GridAI Technologies Corp.
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Apr 1, 2025.
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FY2024 · Filed Apr 1, 2025
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Item 11. Executive Compensation
Summary Compensation
The table set forth below reflects certain information regarding the compensation paid or accrued during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 to our Chief Executive Officer and our executive officers, other than our Chief Executive Officer, who were serving as an executive officer as of December 31, 2024, and whose annual compensation exceeded $100,000 during such year (collectively the “Named Executive Officers”).
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Executive Compensation
| · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| · · · · · · · · · · Stock · · Option · · All Other · · · | ||||||||||||||
| Named Executive Officers · Year · Salary · Bonus · Award · Award · Compensation · Total | ||||||||||||||
| James Sapirstein | | 2024 | | $416,300 | | $— | | $76,400 | (2) | $— | | $17,608 | (4) | $510,308 |
| Former Chief Executive Officer | 2023 | | $513,600 | | $192,600 | (1) | $339,566 | (3) | $— | (4) | $200,000 | (5) | $1,245,766 | |
| Sarah Romano | 2024 | | $424,616 | | $— | | $26,740 | (2) | $— | | $— | | $451,356 | |
| Former Chief Financial Officer | 2023 | | $390,550 | | $117,165 | (1) | $185,676 | (3) | $— | (4) | $117,165 | (5) | $810,556 | |
| (1) | Represents accrued and unpaid bonuses during 2023, as of December 31, 2023. |
| (2) | Represents the grant date fair value of restricted stock units issued during the year ended December 31, 2024.The assumptions used in the calculation of these amounts are included in Note 11 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements contained in this Annual Report. |
| (3) | Represents the grant date fair value of stock options issued during the year ended December 31, 2023, calculated in accordance with ASC Topic 718. The assumptions used in the calculation of these amounts are included in Note 11 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements contained in the Company’s Annual Report, filed with the SEC on March 20, 2023. |
| (4) | Represents reimbursement of COBRA paid during the year ended December 31, 2024. |
| (5) | Represents retention bonus paid during the year ended December 31, 2023. |
Employment Arrangements and Potential Payments upon Termination or Change of Control
Sapirstein Employment Agreement. Effective October 8, 2019, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Sapirstein to serve as our President and Chief Executive Officer for a term of three years, subject to further renewal upon agreement of the parties. The employment agreement with Mr. Sapirstein originally provided for a base salary of $450,000 per year, which was subsequently increased to $480,000 per year during the year ended December 31, 2020 and to $513,600 during the year ended December 31, 2023. In addition to the base salary, Mr. Sapirstein is eligible to receive (i) an initial bonus of up to 40% of his base salary on an annual basis, based on certain milestones that are yet to be determined, that was increased to a bonus of up to 50% of his base salary effective January 1, 2023; (ii) 1% of net fees received by us upon entering into license agreements with any third-party with respect to any product currently in development or upon the sale of all or substantially all of our assets; (iii) a grant of 33 restricted shares of our Common Stock which are subject to vesting as follows (a) 16 upon the first commercial sale of Adrulipase in the U.S., and (b) 17 upon our total market capitalization exceeding $1.0 billion for 20 consecutive trading days; (iv) a grant of 50 10-year stock options to purchase shares of our Common Stock which are subject to vesting as follows (a) 8 upon us initiating our next Phase 2 clinical trial in the U.S. for Adrulipase, (b) 8 upon us completing our next or subsequent Phase 2 clinical trial in the U.S. for Adrulipase, (c) 17 upon us initiating a Phase 2 clinical trial in the U.S. for Adrulipase, and (d) 17 upon us initiating a Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. for any product other than Adrulipase. Mr. Sapirstein was entitled to receive 20 days of paid vacation, participate in full employee health benefits and receive reimbursement for all reasonable expenses incurred in connection with his services to us.
Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, in the event that Mr. Sapirstein’s employment was terminated by us for Cause, as defined in his employment agreement, or by Mr. Sapirstein voluntarily, then would not be entitled to receive any payments beyond amounts already earned, and any unvested equity awards will terminate. In the event that Mr. Sapirstein’s employment was terminated as a result of an Involuntary Termination Other than for Cause, as defined in the Agreement, Mr. Sapirstein would be entitled to receive the following compensation: (i) severance in the form of continuation of his salary (at the Base Salary rate in effect at the time of termination, but prior to any reduction triggering Good Reason) for a period of 12 months following the termination date; (ii) payment of Executive’s premiums to cover COBRA for a period of 12 months following the termination date; and (iii) a prorated annual bonus.
On August 2, 2024, the Board approved the termination of the employment agreement with Mr. Sapirstein. Mr. Sapirstein did not receive any additional compensation or payments in connection with the termination of his employment agreement . Also on August 2, 2024, the Company and Mr. Sapirstein entered into a consulting agreement with Mr. Sapirstein pursuant to which the Company agreed to pay Mr. Sapirstein $400 an hour monthly for services rendered to the Company. Should travel be required, Mr. Sapirstein will additionally be compensated $200 per hour for travel time plus expenses and the federal mileage rate for car travel. The consulting agreement was terminated on February 2, 2025.
Romano Employment Agreement*.* Effective March 1, 2022, we entered into an employment agreement with Ms. Romano to serve as our Chief Financial Officer for a term of three years, subject to further renewal upon agreement of the parties. The employment agreement with Ms. Romano provides for a base salary of $365,000 per year, which was subsequently increased to $390,550 during the
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year ended December 31, 2023, and to $435,000 during the year ended December 31, 2024. In addition to the base salary, Ms. Romano is eligible to receive an annual milestone cash bonus of 35% of her annual salary based on certain milestones established by our Board or the Compensation Committee, which was subsequently increased to 40% on January 1, 2023. On March 1, 2022, Ms. Romano was granted stock options to purchase 250 shares of Common Stock on March 1, 2022, with an exercise price of $708.00 per share, which shall vest in over a term of three years pursuant to her employment agreement. Ms. Romano was entitled to receive 20 days of paid vacation, participate in full employee health benefits and receive reimbursement for all reasonable expenses incurred in connection with her service to us.
In the event that Ms. Romano’s employment was terminated by us for Cause, as defined in Ms. Romano’s employment agreement, or by Ms. Romano voluntarily, she would not be entitled to receive any payments beyond amounts already earned, and any unvested equity awards would terminate. If we terminate her employment agreement without Cause, not in connection with a Change of Control, as such term is defined in Ms. Romano’s employment agreement, she would be entitled to (i) all salary owed through the date of termination; (ii) any unpaid annual milestone bonus; (iii) severance in the form of continuation of her salary for the greater of a period of six months following the termination date or the remaining term of the employment agreement; (iv) payment of premiums to cover COBRA for a period of six months following the termination date; (v) a prorated annual bonus equal to the target annual milestone bonus, if any, for the year of termination multiplied by the formula set forth in the agreement. If we terminate Ms. Romano’s employment agreement without Cause, in connection with a Change of Control, she would be entitled to the above and immediate accelerated vesting of any unvested options or other unvested awards.
Ms. Romano’s employment agreement expired pursuant to its terms on February 28, 2025 and Ms. Romano did not receive any additional compensation in connection with this expiration. Effective March 7, 2025 Ms. Romano resigned from her position as Chief Financial Officer.
