LendingClub Tries To Buck Up Its Troops! by FootNoted
At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s been a pretty tough week for LendingClub. In the six days since announcing on May 9 that CEO Renaud Laplanche was suddenly stepping down, the stock has dropped nearly 50%.
So one might understand why executives there might need some bucking up. Thankfully, that was delivered yesterday in the 10-Q that the company filed late yesterday, clear as day on pg. 68! Here’s a snip:
On May 11, 2016, the compensation committee of the board of directors approved incentive compensation packages and salary adjustments for certain named executive officers. Specifically, Carrie Dolan, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, was granted $3.5 million in restricted stock units…and a $500 thousand cash award, payable twelve months from the grant date. The compensation committee also approved an increase to Ms. Dolan’s base salary to $400 thousand per year, with a 75 percent bonus target. John MacIlwaine and Sandeep Bhandari, the Company’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Risk Officer, respectively, each received $500 thousand in RSUs, which fully vest twelve months from the grant date, and a $500 thousand cash award, payable twelve months from the grant date.
The company also disclosed additional RSUs and compensation for acting CEO Scott Sanborn, who had been president prior to last week’s news. Sanborn will get $5m in RSUs and an additional $500K, if he remains at the company for the next year. His base salary was also increased to $500K, a 40% increase over what he had been making before.
But wait…that’s not all as they used to say in the old Ginsu Knife commercials. The board also gave one of their own a VERY hefty raise. Previously, board members had been paid $40K a year, according to the most recent proxy. But after naming Hans Morris Executive Chairman, they raised his fee to $250K and gave him an additional stock grant of $1m, which appears to be a five-fold increase.
Is it any wonder that this was buried on pg. 68?
