corporate governance committee. Each committee operates under its own written charter adopted by the Board of Directors, each of which is available on our website at https://investor.lifestance.com/corporate-governance/governance-documents.
Audit Committee
Our audit committee is composed of Darren Black, Jeffrey Crisan and Eric Shuey, with Eric Shuey serving as chairperson of the committee. Following the Annual Meeting, our audit committee will be composed of Darren Black, Eric Palmer and Eric Shuey. Our Board of Directors has determined each member of our Audit Committee meets the definition of "independent director" under the rules of Nasdaq and each member of our Audit Committee meets the definition of "independent director" under Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. None of our audit committee members simultaneously serves on the audit committees of more than three public companies, including ours. Our Board of Directors has determined that Eric Shuey is an "audit committee financial expert" within the meaning of the SEC's regulations and applicable listing standards of Nasdaq. The audit committee's responsibilities include:
12
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the audit committee met four times.
Compensation Committee
Our compensation committee is composed of Darren Black and Katherine Wood, with Katherine Wood serving as chairperson of the committee. The compensation committee has the authority to delegate to subcommittees of the compensation committee any of the responsibilities of the full committee and to officers of the Company such responsibilities of the full committee as may be permitted by applicable laws and in accordance with applicable Nasdaq rules. The compensation committee's responsibilities include:
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the compensation committee met nine times.
Nominating and Governance Committee
Our nominating and governance committee is composed of Darren Black, William Miller and Jeffrey Rhodes, with Mr. Rhodes serving as chairperson of the committee. The nominating and governance committee's responsibilities include:
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the nominating and governance committee met four times.
13
Quality and Compliance Committee
Our quality and compliance committee is composed of Robert Bessler, Teresa DeLuca and Seema Verma, with Teresa DeLuca serving as chairperson of the committee. The quality and compliance committee's responsibilities include:
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the quality and compliance committee met four times.
Board Oversight of Risk Management
Management is responsible for the day-to-day management of risks the Company faces. The full Board of Directors has the ultimate oversight responsibility for the risk management process, and, through its committees, oversees risk in certain specified areas. In particular, our audit committee oversees management of enterprise risks as well as financial risks and cybersecurity risks and is responsible for overseeing the review and approval of related party transactions. Our compensation committee is responsible for overseeing the management of risks relating to our executive compensation plans and arrangements and the incentives created by the compensation awards it administers. Our nominating and corporate governance committee oversees risks associated with business conduct and ethics. Our Board of Directors also oversees risks associated with our environmental, social, and corporate governance practices. Our quality and compliance committee generally monitors our quality and compliance programs and reviews significant non-financial risk areas. Pursuant to the Board of Directors' instruction, management regularly reports on applicable risks to the relevant committee or the full Board of Directors, as appropriate, with additional review or reporting on risks conducted as needed or as requested by the Board of Directors and its committees.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of the members of our compensation committee has at any time during the prior three years been one of our officers or employees. None of our executive officers currently serves, or in the past fiscal year has served, as a member of the Board of Directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our Board of Directors or compensation committee. For a description of transactions between us and members of our compensation committee and affiliates of such members, please see "Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions."
Code of Conduct
We have adopted a code of conduct that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors (the "Code of Conduct"). The Code of Conduct is available on our website at https://investor.lifestance.com/corporate-governance/governance-documents. If we make any substantive amendments to the Code of Conduct or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Conduct affecting our directors or executive officers, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on that website or in a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Policy Against Hedging of Stock
Our insider trading policy prohibits our directors, officers and employees from entering into hedging transactions, including through the use of financial instruments such as prepaid variable forwards, equity swaps and collars, because such transactions may permit a director, officer or employee to continue to own securities obtained through our employee benefit plans or otherwise, but without the full risks and rewards of ownership.
14
Insider Trading Policy
We have adoptedan insider trading policy governing transactions in our securities by our directors, officers, employees, and other covered persons which we believe is reasonably designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules, and regulations, as well as the exchange listing standards applicable to us. We have also implemented processes for the Company that we believe are reasonably designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules, and regulations and the exchange listing standards applicable to us. A copy of the Company's Insider Trading Policy was filed as Exhibit 19.1 to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Corporate Governance Guidelines
We believe that good corporate governance is important to ensure that we are managed for the long-term benefit of our stockholders. The Board of Directors has adopted a set of corporate governance guidelines to set clear parameters for the operation of our Board of Directors. Our corporate governance guidelines are available on our website at https://investor.lifestance.com/corporate-governance/governance-documents.
Director Nomination Process
The nominating and corporate governance committee recommends, and the Board of Directors nominates, candidates to stand for election as directors. The nominating and corporate governance committee has the authority to engage search firms for the purpose of identifying highly qualified director candidates, for which such firms are paid a fee. Stockholders may also nominate persons to be elected as directors in accordance with our bylaws and applicable law, as described under "Additional Information-Requirements for Stockholder Proposals."
Board Membership Criteria
We seek a Board of Directors that collectively possess a combination of skills, professional experience and diversity of viewpoints necessary to oversee the Company's business. Accordingly, the Board of Directors considers the qualifications of directors and director candidates individually and in the broader context of its overall composition and the Company's current and future needs.
Our nominating and corporate governance committee does not have a policy (formal or informal) with respect to diversity, but takes into consideration each candidate's ability, judgment and experience and the overall diversity and composition of our Board of Directors when recommending director nominees. The nominating and corporate governance committee does not have a written policy regarding stockholder nominations, but it is the practice of the committee to consider candidates proposed by stockholders if made in accordance with our bylaws.
Board Diversity Matrix (as of April 23, 2025)
Total Number of Directors |
11 |
|||||||||||||||
Female |
Male |
Non-Binary |
Did Not Disclose Gender |
|||||||||||||
Part I: Gender Identity |
||||||||||||||||
Directors |
3 |
8 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Part II: Demographic Background |
||||||||||||||||
African American or Black |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Alaskan Native or Native American |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Asian |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Hispanic or Latinx |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
White |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Two or More Races or Ethnicities |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
LGBTQ+ |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||
Demographic Background Undisclosed |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
Stockholder Engagement
We value stockholder engagement and strive for regular communication with our stockholders throughout the year. In addition to engaging with stockholders through our quarterly earnings calls, we routinely participate in direct investor meetings and investment community conferences.
15
Communications with Directors
Stockholders and other interested parties wishing to communicate directly with our Board of Directors or individual directors may do so by writing to the Board of Directors or such individual c/o the Corporate Secretary, LifeStance Health Group, Inc., 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2500, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. The Corporate Secretary will forward such communications to the Board of Directors or individual at or prior to the next meeting of the Board of Directors. The Corporate Secretary will not forward any communication determined in his good faith belief to be frivolous, unduly hostile, threatening or similarly unsuitable.
16
PROPOSAL 2:
Ratification of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The audit committee of our Board of Directors has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC") as our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2025. We are asking our stockholders to ratify this appointment.
SEC and Nasdaq regulations require our audit committee to engage, retain, and supervise our independent registered public accounting firm. Our audit committee annually reviews our independent registered public accounting firm's independence, including reviewing all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and us and any disclosed relationships or services that may impact the objectivity and independence of the independent registered public accounting firm, and the independent registered public accounting firm's performance. Although stockholder ratification is not required by applicable law nor by our bylaws, we are submitting our selection of PwC as our independent registered public accounting firm as a matter of good corporate governance.
We expect that representatives of PwC will be present at the meeting, that the representatives will have the opportunity to make a statement if they so desire, and that they will be available to respond to appropriate questions.
PwC has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2020.
Policy on Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Pursuant to the audit committee charter, the audit committee is responsible for the oversight of our accounting, reporting and financial practices. The audit committee has the responsibility to select, appoint, engage, oversee, retain, evaluate and terminate our external auditors; pre-approve all audit and non-audit services to be provided, consistent with all applicable laws, to us by our external auditors; and establish the fees and other compensation to be paid to our external auditors. Since the pre-approval policy was adopted in 2021, the audit committee pre-approved all audit and permitted non-audit services provided by PwC.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The following sets forth fees billed by PwC for the audit of our annual consolidated financial statements and other services rendered for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
Year ended December 31, |
||||||||
2024 |
2023 |
|||||||
Audit Fees (1) |
$ |
1,769,000 |
$ |
1,703,373 |
||||
Audit Related Fees (2) |
- |
- |
||||||
Tax Fees (3) |
- |
100,000 |
||||||
All Other Fees (4) |
2,202 |
991 |
||||||
Total |
$ |
1,771,202 |
$ |
1,804,364 |
There were no other fees billed by PwC for services rendered to us, other than the services described above, for fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023.
The Board of Directors recommends a vote FORthe ratification of the appointment of PwC as our independent
registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2025.
17
PROPOSAL 3:
Advisory Vote on Named Executive Officer Compensation
The Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of this Proxy Statement beginning on page 19describes our executive compensation program and the compensation of our named executive officers for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Our executive compensation program is designed to help us attract, retain and incentivize talented executives and to closely align pay with performance. Stockholders are urged to read the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of this Proxy Statement, which discusses how our executive compensation program implements our compensation philosophy.
The Board of Directors is asking stockholders to support this proposal. Although the vote we are asking you to cast is advisory and non-binding, the compensation committee and the Board of Directors value the views of our stockholders as expressed in their votes. The Board of Directors and the compensation committee will consider the outcome of the vote when making future executive compensation decisions.
The Board of Directors recommends a vote FORthe approval, on an advisory and non-binding basis, of the compensation paid to the Company's named executive officers for 2024.
18
EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
The compensation discussion and analysis that follows describes our executive compensation philosophy, policies and practices, summarizes our executive compensation program, and discusses executive compensation decisions made by the compensation committee in 2024 with respect to the following executive officers (referred to herein as our "named executive officers"):
Name |
Principal Position |
|
Kenneth Burdick |
Executive Chairperson; Former Chief Executive Officer |
|
David Bourdon |
Chief Executive Officer; Former Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
|
Pablo Pantaleoni |
Chief Digital Officer |
|
Ryan Pardo |
Chief Legal Officer and Secretary |
|
Ann Varanakis |
Chief People Officer |
|
Danish Qureshi |
Former President and Chief Operating Officer |
|
Kevin Mullins |
Former Chief Development Officer |
2024 Highlights
2024 was a year of strong financial performance, while we remained focused on operational improvements, profitable growth and disciplined capital deployment to fortify the foundation of our business. Some of our key accomplishments include:
* Free Cash Flow is a non-GAAP financial measure, which is calculated as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. For a reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to GAAP net cash provided by operating activities, see Appendix A.
** Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. For a discussion of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net loss, see the section titled "Key Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures" included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024.