Outstanding Equity Incentive Awards at Fiscal Year-End
The following table sets forth information regarding unexercised options, stock that has not vested and equity incentive awards held by each of the Named Executive Officers outstanding as of December 31, 2024:
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Market | | | | Market |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | value | | Number | | or payout |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Number | | of | | of | | value of |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | of | | shares | | unearned | | unearned |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Shares | | or units | | shares, | | shares, |
| | | | | Number of | | | | | | | | | or units | | of stock | | units or | | units or |
| | | | | Securities | | Number of | | | | | | | of stock | | that | | other | | other |
| | | | | underlying | | underlying | | | | | | | that | | have | | rights | | rights |
| · · · · unexercised · · unexercised · · Option · · Option · · have not · · not · · that have · · that have | |||||||||||||||||||
| · · · · options (#) · · unearned · · exercise · · expiration · · vested · · vested · · not vested · · not | |||||||||||||||||||
| Name · Grant Date · exercisable · options (#) · price ($) · date · (#) · ($) · (#) · vested ($) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Named Executive Officer · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sarah Romano | | 03/01/2022 | | 24 | | 11 | (1) | $4,956.00 | | 02/28/2032 | | — | | $— | | — | | — | |
| | 01/02/2024 | — | — | | | — | | | — | | $— | | 1,750 | (2) | $6,685 | ||||
| (1) | Represents stock options issued to Ms. Romano on March 1, 2022, which options will vest over a term of three years, in three equal annual installments on each yearly anniversary of March 1, 2022. |
| (2) | Represents the RSU award issued to Ms. Romano on January 2, 2024, which RSU will vest over a term of one year on each three-month anniversary. |
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Non-Executive Director Compensation
Effective October 1, 2022, following an independent review of external benchmarks, our Board adopted an updated Non-Executive Director Compensation Policy under which each of our non-executive directors is entitled to receive the following cash compensation for their service on the Board (paid quarterly): (i) an annual retainer of $60,000, (ii) the lead independent director an annual retainer of $20,000, (iii) the chair of the Audit Committee is entitled to receive an additional annual retainer in the amount of $15,000, (iv) each non-chairperson member of the Audit Committee is entitled to receive an additional annual retainer in the amount of $7,500, (v) the chair of the Compensation Committee is entitled to receive an additional annual retainer in the amount of $12,500, (vi) each non-chairperson member of the Compensation Committee is entitled to receive an additional annual retainer in the amount of $6,000, (vii) the chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee is entitled to receive an additional annual retainer in the amount of $10,000, and (viii) each non-chairperson member of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee is entitled to receive an additional annual retainer in the amount of $5,000. Additionally, under this policy, each of our non-executive directors is entitled to receive an annual grant, effective on the date of the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders, of restricted stock unit awards for their service on the Board equivalent to $75,000, which vests in equal quarterly installments.
Our Board will review the Non-Executive Director Compensation Policy on an annual basis prior to September 1 of each year.
The following table provides information regarding compensation paid to non-employee directors for the year ended December 31, 2024. Mr. Sapirstein did not receive compensation for his service on the Board as employee director for the year ended December 31, 2024. Information regarding executive compensation paid to Mr. Sapirstein during 2024 is reflected in the Summary Compensation table under “Executive Compensation.”
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| · · Fees Earned or · · Stock · · Option · · All Other · · · | ||||||||||
| Non-Executive Directors · Paid in Cash(4) · Award (5) · Award · Compensation · Total | ||||||||||
| Edward J. Borkowski | | $97,500 | | $74,998 | | $— | | $— | | $172,498 |
| Charles J. Casamento (1) | | $40,000 | | $74,998 | | $— | | $— | | $114,998 |
| Alastair Riddell (2) | | $71,000 | | $74,998 | | $— | | $— | | $145,998 |
| Terry Coelho (1) | | $40,500 | | $74,998 | | $— | | $— | | $115,498 |
| Chaitan Khosla (3) | | $— | | $56,249 | | $— | | $— | | $56,249 |
| Jack Syage | | $— | | $— | | $— | | $— | | $— |
| (1) | Mr. Casamento and Ms. Coelho resigned from the board effective August 2, 2024. |
| (2) | Mr. Riddell resigned from the board effective February 3, 2025. |
| (3) | Mr. Khosla resigned from the board effective August 16, 2024. |
| (4) | Represents amounts of accrued and unpaid cash compensation for board services through December 31, 2024. |
| (5) | Represents the aggregate grant date fair value of 19,633 restricted stock units issued to each of Messrs. Borkowski, Casamento, Riddell and Ms. Coelho on January 2, 2024, and 24,889 restricted stock units issued to Mr. Khosla on June 11, 2024, our non-employee directors, calculated in accordance with ASC Topic 718. |
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