2024 also marked the beginning of a leadership transition for us. In the summer of 2024, Mr. Qureshi (our former President and Chief Operating Officer) and Mr. Mullins (our former Chief Development Officer) terminated employment with us. In March 2025, we appointed Mr. Bourdon as our new Chief Executive Officer, with Mr. Burdick retiring from his role as Chief Executive Officer and assuming the role of Executive Chairperson and Ryan McGroarty stepping in as our new Chief Financial Officer. Our 2025 guidance reflects the strong continued positive momentum of our organization and our confidence in our new leadership team, projecting continued growth and profitability improvements. We believe that the efforts of our named executive officers were critical to our continuing this momentum and our successes in 2024 during this transitional period. In connection with these transitions, we entered into various agreements and made various compensation changes, which are described in detail below.
Overview of our Executive Compensation Program
Our executive compensation program is designed to help us attract, retain and incentivize talented executives and to closely align pay with performance. To further these goals, we tie a significant portion of our executives' compensation to the attainment of key performance goals that we believe will help us attain short- and long-term business objectives and create shareholder value. We use equity-based compensation to further align the interests of our executives with those of our shareholders. Finally, we provide market-competitive base salaries, benefits and severance protections to provide a fixed element of compensation designed to promote stability and ensure that our executives can perform their responsibilities without and so as not to encourage unnecessary risk-taking.
Described below are some of the practices that we consider good governance features of our executive compensation program.
19
We believe that the features of our executive compensation program benefit the Company as a whole and serve to increase the alignment of incentives between our executive officers and our shareholders.
Process for Determining Executive Compensation
The compensation committee is generally responsible for determining the compensation of our executive officers, and our Chief Executive Officer generally makes recommendations to the compensation committee about the compensation of his direct reports. No member of the management team, including our Chief Executive Officer, has a role in determining his or her own compensation.
Independent Compensation Consultant
In 2024, the compensation committee engaged Pay Governance, an independent compensation consulting firm, to assist it in evaluating the Company's executive and director compensation practices, including program design, identification of an appropriate peer group for compensation comparison purposes and providing pay benchmarking data. Prior to engaging Pay Governance, the compensation committee assessed the independence of Pay Governance and, on the basis of that assessment and taking into consideration the independence factors that are required to be considered under applicable Nasdaq rules, satisfied itself that no relationships exist that would create a conflict of interest or that would impact Pay Governance's independence.
Use of Peer Group and Market Data
The compensation committee uses peer group data as a reference point to gauge the reasonableness of its executive compensation decisions and the general competitiveness of our executive compensation program in the market. The compensation committee selects companies in the health care or technology industry with which it believes we compete for talent. In evaluating our peer group for 2024, the compensation committee, in consultation with Pay Governance, made substantial changes to our peer group compared to our peer group for 2023 based on merger and acquisition activity, as well as revenue size, market capitalization, headcount, and unique characteristics of our business model, among other things. A list of our peer group companies that the compensation committee used in connection with 2024 executive compensation decisions is below.
Addus HomeCare Corporation |
agilon health, inc. |
|
Astrana Health, Inc. (f/k/a Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc.) |
Enhabit, Inc. |
|
GoodRx Holdings, Inc. |
Hims & Hers Health, Inc. |
|
InnovAge Holding Corp. |
Option Care Health, Inc. |
|
Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. |
Privia Health Group, Inc. |
|
Talkspace, Inc. |
Teladoc Health, Inc. |
In addition to peer group data, the compensation committee also reviews broader market and healthcare data from Radford's Global Compensation Database to form a holistic view of the market. While our compensation committee does not have any formal policy to target pay at a specific percentile of our peer group or the broader market, our compensation committee reviews data at the 25th, 50thand 75thpercentiles to help inform its decisions.
Components of our Executive Compensation Program
Elements of Compensation
Below is a summary of the primary elements of our executive compensation program, each of which is discussed in more detail below.
Element |
Summary Description |
|
Base Salary |
•
Annual fixed cash compensation
|
|
Annual Bonus Awards |
•
Annual cash bonus plan, with the following metrics for 2024:
o
Revenue
o
Adjusted EBITDA**
o
Free Cash Flow*
o
Patient Satisfaction
|
|
Long-term Equity Incentive Awards |
•
Time- and performance-based restricted stock unit ("RSU") awards in 2024
|
20
Base Salary
Each of our currently employed named executive officers is paid a base salary. The compensation committee believes this element of compensation is important because it provides a fixed element of compensation that reflects the individual named executive officer's skills, experience and role, as valued in the marketplace and within the Company. Base salaries are subject to annual review by the compensation committee and are adjusted from time to time based on these considerations, as well as peer group and other market data, as described above.
In 2024, the compensation committee approved a 5% increase to each of Mr. Pardo's and Ms. Varanakis' base salary in each case, based on the factors described above and to bring such salaries more in line with the market. No other named executive officer received a base salary increase for 2024.
The following table sets forth the annual base salaries for each of our named executive officers as of the end of 2024, or, for Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Mullins, as of his respective termination of employment in 2024:
Name |
2023 Base Salary ¹ |
2024 Base Salary ¹ |
Percentage Change |
|||||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
$ |
600,000 |
$ |
600,000 |
0 |
% |
||||||
David Bourdon |
$ |
500,000 |
$ |
500,000 |
0 |
% |
||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
$ |
425,000 |
$ |
425,000 |
0 |
% |
||||||
Ryan Pardo |
$ |
333,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
5 |
% |
||||||
Ann Varanakis |
$ |
333,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
5 |
% |
||||||
Danish Qureshi |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
0 |
% |
||||||
Kevin Mullins |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
0 |
% |
1As of December 31stof the applicable year, or, for Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Mullins for 2024, as of his respective termination of employment in 2024.
Annual Bonus Plan
The compensation committee believes that a significant portion of our named executive officers' cash compensation should be tied to our performance. Each of our currently employed named executive officers was eligible to earn a cash bonus for 2024 under our annual bonus program based on the achievement of key corporate financial and strategic goals. We believe this element of compensation is important because it directly ties the compensation paid to our named executive officers with the achievement of key performance goals that are important to the Company and its stakeholders.
The compensation committee established the corporate performance metrics for our 2024 cash bonus program, following input from our former Chief Executive Officer and the compensation committee's independent compensation consultant, to include Adjusted EBITDA**, revenue, and patient satisfaction, as in prior years. The compensation committee also chose Free Cash Flow* as a corporate performance metric for our 2024 cash bonus program because it believes strong Free Cash Flow* is a strong measure of liquidity and facilitates future growth. When setting goals for each of these metrics, the compensation committee strived to set challenging, yet achievable, performance goals that would promote the achievement of short-term business objectives and were aligned with our annual business plan, while also supporting our longer-term business objectives. The compensation committee chose these performance goals because it believes Adjusted EBITDA**, revenue, Free Cash Flow* and patient satisfaction are the primary indicators of our success in delivering our mission of expanding access to high quality mental healthcare through a high performing business model.
Following the end of the fiscal year, the compensation committee determines the achievement of the performance goals and the payments to be made under the annual bonus program.
The table below shows the bonus payment levels based on the level of achievement of the corporate performance goals under our 2024 cash bonus program, with payments for performance between such payment levels determined based on interpolation between such payment levels. The compensation committee may also consider individual performance contributions and retains the discretion
21
to adjust bonus payouts downward or upward based on its assessment of each named executive officer's contribution to the Company during the year, as well as the achievement of strategic goals.
2024 Annual Bonus Plan Performance Targets |
|||||||||||||||||||
Weighting (%) |
Threshold Performance |
Target Performance |
Maximum Performance |
||||||||||||||||
Adjusted EBITDA** (1) |
40 |
% |
$ |
N/A |
$ |
85M |
$ |
141M |
|||||||||||
Revenue |
20 |
% |
$ |
1,140M |
$ |
1,215M |
$ |
1,365M |
|||||||||||
Free Cash Flow* (2) |
20 |
% |
$ |
(75M) |
$ |
0M |
$ |
195M |
|||||||||||
Patient Satisfaction (3) |
20 |
% |
70 |
80 |
100 |
||||||||||||||
Payout % |
50 |
% |
100 |
% |
200 |
% |
The target amount of each named executive officer's annual cash bonus is set by the compensation committee as a percentage of his or her base salary. The target amount for each of our named executive officers was initially established in connection with their hire based on internal pay equity considerations and each named executive officer's skill set, experience, role and responsibilities. Target annual bonuses are subject to annual review by our Board of Directors or the compensation committee and are adjusted from time to time based on these considerations, as well as peer group and other market data, as described above. The target annual bonus percentages for our named executive officers were not adjusted for 2024.
The target annual bonus percentage for each of our named executive officers for 2024 is listed in the table below:
Named Executive Officer |
Target Bonus Opportunity |
|
Kenneth Burdick |
150% |
|
David Bourdon |
75% |
|
Pablo Pantaleoni |
50% |
|
Ryan Pardo |
50% |
|
Ann Varanakis |
50% |
|
Danish Qureshi |
75% |
|
Kevin Mullins |
50% |
The actual amount earned by each of our currently employed named executive officers under our 2024 annual cash bonus program was determined by the compensation committee in early 2025 based on the compensation committee's review of the level of achievement of the performance goals under this program as well as individual accomplishments for each of such named executive officers in 2024.
Actual achievement of the 2024 performance goals was as follows:
Performance Goal |
2024 Performance Year |
Performance Score |
|||||
Adjusted EBITDA** |
$ |
120M |
150% |
||||
Revenue |
$ |
1,251M |
124% |
||||
Free Cash Flow* |
$ |
86M |
127% |
||||
Patient Satisfaction |
85 |
125% |
22
Based on the Company's achievement of the performance goals set forth above and the compensation committee's adjustments based on each named executive officer's individual performance, including the performance of such named executive officer's department, if applicable, payment under the annual bonus program for each of our named executive officers for 2024 was as follows:
Named Executive Officer |
Target Bonus Opportunity ($) |
2024 Bonus Payment ($) |
||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
900,000 |
1,233,000 |
||||||
David Bourdon |
375,000 |
513,750 |
||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
212,500 |
225,250 |
||||||
Ryan Pardo |
175,000 |
218,750 |
||||||
Ann Varanakis |
175,000 |
232,750 |
||||||
Danish Qureshi (1) |
262,500 |
- |
||||||
Kevin Mullins (1) |
175,000 |
- |
Long-term Equity Incentive Awards
Our Board of Directors and the compensation committee believe that in order to appropriately incentivize our executives to create shareholder value, a significant portion of our named executive officers' compensation should be in the form of equity-based compensation. Our long-term incentive program is designed to promote stock ownership by our senior management, tie compensation realized to stock price performance and encourage retention of key executives. Our long-term incentive program is a key tool in aligning executive pay with value creation on behalf of shareholders.
2024 Grants of Time- and Performance-Based RSU Awards
Our 2024 long-term equity incentive program was comprised of two components: time-based RSUs and performance-based RSUs. In 2024, our Board of Directors granted to each of our named executive officers time-based RSUs and performance-based RSUs. For each of Messrs. Burdick, Bourdon, and Qureshi, approximately 70% of the total value of 2024 equity awards was allocated to performance-based RSUs (at target level of performance) and approximately 30% was allocated to time-based RSUs. For all of our other named executive officers, approximately 50% of the total value of 2024 equity awards was allocated to each of performance-based RSUs (at target level of performance) and time-based RSUs.
In March 2024, each of our named executive officers was granted time-based and performance-based RSUs, as follows:
Time-Based RSUs |
Performance-Based RSUs |
|||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
364,077 |
849,515 |
||||||
David Bourdon |
104,022 |
242,718 |
||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
128,294 |
128,294 |
||||||
Ryan Pardo |
124,826 |
124,827 |
||||||
Ann Varanakis |
83,217 |
83,218 |
||||||
Danish Qureshi |
208,044 |
485,437 |
||||||
Kevin Mullins |
124,826 |
124,827 |
The time-based RSUs vest as to 25% of the RSUs on each of the first four anniversaries of March 8, 2024, generally subject to continued service through the vesting date.
The performance-based RSUs granted in 2024 are earned based on the achievement of pre-established revenue targets (up to 50%) and preestablished Adjusted EBITDA** targets (up to 50%) for each of 2024, 2025, and 2026 (1/3 each year) and vest on the date the achievement of such targets is determined by our Board of Directors or compensation committee, in each case, generally subject to continued service through such vesting date. The number of performance-based RSUs that vest with respect to each one-year performance period is determined based on the level at which the applicable target is achieved and can range from 0% to 100% of the RSUs subject to each portion of the award, with no interpolation for performance between threshold and target levels. The revenue and Adjusted EBITDA** targets were not established for the 2025 and 2026 performance periods prior to December 31, 2024 and, as a result, the shares subject to such portions of the performance-based RSU awards were not considered to be granted during 2024 from an accounting perspective and are therefore not included in the Summary Compensation Table, the Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table or the Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-end Table (except as noted therein for Mr. Qureshi). To the extent earned based on performance, the 2024 portion of the performance-based RSUs granted in 2024 vested in the first quarter of 2025 upon the compensation committee's determination of such performance. The following table sets forth (1) the revenue and Adjusted EBITDA** goals for the 2024 performance period for performance-based RSUs granted in 2024, (2) our actual revenue and Adjusted
23
EBITDA** for the performance period ending December 31, 2024, and (3) the percentage of performance-based RSUs granted in 2024 eligible to vest based on 2024 performance that were earned based on such performance:
Year of Grant |
Performance Period Year |
Performance Metric |
Threshold |
Target |
Actual Performance ($) |
% of target |
||||||||
2024 |
2024 |
Revenue (50%) |
1,119M |
1,215M |
1,251M |
100 |
% |
|||||||
2024 |
2024 |
Adjusted |
80M |
85M |
120M |
100 |
% |
2022 and 2023 Grants of Performance-Based RSU Awards
Each of Mr. Pantaleoni, Mr. Pardo, Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Mullins also held performance-based RSUs granted in 2022 that were eligible to vest based on revenue and Adjusted EBITDA** during the 2024 performance period, and each of our named executive officers also held performance-based RSUs granted in 2023 that were eligible to vest based on revenue and Adjusted EBITDA** during the 2024 performance period. The 2024 performance period revenue and Adjusted EBITDA** targets were established during 2024 and, as a result, the shares subject to the 2024 portion of the performance-based RSU awards granted in 2022 and 2023 were considered to be granted during 2024 from an accounting perspective and are therefore included in the Summary Compensation Table and the Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table for 2024. The performance metrics for the 2024 performance period were revenue (50%) and Adjusted EBITDA** (50%). To the extent earned based on performance, the 2024 portion of the performance-based RSUs granted in 2022 and 2023 vested in the first quarter of 2025 upon the compensation committee's determination of such performance. The table below sets forth (1) revenue goals and Adjusted EBITDA** goals for the 2024 performance period for performance-based RSUs granted in 2022 and 2023, (2) our actual revenue and Adjusted EBITDA** for the performance period ending December 31, 2024, and (3) the percentage of performance-based RSUs granted in 2022 and 2023 eligible to vest based on 2024 performance that were earned based on such performance:
Year of Grant |
Performance Period Year |
Performance Metric |
Threshold |
Target |
Actual Performance ($) |
% of target |
||||||||
2022 |
2024 |
Revenue (50%) |
1,119M |
1,215M |
1,251M |
100 |
% |
|||||||
2022 |
2024 |
Adjusted |
80M |
85M |
120M |
100 |
% |
|||||||
2023 |
2024 |
Revenue (50%) |
1,119M |
1,215M |
1,251M |
100 |
% |
|||||||
2023 |
2024 |
Adjusted |
80M |
85M |
120M |
100 |
% |
Employee and Retirement Benefits
We currently provide broad-based health and welfare benefits that are available to our full-time employees, including our currently employed named executive officers, including health, life, vision, and dental insurance. In addition, we maintain a 401(k) retirement plan for our employees. The 401(k) plan also provides for matching employer contributions. Other than the 401(k) plan, we do not provide any qualified or non-qualified retirement or deferred compensation benefits to our employees, including our named executive officers.
Agreements with our Named Executive Officers
We have entered into employment agreements or offer letters with each of our currently employed named executive officers other than Mr. Pardo that govern the terms and conditions of their employment relationship with us, including the compensation and benefits to which each executive is entitled. A summary of the material terms of these agreements is provided below under "Agreements with our Named Executive Officers."
In 2022, our Board of Directors approved our Severance and Change in Control Policy (as amended from time to time, the "Change in Control Policy"). Each of our currently employed named executive officers participates in the Change in Control Policy. The Change in Control Policy provides severance protection to plan participants in the event their employment is terminated under certain circumstances in connection with a change in control. See "Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control" below for a more detailed discussion of these potential payments to our named executive officers.
Other Compensation-Related Matters
Policies and Practices Related to the Timing of Equity Grants
We generally grant annual equity-based awards to our executive officers in March of each year, in connection with our annual compensation review and approval process, although the exact timing may change from year to year. The compensation committee
24
and/or our Board of Directors may also grant equity awards, including stock options, at different times of the year for new hires and in connection with promotions, or grants made for retention or other purposes. Neither the compensation committee nor our Board of Directors grants equity awards in anticipation of the release of material non-public informationand we have not timedthe disclosure of material non-public information for the purpose of affecting the value of executive compensation. In 2024, equity compensation for our named executive officers consisted solely of time-based RSUs and performance-based RSUs; we did not grant stock options to our named executive officers in 2024.
Policy on Clawback and Recovery of Compensation
In November 2023, we adopted a clawback policy (the "Clawback Policy") in compliance with the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act, final SEC rules and applicable Nasdaq listing standards, which covers our current and former officers subject to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including all of our named executive officers. Under the Clawback Policy, if there is a restatement of our financial results, certain incentive-based compensation paid or awarded to covered employees will be subject to cancellation and/or repayment if the amount of such compensation was calculated based upon the achievement of financial results that were the subject of the restatement and the amount of such compensation that would have been received by the covered employees had the financial results been properly reported would have been lower than the amount actually awarded.
Compensation Risk Assessment
The compensation committee assessed our compensation policies and practices, including the risks created by our compensation plans, and has concluded that the Company's compensation policies and practices, in conjunction with the Company's existing processes and controls, do not create incentives to take risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company.
25
COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT
The compensation committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis required by Item 402(b) of Regulation S-K with management, and, based on such review and discussions, the compensation committee recommended to our Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Proxy Statement.
Members of the compensation committee:
Katherine Wood (Chairperson)
Darren Black
26
Summary Compensation Table
The following table sets forth the compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to our named executive officers in respect of their service to us for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, as applicable.
Name and principal position |
Year |
Salary(1) |
Stock awards(2) |
Option awards(3) |
Nonequity incentive plan compensation(4) |
All other compensation(5) |
Total |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Burdick (6) |
2024 |
600,000 |
8,357,876 |
- |
1,233,000 |
13,800 |
10,204,676 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Executive Officer |
2023 |
623,077 |
13,423,219 |
- |
770,000 |
13,200 |
14,829,496 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
2022 |
196,538 |
- |
40,753,003 |
- |
3,554 |
40,953,095 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
David Bourdon (7) |
2024 |
500,000 |
2,418,980 |
- |
513,750 |
13,800 |
3,446,530 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
2023 |
500,000 |
1,448,004 |
- |
393,750 |
13,200 |
2,354,954 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
2022 |
51,923 |
1,000,001 |
3,938,542 |
- |
2,077 |
4,992,543 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni (8) |
2024 |
425,050 |
2,091,950 |
- |
225,250 |
13,800 |
2,756,050 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Digital Officer |
2023 |
415,769 |
1,477,040 |
- |
223,125 |
13,200 |
2,129,134 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Ryan Pardo (9) |
2024 |
344,769 |
2,035,041 |
- |
218,750 |
13,800 |
2,612,360 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Chief Legal Officer and Secretary |
2023 |
325,385 |
1,436,891 |
- |
174,825 |
8,737 |
1,945,838 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Ann Varanakis (10) |
2024 |
344,769 |
1,079,173 |
- |
232,750 |
13,800 |
1,670,492 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Danish Qureshi (11) |
2024 |
211,449 |
8,906,670 |
2,750,045 |
- |
525,000 |
12,393,164 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Former President and Chief Operating |
2023 |
345,385 |
3,104,452 |
- |
275,625 |
13,200 |
3,738,662 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Officer |
2022 |
330,000 |
1,390,605 |
12,225,902 |
- |
12,200 |
13,958,707 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Kevin Mullins (12) |
2024 |
185,311 |
1,980,264 |
- |
- |
- |
2,165,575 |
27
28
Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table
The following table sets forth information regarding plan-based awards made to each of our named executive officers during fiscal year 2024.
Estimated Future Payouts Under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards (1) |
Estimated Possible Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards (2) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name |
Grant Date |
Threshold |
Target |
Maximum |
Threshold |
Target |
Maximum |
All Other Stock Awards: Number of Shares of Stock or Units (#) |
Grant Date Fair Value of Stock and Option Awards ($)(3) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
- |
450,000 |
900,000 |
1,800,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
364,077 |
2,624,995 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
141,586 |
283,172 |
- |
- |
2,041,670 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
211,895 |
423,790 |
- |
- |
3,691,211 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Bourdon |
- |
187,500 |
375,000 |
750,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
104,022 |
749,999 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
40,453 |
80,906 |
- |
- |
583,332 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
62,322 |
124,644 |
- |
- |
1,085,649 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
- |
106,250 |
212,500 |
425,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
128,294 |
925,000 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
21,383 |
42,765 |
- |
- |
308,335 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
32,942 |
65,884 |
- |
- |
573,850 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(7) |
- |
- |
- |
16,347 |
32,694 |
- |
- |
284,765 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ryan Pardo |
- |
87,500 |
175,000 |
350,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
124,826 |
899,995 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
20,805 |
41,609 |
- |
- |
300,001 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
32,051 |
64,102 |
- |
- |
558,328 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(7) |
- |
- |
- |
15,885 |
31,770 |
- |
- |
276,717 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ann Varanakis |
- |
87,500 |
175,000 |
350,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
83,217 |
599,995 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
13,870 |
27,740 |
- |
- |
200,005 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
16,026 |
32,052 |
- |
- |
279,173 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish Qureshi |
- |
131,250 |
262,500 |
525,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
208,044 |
1,499,997 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
80,907 |
161,813 |
- |
- |
1,166,672 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
124,644 |
249,288 |
- |
- |
2,171,298 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(7) |
- |
- |
- |
18,611 |
37,221 |
- |
- |
324,195 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6/30/2024 |
(8) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
161,812 |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- |
(9) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
6,494,553 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kevin Mullins |
- |
87,500 |
175,000 |
350,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(4) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
124,826 |
899,995 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
(5) |
- |
- |
- |
20,805 |
41,609 |
- |
- |
300,001 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(6) |
- |
- |
- |
32,051 |
64,102 |
- |
- |
558,328 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
(7) |
- |
- |
- |
12,741 |
25,481 |
- |
- |
221,940 |
29
Agreements with Our Named Executive Officers
Each of our currently employed named executive officers other than Mr. Pardo is party to an employment agreement or offer letter with us that sets forth the terms and conditions of his or her employment and, prior to their terminations of employment, each of Mr. Qureshi, and Mr. Mullins was party to an employment agreement with us. The material terms of the agreements are described below (in the case of each of Mr. Qureshi, and Mr. Mullins, as in effect prior to his respective termination of employment). The terms "cause" and "good reason" referred to below are defined in the respective named executive officer's agreement.
Mr. Burdick. In connection with his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 7, 2022, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Burdick (which has subsequently been amended as described below) that provides for an entitlement to an annual base salary and an annual bonus opportunity (each of which has subsequently been adjusted as described herein) with the actual amount of such bonus based upon achievement of performance objectives determined by our Board of Directors or the compensation committee. Under the agreement, Mr. Burdick is entitled to reimbursement for business expenses (including annual access to a specified number of flight hours of private aircraft service for business travel) in accordance with the Company's reimbursement policies.
In connection with Mr. Burdick's transition from his role as our Chief Executive Officer, effective March 3, 2025, we entered into an amendment to employment agreement with Mr. Burdick under which he will serve as the Executive Chairperson of our Board of Directors and is entitled to a reduced annual base salary of $200,000 and a target annual bonus of 100% of his base salary, blended for the year ending December 31, 2025 based on the portions of such year that the applicable target bonus and base salary were in effect.
Mr. Bourdon. In connection with his appointment as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Company, effective November 10, 2022, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Bourdon (which has subsequently been amended as described below) that provides for an entitlement to an annual base salary and an annual bonus opportunity (each of which has subsequently been adjusted as described herein) with the actual amount of such bonus based upon achievement of performance objectives determined by our Board of Directors or the compensation committee. In connection with his commencement of employment, pursuant to his employment agreement, the Company issued Mr. Bourdon a one-time signing bonus in the amount of $1,000,000, payable in shares of the Company's common stock based on the closing price of the Company's common stock on November 10, 2022 and which is subject to repayment by Mr. Bourdon if his employment terminates prior to November 10, 2026 for any reason other than as a result of a termination of employment by the Company without cause or a resignation by Mr. Bourdon for good reason.
In connection with his transition to his role as our Chief Executive Officer, effective March 3, 2025, we entered into an amendment to employment agreement with Mr. Bourdon that reflects his promotion and provides for an annual base salary of $700,000 and a target annual bonus equal to 100% of his annual base salary, blended for the year ending December 31, 2025 based on the portions of such year that the applicable target bonus and base salary were in effect.
30
Mr. Pantaleoni. On September 8, 2020, we entered into an offer letter agreement with Mr. Pantaleoni that provides for his entitlement to an annual base salary and incentive bonus opportunity, each of which has subsequently been increased.
Ms. Varanakis. On January 25, 2023, we entered into an offer letter agreement with Ms. Varanakis that provides for her entitlement to an annual base salary, which has subsequently been increased, and incentive bonus opportunity.
Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Mullins. Prior to their terminations of employment, we were party to an employment agreement with each of Mr. Qureshi and Mr. Mullins.
Each of our named executive officers other than Ms. Varanakis is bound by certain restrictive covenant obligations, including covenants relating to confidentiality and assignment of inventions, as well as covenants not to compete or solicit certain of our service providers, customers, and suppliers during his or her employment and for a period thereafter (generally, eighteen (18) months after termination of employment, but three (3) years after termination of employment in the case of Mr. Pantaleoni's non-solicitation obligations and one (1) year after termination of employment in the case of Mr. Mullins). In addition, in connection with his sale of equity interests in the TPG Acquisition (as defined below), each of Mr. Pardo, Mr. Qureshi, and Mr. Mullins agreed not to disparage, compete, or solicit certain of our service providers for a period of four years, and not to disclose confidential information for a period of five years, in each case, after May 14, 2020.
31
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-end Table
The following table sets forth information concerning outstanding equity awards held by each of our named executive officers as of December 31, 2024:
Option Awards |
Stock Awards |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name |
Grant Date |
Vesting Start Date |
Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable |
Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable |
Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Unearned Options (#) |
Option Exercise Price ($) |
Option Expiration Date |
Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested (#) |
Market Value of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested(1) ($) |
Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested (#) |
Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Market or Payout Value of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested(1) ($) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
9/7/2022 |
9/7/2022 |
1,567,424 |
1,567,422 |
(2) |
6,269,693 |
(3) |
7.61 |
9/7/2032 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1,816,239 |
(4) |
13,385,681 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
408,653 |
(5) |
3,011,773 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
364,077 |
(6) |
2,683,247 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
283,172 |
(7) |
2,086,978 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
423,790 |
(8) |
3,123,332 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Bourdon |
11/10/2022 |
11/10/2022 |
208,334 |
208,332 |
(2) |
833,334 |
(3) |
5.53 |
11/10/2032 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
120,192 |
(5) |
885,815 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
104,022 |
(6) |
766,642 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
80,906 |
(7) |
596,277 |
- |
- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
124,644 |
(8) |
918,626 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
11/10/2020 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
167,468 |
(9) |
1,234,239 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4/21/2022 |
4/1/2022 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
49,042 |
(10) |
361,440 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
148,236 |
(5) |
1,092,499 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
128,294 |
(6) |
945,527 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
42,765 |
(7) |
315,178 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
65,884 |
(8) |
485,565 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
32,694 |
(11) |
240,955 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ryan Pardo |
5/14/2020 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
334,936 |
(9) |
2,468,478 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4/21/2022 |
4/1/2022 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
47,655 |
(10) |
351,217 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
144,230 |
(5) |
1,062,975 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
124,826 |
(6) |
919,968 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
41,609 |
(7) |
306,658 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
64,102 |
(8) |
472,432 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
31,770 |
(11) |
234,145 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ann Varanakis |
8/23/2022 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
38,974 |
(10) |
287,238 |
- |
- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
72,114 |
(5) |
531,480 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
83,217 |
(6) |
613,309 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
27,740 |
(7) |
204,444 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
32,052 |
(8) |
236,223 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish Qureshi (13) |
5/14/2020 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
753,608 |
(9) |
5,554,091 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4/21/2022 |
4/1/2022 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
55,832 |
(10) |
411,482 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9/7/2022 |
9/7/2022 |
470,228 |
470,226 |
(2) |
1,880,908 |
(3) |
7.61 |
9/7/2032 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/6/2023 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
240,384 |
(5) |
1,771,630 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
208,044 |
(6) |
1,533,284 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3/8/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
161,813 |
(7) |
1,192,562 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
249,288 |
(8) |
1,837,253 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2/28/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
37,221 |
(11) |
274,319 |
- |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6/30/2024 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
161,812 |
(12) |
1,192,554 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kevin Mullins (14) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
32
33
Option Exercises and Stock Vested
The following table sets forth certain information for each of our named executive officers regarding stock awards vested during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. None of our named executive officers exercised options during 2024.
Stock Awards |
||||||||
Name |
Number of shares |
Value realized on |
||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
560,008 |
3,561,651 |
||||||
David Bourdon |
164,708 |
1,167,780 |
||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
172,513 |
1,170,215 |
||||||
Ryan Pardo |
321,693 |
1,908,051 |
||||||
Ann Varanakis |
75,578 |
518,115 |
||||||
Danish Qureshi |
578,214 |
3,579,137 |
||||||
Kevin Mullins |
330,232 |
1,912,637 |
Pension Benefits and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
None of our named executive officers participated in or received benefits from a pension plan or from a nonqualified deferred compensation plan during fiscal year 2024 or prior years.
Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control
Mr. Burdick. Under his employment agreement, if Mr. Burdick's employment is terminated by the Company without cause or if Mr. Burdick resigns for good reason, he will be entitled to receive: (i) continued payment of his base salary for a period of eighteen (18) months following termination, (ii) an amount equal to his annual bonus for the year of termination, based on actual performance and pro-rated to reflect the portion of the calendar year during which he was employed ("Pro-Rata Bonus"), (iii) payment of his full COBRA premiums for eighteen (18) months following his termination, subject to his eligibility for, and timely election of, COBRA coverage, and (iv) if Mr. Burdick elects to continue his participation in our insurance plans, other than the health and dental insurance plans, payment of his full premium cost for eighteen (18) months following his termination, subject to his eligibility for such continued participation. In addition, under the amendment to his employment agreement effective March 3, 2025, if (A) Mr. Burdick's employment is terminated by the Company without cause or if Mr. Burdick resigns for good reason, or (B) Mr. Burdick retires by mutual agreement with our Board of Directors, any unvested and outstanding time-vesting equity awards held by Mr. Burdick as of such termination that were scheduled to vest in the twelve (12)-month period immediately following such termination will vest in full as of such termination and any performance-vesting equity awards will remain outstanding and eligible to vest based on actual performance for twelve (12) months following such termination. If his employment is terminated due to his death or disability, he will receive a Pro-Rata Bonus and, upon a termination due to his disability, six months of base salary continuation (reduced by any wage continuation payments received under any of our health and disability insurance plans). Mr. Burdick is also eligible to receive severance payments and benefits under the Change in Control Policy, as described below, upon a termination of his employment in certain circumstances within the specified change in control period (without duplication with respect to any severance benefits he is entitled to under his employment agreement), which payments and benefits shall be no less favorable than those in effect under the policy on the effective date of his employment agreement.
Mr. Bourdon. Under his employment agreement, if Mr. Bourdon's employment is terminated by the Company without cause or if Mr. Bourdon resigns for good reason, he will be entitled to receive: (i) continued payment of his base salary for a period of twelve (12) months following termination, (ii) payment of his full COBRA premiums for twelve (12) months following his termination, subject to his eligibility for, and timely election of, COBRA coverage, and (iii) if Mr. Bourdon elects to continue his participation in our insurance plans, other than the health and dental insurance plans, payment of his full premium cost for twelve (12) months following his termination, subject to his eligibility for such continued participation. Mr. Bourdon is also eligible to receive severance payments and benefits under the Change in Control Policy, as described below, upon a termination of his employment in certain circumstances within the specified change in control period (without duplication with respect to any severance benefits he is entitled to under his employment agreement), which payments and benefits shall be no less favorable than those in effect under the policy on the effective date of his employment agreement.
Change in Control Policy. On August 9, 2022, our Board of Directors approved the Change in Control Policy pursuant to which certain of our employees are eligible to participate, including each of our currently employed named executive officers. The terms "cause," "good reason," and "change in control" referred to below are defined in the Change in Control Policy.
Under the Change in Control Policy, if a participant's employment is terminated by the Company without cause or by the participant for good reason, in either case other than during the period beginning six months before a change in control and ending twelve (12)
34
months after the change in control, he or she will be eligible to receive: (i) continued payment of the participant's base salary for a period of twelve (12) months following termination, (ii) monthly payments equal to the participant's premium costs for continued coverage under our health, dental and other insurance plans for a period of twelve (12) months following termination, and (iii) for Messrs. Burdick and Bourdon only, a pro-rata portion of his annual cash bonus for the year of termination based on actual performance.
Under the Change in Control Policy, if a participant's employment is terminated by the Company without cause or by the participant for good reason, in either case during the period beginning six months before a change in control and ending twelve (12) months after the change in control, the participant will be eligible to receive: (i) a lump sum payment equal to twelve (12) months of the participant's base salary (or twenty-four (24) months for Messrs. Burdick and Bourdon), (ii) a lump sum payment equal to the participant's target annual bonus for the year of termination, (iii) twelve (12) monthly payments (or twenty-four (24) for Messrs. Burdick and Bourdon) equal to the participant's premium costs for continued coverage under our health, dental and other insurance plans, and (iv) except to the extent that an award agreement or employment agreement entered into before the effective date of the Change in Control Policy provides for more favorable vesting terms or the terms of an award agreement entered after the effective date of the Change in Control Policy provides otherwise, (x) full acceleration of the vesting of all of the participant's unvested and outstanding time-based equity awards and performance-based equity awards originally granted on or after June 9, 2021 (it being understood that such performance-based awards shall be deemed earned at the change in control assuming target performance and shall thereafter be converted into time-based equity awards) and (y) vesting of the participant's unvested and outstanding performance-based equity awards originally granted prior to June 9, 2021 based on actual performance through the change in control.
Severance Subject to Release of Claims and Compliance with Restrictive Covenants. Our obligation to provide severance payments and other benefits to any named executive officer under an employment agreement (other than in connection with a termination due to death) or under the Change in Control Policy is conditioned on the executive signing a release of claims in our favor and continued compliance with any restrictive covenant obligations owed to us.
Section 280G of the Code. The Change in Control Policy provides for a Section 280G "better of provision" such that payments or benefits that each participant receives in connection with a change in control will be reduced to the extent necessary to avoid the imposition of any excise tax under Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code if such reduction would result in a greater after tax payment amount for such participant than if he or she had been paid the full amount of such payments or benefits, with such amount subject to the excise tax.
Qureshi Separation.
In connection with Mr. Qureshi's termination of employment as President and Chief Operating Officer effective June 30, 2024, Mr. Qureshi, the Company, and certain affiliates of the Company entered into the Qureshi Separation Agreement. Under the Qureshi Separation Agreement, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Qureshi his base salary, as in effect on June 30, 2024, for a period of eighteen (18) months following the termination of his employment. In addition, pursuant to the Qureshi Separation Agreement, (i) all of Mr. Qureshi's unvested equity awards will remain outstanding and eligible to vest pursuant to their terms for eighteen (18) months following his termination of employment, (ii) to the extent Mr. Qureshi's unvested equity awards do not vest within such eighteen (18)-month period following his termination of employment, such unvested equity awards will continue to remain outstanding for a period of twenty-four (24) months following his termination of employment and eligible for the treatment set forth in the Change in Control Policy or the applicable equity award agreement, as applicable, if a change in control (as defined in the Qureshi Separation Agreement) occurs within such twenty-four (24)-month period, and (iii) Mr. Qureshi's stock options that are vested or become vested will remain exercisable for twenty-seven (27) months following his termination of employment (or, if earlier, until the option's applicable expiration date). In addition, pursuant to the Qureshi Separation Agreement, Mr. Qureshi has agreed that, for one year following his termination of employment, Company equity owned by Mr. Qureshi will remain subject to certain transfer restrictions. The payments and benefits under the Qureshi Separation Agreement are conditioned on Mr. Qureshi's continued compliance with the restrictive covenants by which he is bound.
Mullins Separation.
Mr. Mullins did not receive any payments or benefits in connection with his separation from employment.
Estimated Severance Payments
The following table sets forth the dollar value of the estimated payments and benefits that would have become payable to each of our currently named executive officers in each of the termination scenarios described below, assuming the applicable triggering event occurred on December 31, 2024. The amounts provided in the table below for Mr. Qureshi represent the actual payments and benefits
35
he received in connection with his termination of employment during 2024. Mr. Mullins did not receive any severance payments or benefits in connection with his termination of employment during 2024 and is therefore not included in the table below.
POTENTIAL PAYMENTS UPON TERMINATION OR CHANGE IN CONTROL |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Burdick |
David Bourdon |
Pablo Pantaleoni |
Ryan Pardo |
Ann Varanakis |
Danish Qureshi |
|||||||||||||||||||
Involuntary Termination Not in Connection with a Change in Control (1) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Salary Continuation |
$ |
900,000 |
$ |
500,000 |
$ |
425,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
525,000 |
||||||||||||
Pro-Rata Bonus |
$ |
1,233,000 |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Continued Health Care Benefits |
$ |
32,365 |
$ |
29,302 |
$ |
29,302 |
$ |
- |
$ |
9,713 |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
LTIP Modifications (2) |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
6,494,553 |
||||||||||||
Total |
$ |
2,165,365 |
$ |
529,302 |
$ |
454,302 |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
359,713 |
$ |
7,019,553 |
||||||||||||
Involuntary Termination in Connection with a Change in Control (3) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Salary Severance |
$ |
1,200,000 |
$ |
500,000 |
$ |
425,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
350,000 |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Target Annual Bonus |
$ |
900,000 |
$ |
375,000 |
$ |
212,500 |
$ |
175,000 |
$ |
175,000 |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Accelerated LTIP (4) |
$ |
31,588,277 |
$ |
5,661,872 |
$ |
4,557,063 |
$ |
4,433,143 |
$ |
2,517,776 |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Continued Health Care Benefits |
$ |
43,153 |
$ |
29,302 |
$ |
29,302 |
$ |
- |
$ |
9,713 |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Total |
$ |
33,731,430 |
$ |
6,566,174 |
$ |
5,223,865 |
$ |
4,958,143 |
$ |
3,052,489 |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Death (5) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pro-Rata Bonus |
$ |
1,233,000 |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Total |
$ |
1,233,000 |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Disability (6) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Salary Continuation |
$ |
300,000 |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Pro-Rata Bonus |
$ |
1,233,000 |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
||||||||||||
Total |
$ |
1,533,000 |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
$ |
- |
36
Director Compensation
The following table sets forth the compensation awarded to, earned by or paid to our non-employee directors for their services to us during fiscal year 2024. Mr. Burdick's compensation for 2024 is included with that of our other named executive officers above.
Name |
Fees Earned or |
Stock Awards ($)(2) |
Total ($) |
|||||||||
Robert Bessler |
50,000 |
199,997 |
249,997 |
|||||||||
Darren Black (3) |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||
Jeffrey Crisan (3) |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||
Teresa DeLuca, M.D. (4) |
40,659 |
399,995 |
440,654 |
|||||||||
William Miller |
50,000 |
199,997 |
249,997 |
|||||||||
Jeffrey Rhodes (3) |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||
Eric Shuey |
70,000 |
199,997 |
269,997 |
|||||||||
Katherine Wood (3) |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||
Seema Verma |
50,000 |
199,997 |
249,997 |
Non-employee Director |
Number of Unvested Shares of |
Number of Unvested RSUs |
||||||
Robert Bessler |
23,363 |
36,363 |
||||||
Darren Black |
- |
- |
||||||
Jeffrey Crisan |
- |
- |
||||||
Teresa DeLuca, M.D. |
- |
71,574 |
||||||
William Miller |
16,837 |
43,623 |
||||||
Jeffrey Rhodes |
- |
- |
||||||
Eric Shuey |
23,363 |
36,363 |
||||||
Katherine Wood |
- |
- |
||||||
Seema Verma |
- |
52,275 |
Independent Director Compensation Policy
In May 2023, our Board of Directors adopted a non-employee director compensation policy pursuant to which our independent non-employee directors are compensated as follows, beginning for the third quarter of 2023:
Mr. Shuey also receives an additional $20,000 annual cash retainer for his service as chairman of our Audit Committee.
The annual RSU awards granted to our non-employee directors vest in full on the first anniversary of the grant date, or the date of our next annual meeting of shareholders, if sooner, in each case, subject to the director's continued service on our Board of Directors. The RSUs fully vest on a change in control of the Company.
Pursuant to the terms of the 2021 Plan, the aggregate value of all compensation granted or paid to any director with respect to any calendar year, including awards granted under the 2021 Plan and cash fees or other compensation paid by us to such director outside of the 2021 Plan for services as a director during such calendar year, is subject to a limit of $750,000 in the aggregate ($1,000,000 in the aggregate with respect to a director's first year of service on our Board of Directors).
37
In accordance with our non-employee director compensation policy, on July 21, 2024, each of Messrs. Bessler, Miller, and Shuey, Ms. Verma, and Dr. DeLuca was granted 36,363 RSUs, which vest in full on the earlier of June 1, 2025 or the date of our next annual meeting of shareholders, subject to the director's continued service on our Board of Directors. The RSUs also fully vest on a change in control of the Company.
On August 14, 2024, Dr. DeLuca was also granted 35,211 RSUs, which vest in full on the earlier of June 1, 2025 or the date of our next annual meeting of shareholders, subject to her continued service on our Board of Directors. The RSUs also fully vest on a change in control of the Company.
Pay Versus Performance
As required by Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, we are providing the following information about the relationship between executive compensation actually paid, as computed under SEC rules, and certain financial performance of the Company. For more information about the Company's executive compensation program, see "Executive Compensation" above.
Value of Initial Fixed $100 Investment Based on: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year |
Summary Compensation Table Total for Mr. Burdick(1) |
Summary Compensation Table Total for Mr. Lester(1) |
Compensation Actually Paid to Mr. Burdick(2) |
Compensation Actually Paid to Mr. Lester(2) |
Average Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO Named Executive Officers(3) |
Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO Named Executive Officers(4) |
Total Shareholder Return(5) |
Peer Group Total Shareholder Return (Russell 2500 Health Care Index)(6) |
Net Loss(7) |
Company Selected Measure: Adjusted EBITDA(8) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2024 |
10,204,676 |
N/A |
4,141,057 |
N/A |
4,174,029 |
(1,685,441 |
) |
34 |
70 |
(57,443 |
) |
119,742 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023 |
14,829,496 |
N/A |
39,438,062 |
N/A |
2,542,147 |
3,598,675 |
36 |
68 |
(186,262 |
) |
59,042 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022 |
40,953,095 |
9,808,706 |
27,350,996 |
(25,950,275 |
) |
9,475,625 |
(141,744 |
) |
23 |
65 |
(215,564 |
) |
52,670 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 |
N/A |
147,001,804 |
N/A |
118,763,423 |
38,859,218 |
23,022,181 |
43 |
91 |
(307,197 |
) |
49,154 |
In accordance with the requirements of Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, the following adjustments were made to Mr. Burdick's total compensation for each applicable year to determine the compensation actually paid to him for the relevant year:
Year |
|||||||||||
Calculation of "Compensation Actually Paid" to Kenneth Burdick |
2024 |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||
Reported Summary Compensation Table ("SCT") Total for Mr. Burdick |
10,204,676 |
14,829,496 |
40,953,095 |
N/A |
|||||||
Amounts reported in the "Stock Awards" and "Option Awards" columns of |
(8,357,876 |
) |
(13,423,219 |
) |
(40,753,003 |
) |
N/A |
||||
Fair value (as of year end) of equity awards granted during the year that |
7,893,557 |
21,805,767 |
27,150,904 |
N/A |
|||||||
Change in fair value (as of vesting date from prior year end) of previously |
(408,072 |
) |
148,959 |
- |
N/A |
||||||
Fair value (as of the vesting date) of equity awards that were granted and |
- |
- |
- |
N/A |
|||||||
Change in fair value (as of year end from prior year end) of previously granted |
(5,191,228 |
) |
16,077,059 |
- |
N/A |
||||||
Fair value (as of the end of the prior year) of previously granted equity awards |
- |
- |
- |
N/A |
|||||||
Value of dividends or other earnings paid on equity awards during the year not |
- |
- |
- |
N/A |
|||||||
Compensation Actually Paid to Mr. Burdick |
4,141,057 |
39,438,062 |
27,350,996 |
N/A |
38
In accordance with the requirements of Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, the following adjustments were made to Mr. Lester's total compensation for each applicable year to determine the compensation actually paid to him for the relevant year:
Year |
||||||||||||
Calculation of "Compensation Actually Paid" to Michael K. Lester |
2024 |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
||||||||
Reported Summary Compensation Table ("SCT") Total for Mr. Lester |
N/A |
N/A |
9,808,706 |
147,001,804 |
||||||||
Amounts reported in the "Stock Awards" column of the SCT |
N/A |
N/A |
(9,242,960 |
) |
(146,263,703 |
) |
||||||
Fair value (as of year end) of equity awards granted during the year that |
N/A |
N/A |
5,101,943 |
15,736,212 |
||||||||
Change in fair value (as of vesting date from prior year end) of previously |
N/A |
N/A |
(8,298,049 |
) |
32,893,266 |
|||||||
Fair value (as of the vesting date) of equity awards that were granted and |
N/A |
N/A |
- |
- |
||||||||
Change in fair value (as of year end from prior year end) of previously |
N/A |
N/A |
(23,319,915 |
) |
69,395,844 |
|||||||
Fair value (as of the end of the prior year) of previously granted equity |
N/A |
N/A |
- |
- |
||||||||
Value of dividends or other earnings paid on equity awards during the year |
N/A |
N/A |
- |
- |
||||||||
Compensation Actually Paid to Mr. Lester |
N/A |
N/A |
(25,950,275 |
) |
118,763,423 |
The valuation assumptions used to calculate the fair values of options, RSUs, and restricted stock awards include the stock price as of the applicable measuring date and, in the case of performance-based awards, the probable outcome of the performance conditions as of the applicable measuring date (or actual performance results approved by the compensation committee as of the applicable vesting date). Otherwise, the valuation assumptions used to calculate fair values did not materially differ from those used in our disclosures of fair value as of the grant date.
Year |
|||||||||||||
Calculation of "Compensation Actually Paid" to Non-PEO NEOs |
2024 |
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
|||||||||
Average Summary Compensation Table ("SCT") Total for non-PEO NEOs |
4,174,029 |
2,542,147 |
9,475,625 |
38,859,218 |
|||||||||
Average amounts reported in the "Stock Awards" and "Option Awards" |
(3,543,687 |
) |
(1,866,597 |
) |
(9,277,525 |
) |
(36,661,697 |
) |
|||||
Average fair value (as of year end) of equity awards granted during the year |
699,259 |
1,050,879 |
3,201,808 |
3,872,889 |
|||||||||
Average change in fair value (as of vesting date from prior year end) of |
(58,946 |
) |
729,129 |
(903,301 |
) |
3,654,809 |
|||||||
Average fair value (as of the vesting date) of equity awards that were granted |
- |
- |
1,000,001 |
1,730,994 |
|||||||||
Average change in fair value (as of year end from prior year end) of previously |
(685,123 |
) |
1,310,562 |
(3,638,352 |
) |
11,565,968 |
|||||||
Average fair value (as of the end of the prior year) of previously granted equity |
(2,270,973 |
) |
(167,445 |
) |
- |
- |
|||||||
Average value of dividends or other earnings paid on equity awards during the |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||
Average Compensation Actually Paid to non-PEO NEOs |
(1,685,441 |
) |
3,598,675 |
(141,744 |
) |
23,022,181 |
The valuation assumptions used to calculate the fair values of options, RSUs, and restricted stock awards include the stock price as of the applicable measuring date and, in the case of performance-based awards, the probable outcome of the performance
39
conditions as of the applicable measuring date (or actual performance results approved by the compensation committee as of the applicable vesting date). Otherwise, the valuation assumptions used to calculate fair values did not materially differ from those used in our disclosures of fair value as of the grant date.
Analysis of the Information Presented in the Pay Versus Performance Table
Relationship between Compensation Actually Paid and Company TSR
The graph below sets forth the relationship between "compensation actually paid" to Mr. Burdick, "compensation actually paid" to Mr. Lester, and the average "compensation actually paid" to our Non-PEO NEOs, and the Company's cumulative TSR starting June 10, 2021, the date our common stock began trading on Nasdaq, through December 31, 2024.
40
Relationship between Compensation Actually Paid and Net Income (Loss)
The graph below sets forth the relationship between "compensation actually paid" to Mr. Burdick, "compensation actually paid" to Mr. Lester, and the average "compensation actually paid" to our Non-PEO NEOs, and the Company's Net Income (Loss).
41
Relationship between Compensation Actually Paid and Adjusted EBITDA
The graph below sets forth the relationship between "compensation actually paid" to Mr. Burdick, "compensation actually paid" to Mr. Lester, and the average "compensation actually paid" to our Non-PEO NEOs, and our Company-Selected Measure, Adjusted EBITDA**.
Comparison of Company TSR and Peer Group TSR
The graph below compares the Company's cumulative TSR starting June 10, 2021, the date our common stock began trading on Nasdaq, through December 31, 2024 to the cumulative TSR of the Russell 2500 Health Care Index over the same period.
42
Performance Measures
As described in greater detail in the "Compensation Discussion and Analysis" section of this Proxy Statement, the Company's executive compensation program reflects a pay-for-performance philosophy. The metrics that the Company uses for both our long-term and short-term incentive awards are selected based on an objective of incentivizing our named executive officers to increase the value of our enterprise for our shareholders. The most important financial performance measures used by the Company for the most recently completed fiscal year to link executive compensation actually paid to the Company's named executive officers to the Company's performance are as follows:
No other financial performance measures were used by the Company in its executive compensation program for the most recently completed fiscal year.
2024 CEO Pay Ratio
As required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, the following information describes the relationship of the median of the annual total compensation of our employees (other than our former Chief Executive Officer) and the annual total compensation of Kenneth Burdick, who served as our Chief Executive Officer for all of 2024.
To identify the median employee and determine the annual total compensation of that median employee, we prepared a list of all our full-time, part-time, and temporary employees as of December 31, 2024. To identify the "median employee" from our employee population, we calculated the amount of annual base compensation, including salary, annual and quarterly cash incentive payments, hourly pay, overtime, and annual benefit rate for all of our employees other than our former Chief Executive Officer. We annualized the compensation of those full-time and part-time employees that were not employed for the full year of 2024. We did not use any permitted exclusions or adjustments under the rules. As of December 31, 2024, we had a total of 10,217 employees, excluding our former Chief Executive Officer, all of whom were included for purposes of identifying the median employee.
Once we identified the median employee, we calculated that employee's annual total compensation in the same manner as we calculate "Total Compensation" for purposes of the Summary Compensation Table in accordance with the requirements of Item 402(c)(2)(x) of Regulation S-K. Determined in this manner, the median employee's annual total compensation was $82,811. As identified in the Summary Compensation Table above, using the same methodology for total compensation, the annual total compensation of our former Chief Executive Officer was $10,204,676. The resulting ratio of the annual total compensation of our former Chief Executive Officer to the median of the annual total compensation of all employees (other than the former Chief Executive Officer) is estimated to be approximately 123:1.
The CEO Pay Ratio reported above is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with SEC rules, based on our internal records and the methodology described above. The SEC rules for identifying the median compensated employee allow companies to adopt a variety of methodologies, to apply certain exclusions and to make reasonable estimates and assumptions that reflect their employee populations and compensation practices. Accordingly, the pay ratio reported by other companies may not be comparable to the CEO Pay Ratio reported above, as other companies have different employee populations and compensation practices and may use different methodologies, exclusions, estimates and assumptions in calculating their own pay ratios.
43
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Below is a list of the names, ages, positions and a brief account of the business experience of the individuals who serve as our executive officers as of April 11, 2025.
Name |
Age |
Position |
||
David Bourdon |
56 |
Director and Chief Executive Officer |
||
Ryan McGroarty |
52 |
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer |
||
Lisa Miller |
51 |
Executive Vice President of Practice Operations |
||
Pablo Pantaleoni |
37 |
Chief Digital Officer |
||
Ryan Pardo |
49 |
Chief Legal Officer and Secretary |
||
Dr. Ujjwal Ramtekkar |
43 |
Chief Medical Officer |
||
Ann Varanakis |
47 |
Chief People Officer |
The background of David Bourdon is described above under "Board of Directors."
Ryan McGroarty has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since March 2025. Prior to joining LifeStance, served as the Chief Financial Officer of Help at Home, LLC, the largest U.S. homecare company, since September 2021, where he led finance, accounting, treasury and revenue management functions. Previously, Mr. McGroarty held a variety of positions with The Cigna Group, including Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Government Business Segment from 2017 to September 2021 and Chief Financial Officer of Cigna HealthSpring from 2014 to 2017. Mr. McGroarty holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Rochester.
Lisa Millerhas served as our Executive Vice President, Practice Operations since February 2024. Previously, Ms. Miller served as our Senior Vice President, Practice Operations since September 2022. Prior to joining LifeStance, Ms. Miller served as Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer for Invo Healthcare from September 2020 to April 2022, where she was responsible for executing the organization's vision to transform autism treatment. Ms. Miller holds a Master of Science degree in Neuroscience from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and received an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Pablo Pantaleoni has served as our Chief Digital Officer since 2020. Prior to joining LifeStance, Mr. Pantaleoni served as Vice President, Global Strategy and New Ventures of Headspace, Inc. from 2019 until 2020, leading a team focused on Headspace's global corporate strategy, technology and regulatory strategy, design research, and new ventures. Prior to Headspace, Mr. Pantaleoni served as a Senior Director of Health and Venture Design at IDEO, from 2017 until 2019, a leading design and innovation consultancy. Prior to IDEO, he co-founded Medtep in 2011, a digital health startup that facilitates lasting behavioral changes by personalizing validated prevention and treatment plans. Mr. Pantaleoni co-leads the Digital Health NEXT Program at Stanford Biodesign since 2018, where he guides students to start their own businesses in digital health. Mr. Pantaleoni holds a master's in Business Technology from the Ramon Llull University, and a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration from Pompeu Fabra University.
Ryan Pardohas served as our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary since 2017. Prior to joining LifeStance, Mr. Pardo served as General Counsel at Liberty Dialysis until its acquisition by Fresenius Medical Care in 2012 when he subsequently served in a mergers and acquisitions and business development capacity for Fresenius. In addition, Mr. Pardo cofounded and served as a director and in an executive capacity overseeing value-based program design, lobbying and analytics in addition to core legal issues at Liberty Health Partners, which merged with Signify Health. Mr. Pardo also served as general counsel for AIM Consulting, a technology consulting company. Previously, he served as Corporate Counsel at Eddie Bauer Holdings, leading the securities law reporting function prior to their going private transaction. Prior to entering the corporate world, Mr. Pardo practiced corporate finance and acquisitions at the law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Mr. Pardo holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Stanford University and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Dr. Ujjwal Ramtekkarhas served as our Chief Medical Officer since 2024. Prior to joining LifeStance, Dr. Ramtekkar was Vice President at Quartet Health from January 2023 to April 2024, Senior Medical Director at Teladoc Health from September 2021 to March 2023 and Medical Director of Virtual Care, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Nationwide Children's Hospital from July 2018 until September 2021. Dr. Ramtekkar currently serves on the boards of Mental Health America, Project REACH at Brown University and the Center for Excellence for Child Well-being. Dr. Ramtekkar holds a Master of Business Arts from Maryville University and received his medical degree from Government Medical College Nagpur. Dr. Ramtekkar completed his psychiatry residency training at Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, where he was also trained in psychiatric epidemiology, and a completed a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Harvard Medical School Dr. Ramtekkar is a double Board Certified in pediatric and adult psychiatrist.
Ann Varanakishas served as our Chief People Officer since February 2023. Previously, Ms. Varanakis served as our Senior Vice President, Talent and ESG since 2022. Prior to joining LifeStance, Ms. Varanakis served in various leadership roles at Discover Financial Services from 2012 until 2022, including as Vice President, Enterprise Workforce Management & Operations Analytics from 2014 until 2022. Prior to Discover Financial Services, Ms. Varanakis, served in various roles at Pfizer, Inc. from 2002 until
44
2011. Ms. Varanakis received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah and a Master of Science degree from Northwestern University.
45
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
Beneficial Ownership
The following tables set forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock for (a) each person, or group of affiliated persons, known by us to beneficially own more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock, (b) each member of our Board of Directors, (c) each of our named executive officers, and (d) all of our directors and executive officers as a group. For our directors and officers, the information is as of April 11, 2025. For other stockholders who beneficially own more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock, the shares owned are as of the dates provided in the most recent filings made by such stockholder with the SEC.
Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with SEC rules. The information is not necessarily indicative of beneficial ownership for any other purpose. In general, under these rules a beneficial owner of a security includes any person who, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise has or shares voting power or investment power with respect to such security. A person is also deemed to be a beneficial owner of a security if that person has the right to acquire beneficial ownership of such security within 60 days. To our knowledge, except as otherwise indicated, and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by that person.
The percentage of shares beneficially owned is computed on the basis of 388,882,916 shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 11, 2025. Unless otherwise indicated below, the address for each beneficial owner listed is c/o LifeStance Health Group, Inc., 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2500, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251.
Shares of common stock beneficially owned |
||||||||
Name of beneficial owner |
Number |
Percentage |
||||||
5% Stockholders |
||||||||
Parties to the Stockholders Agreement (1) |
220,560,530 |
56.7 |
% |
|||||
TPG VIII Lynnwood Holdings Aggregation, L.P. (2) |
160,711,618 |
41.3 |
% |
|||||
Summit Partners and affiliates (3) |
41,932,358 |
10.8 |
% |
|||||
FMR, LLC (4) |
32,965,486 |
8.5 |
% |
|||||
Silversmith Capital Partners and affiliates (5) |
17,916,554 |
4.6 |
% |
|||||
Directors and Named Executive Officers |
||||||||
Kenneth Burdick (6) |
2,479,416 |
* |
||||||
David Bourdon (7) |
589,444 |
* |
||||||
Pablo Pantaleoni (8) |
1,100,930 |
* |
||||||
Ryan Pardo (9) |
3,139,441 |
* |
||||||
Ann Varanakis (10) |
145,239 |
* |
||||||
Robert Bessler (11) |
3,023,962 |
* |
||||||
Darren Black (12) |
- |
* |
||||||
Jeffrey Crisan (13) |
- |
* |
||||||
Teresa DeLuca (14) |
71,574 |
* |
||||||
William Miller (15) |
452,620 |
* |
||||||
Jeffrey Rhodes (16) |
- |
* |
||||||
Eric Shuey (17) |
1,169,192 |
* |
||||||
Katherine Wood (16) |
- |
* |
||||||
Seema Verma (18) |
121,899 |
* |
||||||
All current executive officers and directors as a group (17 persons) (19) |
12,357,714 |
3.2 |
% |
|||||
Former Named Executive Officers |
||||||||
Danish Qureshi (20) |
4,207,721 |
1.1 |
% |
|||||
Kevin Mullins (21) |
695,458 |
* |
* Less than one percent
46
47
Equity Compensation Plan Information
The following table provides certain information with respect to all of our equity compensation plans in effect as of December 31, 2024:
Number of Securities To Be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights(1) |
Weighted Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights(2) |
Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity Plans (excluding securities listed in first column)(3) |
||||||||||
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders |
37,478,593 |
7.42 |
69,750,088 |
|||||||||
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders |
- |
- |
- |
|||||||||
Total |
37,478,593 |
7.42 |
69,750,088 |
Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires that our directors, executive officers, and greater than 10% stockholders file reports with the SEC relating to their initial beneficial ownership of our securities and any subsequent changes. These reports are commonly referred to as Form 3, Form 4 and Form 5 reports. They must also provide us with copies of the reports.
Based solely on a review of the copies of such forms in our possession, and on written representations from the reporting persons, we believe that all of these reporting persons complied with their filing requirements for the year ended December 31, 2024, except for the reports on Form 4 filed by Paula Wood on April 11, 2024, Kevin Mullins on April 19, 2024, Pablo Pantaleoni on April 19, 2024, Ryan Pardo on April 19, 2024, and Danish Qureshi on April 19, 2024, each related to RSU vesting events, and by William Miller on August 27, 2024, Seema Verma on August 27, 2024, Eric Shuey on August 27, 2024, Robert Bessler on August 27, 2024, and Teresa DeLuca on August 27, 2024 and August 30, 2024, each related to issuances of RSUs.
48
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
In addition to the equity and other compensation arrangements discussed in the section titled "Executive and Director Compensation," the following is a description of each transaction since January 1, 2024 and each currently proposed transaction in which:
Stockholders Agreement
On June 9, 2021, we entered into a stockholders agreement with certain of our stockholders, including investment entities affiliated with our Sponsor Investors (the "Stockholders Agreement"). Pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, we are required to take all necessary action to cause the Board of Directors and its committees to include director candidates designated by our Sponsor Investors in the slate of director nominees recommended by the Board of Directors for election by our stockholders. The Stockholders Agreement also provides that we will obtain customary director indemnity insurance and enter into indemnification agreements with our Sponsor Investors' respective director designees.
Registration Rights Agreement
On June 9, 2021, we entered into a registration rights agreement with certain of our stockholders, including our executive officers and investment entities affiliated with our Sponsor Investors. The registration rights agreement provides our Sponsor Investors and certain other holders with registration rights whereby our Sponsor Investors or our Former President and Chief Executive Officer, on behalf of certain other holders, can require us to register under the Securities Act shares of common stock, and the stockholders party to the agreement have certain rights to sell their shares in registered offerings initiated by us, our Sponsor Investors or certain other holders. The registration rights agreement also provides that we will use our best efforts to file a registration statement on Form S-3 for the resale of registrable securities held by our Sponsor Investors, as soon as we are eligible to do so.
Certain Relationships
From time to time, we collaborate with our Sponsor Investors and/or their affiliates to source and outsource certain goods and services to obtain the best terms available. We believe that all such arrangements have been entered into in the ordinary course of business and have been negotiated on commercially reasonable terms.
Director and Officer Indemnification Agreements
We provide indemnification protection to our directors and officers pursuant to provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as through indemnification agreements with each individual which require us to indemnify such persons to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Certain members of our Board of Directors (specifically, Jeffrey Rhodes, Katherine Wood, Darren Black and Jeffrey Crisan) serve as employee designees of our Sponsor Investors.
Debt Arrangement and Structuring Services
On December 19, 2024, in connection with entry into our credit agreement, dated December 19, 2024 (the "2024 Credit Agreement"), the Company and TPG Capital BD, LLC ("TPG BD") entered into an agreement in which TPG BD provided arrangement and structuring services as a joint lead arranger. Pursuant to the debt arrangement and structuring services provided by TPG BD in connection with the 2024 Credit Agreement refinancing, we paid an aggregate $365,625 to TPG BD in 2024.
Related Person Transactions Policy
We have adopted a written policy with respect to the review, approval and ratification of related party transactions directly or indirectly involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries as a participant, and any related person, in which the aggregate amount involved exceeds $120,000. Under the policy, our audit committee is responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions. In the course of its review and approval of related party transactions, our audit committee considers the relevant facts and circumstances to decide whether to approve such transactions. Related party transactions must be approved or ratified by the audit committee based on full information about the proposed transaction and the related party's interest.
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AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT
The audit committee has reviewed and discussed our 2024 audited consolidated financial statements with management.
The audit committee has discussed with our independent auditors the matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and SEC.
The audit committee has received the written disclosures and the letter from the independent accountant required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the independent accountant's communications with the audit committee concerning independence, and has discussed with the independent accountant the independent accountant's independence.
Based on these reviews and discussions, the audit committee recommended to the Board that our audited consolidated financial statements be included in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K for filing with the SEC.
The audit committee has also appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Respectfully submitted, THE AUDIT COMMITTEE Eric Shuey, Chair Darren Black Jeffrey Crisan |
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Requirements for Stockholder Proposals to be Considered for Inclusion in our Proxy Materials
Pursuant to SEC Rule 14a-8, some stockholder proposals may be eligible for inclusion in the Company's proxy statement for the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders. To be considered for inclusion in next year's proxy statement, stockholder proposals must be received by our Secretary at our principal executive offices no later than December 24, 2025.
Requirements for Stockholder Proposals to be Brought Before an Annual Meeting
Our bylaws provide that, for stockholder nominations to the Board of Directors or other proposals to be considered at an annual meeting, the stockholder must have given timely notice thereof in writing to the Corporate Secretary at LifeStance Health Group, Inc., 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2500, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. To be timely, the stockholder's notice must be delivered to or mailed and received by us not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day nor later than the close of business on the 90th day prior to the anniversary date of the prior year's annual meeting, except that if the annual meeting is set for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, we must receive the notice not later than the close of business on the tenth day following the day on which we first provide notice or public disclosure of the date of the Annual Meeting. Assuming the date of our 2026 annual meeting is not so advanced or delayed, stockholders who wish to make a proposal at the 2026 annual meeting must notify us no earlier than February 3, 2026 and no later than March 5, 2026. Such notice must provide the information required by our bylaws with respect to each matter the stockholder proposes to bring before the 2026 annual meeting. If you wish to obtain a free copy of our bylaws, please contact Investor Relations at LifeStance Health Group, Inc., 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2500, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251, or by email at investor.relations@lifestance.com. Additionally, for stockholder nominations to the Board of Directors to be considered at the annual meeting, to the extent that Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act applies, the stockholder must have complied with Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act.
Incorporation by Reference
To the extent that this Proxy Statement is incorporated by reference into any other filing by the Company under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, the section of this Proxy Statement entitled "Audit Committee Report" will not be deemed incorporated, unless otherwise specifically provided in such filing.
A copy of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as filed with the SEC, may be obtained by stockholders without charge by written or oral request, or may be accessed on the Internet at www.sec.govor www.lifestance.com.
Householding
Only one copy of the Notice is being delivered to stockholders residing at the same address, unless such stockholders have notified the Company of their desire to receive multiple copies. The Company will promptly deliver, upon oral or written request, a separate copy of the Notice to any stockholder residing at an address to which only one copy was mailed. Requests for additional copies should be directed to Investor Relations. Stockholders residing at the same address and currently receiving only one copy of the Notice may contact Investor Relations to request multiple copies of this Proxy Statement in the future. Stockholders residing at the same address and currently receiving multiple copies of the Notice may contact Investor Relations to request that only a single copy of the Notice be mailed in the future. Contact Investor Relations by mail at Investor Relations, LifeStance Health Group, Inc., 4800 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2500, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251, by email at investor.relations@lifestance.com, or by phone at 602-767-2100.
Voting by Telephone or the Internet
Provision has been made for you to vote your shares of common stock by telephone or via the Internet. You may also vote your shares by mail. Please see the proxy card or voting instruction form accompanying this Proxy Statement for specific instructions on how to cast your vote by any of these methods.
Votes submitted by telephone or via the Internet should be received by prior to the start of the meeting to ensure your vote is recorded. Submitting your vote by telephone or via the Internet will not affect your right to vote during the meeting should you decide to attend the Annual Meeting.
The telephone and Internet voting procedures are designed to authenticate stockholders' identities, to allow stockholders to give their voting instructions and to confirm that stockholders' instructions have been recorded properly. The Company has been advised that the Internet voting procedures that have been made available to you are consistent with the requirements of applicable law.
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Stockholders voting by phone or via the Internet should understand that there may be costs associated, such as usage charges from Internet access providers and telephone companies, which must be borne by the stockholder.
Other Matters
The Board of Directors does not know of any other matters that are to be presented for action at the Annual Meeting. If any other matters properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournments or postponements thereof, the people named as proxies will have discretion to vote thereon.
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APPENDIX A - NON-GAAP MEASURES
Free Cash Flow is not a measure of financial performance under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and should not be considered a substitute for measures of performance reported under GAAP. Management believes this non-GAAP measure provides investors with greater transparency to the information used by LifeStance management in its financial and operational decision-making, allows investors to see LifeStance's results through the eyes of management, and better enables LifeStance's investors to understand LifeStance's operating performance and financial condition. Management uses Free Cash Flow as a key measure in evaluating management performance for incentive compensation purposes.
We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. We believe that Free Cash Flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated from our operations that, after investments in property and equipment, can be used for future growth. Free Cash Flow is presented for supplemental informational purposes only and has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of other GAAP financial measures, such as net cash provided by operating activities. It is important to note that other companies, including companies in our industry, may not use this metric, may calculate metrics differently, or may use other financial measures to evaluate their liquidity, all of which could reduce the usefulness of this non-GAAP metric as a comparative measure.
The following table presents a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.
Year Ended |
||||
(in thousands) |
December 31, 2024 |
|||
Net cash provided by operating activities |
$ |
107,260 |
||
Purchases of property and equipment |
(21,566 |
) |
||
Free Cash Flow |
$ |
85,694 |
A-1
styleIPCC/O TABULATOR, P.O. BOX 8016, CARY, NC 27512-9903 Have your ballot ready and please use one of the methods below for easy voting: Your vote matters! Your control numberHave the 12 digit control number located in the box above available when you access the website and follow the instructions. C/O TABULATOR, P.O. BOX 8016, CARY, NC 27512-9903 Have your ballot ready and please use one of the methods below for easy voting: Your vote matters! Your control numberHave the 12 digit control number located in the box above available when you access the website and follow the instructions. Internet: LifeStance Health Group, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders www.proxypush.com/LFST Cast your vote online Have your Proxy Card ready Follow the simple instructions to record your vote For Stockholders of record as of April 11, 2025 Phone: 1-866-314-4323 Tuesday, June 3, 2025 1:00 PM, Pacific Time Use any touch-tone telephone Annual meeting to be held virtually via the internet - please visit at Have your Proxy Card ready www.proxydocs.com/LFST for more details. Follow the simple recorded instructions Mail: Mark, sign and date your Proxy Card Fold and return your Proxy Card in the postage-paid YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT! envelope provided PLEASE VOTE BY: 1:00 PM, Pacific Time, June 3, 2025. Virtual: You must register to attend the meeting online and/or participate at www.proxydocs.com/LFST This proxy is being solicited on behalf of the Board of Directors The undersigned hereby appoints David Bourdon and Ryan Pardo (the "Named Proxies"), and each or either of them, as the true and lawful attorneys of the undersigned, with full power of substitution and revocation, and authorizes them, and each of them, to vote all the shares of capital stock of LifeStance Health Group, Inc. which the undersigned is entitled to vote at said meeting and any adjournment thereof upon the matters specified and upon such other matters as may be properly brought before the meeting or any adjournment thereof, conferring authority upon such true and lawful attorneys to vote in their discretion on such other matters as may properly come before the meeting and revoking any proxy heretofore given. THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED OR, IF NO DIRECTION IS GIVEN, SHARES WILL BE VOTED IDENTICAL TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS' RECOMMENDATION. This proxy, when properly executed, will be voted in the manner directed herein. In their discretion, the Named Proxies are authorized to vote upon such other matters that may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. You are encouraged to specify your choice by marking the appropriate box (SEE REVERSE SIDE) but you need not mark any box if you wish to vote in accordance with the Board of Directors' recommendation. The Named Proxies cannot vote your shares unless you sign (on the reverse side) and return this card. PLEASE BE SURE TO SIGN AND DATE THIS PROXY CARD AND MARK ON THE REVERSE SIDE Copyright © 2025 BetaNXT, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved |
LifeStance Health Group, Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders Please make your marks like this: THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE: FOR ON PROPOSALS 1, 2 AND 3 BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROPOSAL YOUR VOTE RECOMMENDS 1. Election of the three director nominees named in the Proxy Statement to serve until the 2028 annual meeting of stockholders; FOR WITHHOLD 1.01 Teresa DeLuca, M.D. FOR #P2# #P2# 1.02 Katherine Wood FOR #P3# #P3# 1.03 Eric Palmer FOR #P4# #P4# FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN 2. Ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC") as our independent FOR #P5# #P5# #P5# registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2025; 3. Approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company's named executive officers; FOR #P6# #P6# #P6# 4. Transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment thereof. You must register to attend the meeting online and/or participate at www.proxydocs.com/LFST Authorized Signatures - Must be completed for your instructions to be executed. Please sign exactly as your name(s) appears on your account. If held in joint tenancy, all persons should sign. Trustees, administrators, etc., should include title and authority. Corporations should provide full name of corporation and title of authorized officer signing the Proxy/Vote Form. Signature (and Title if applicable) Signature (if held jointly) |