System1 Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

OR

For transition period from __________ to __________

Commission file number 001-39331

System1, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(310)924-6037

(Registrant’s telephone number including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports); and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

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

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.☒

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b).☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No☒

The aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2023, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $118,737,000 (based on the closing price for shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock as reported by the New York Stock Exchange on that date). Shares of common stock held by each executive officer, director, and holders of 10% or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of possible affiliate status is not a conclusive determination for other purposes.

As of March 8, 2024, there were 68,420,666 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 21,203,676 shares of Class C common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The information required by Part III of this report, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated by reference from the registrant’s proxy statement relating to its annual meeting of stockholders to be filed by April 29 th 2024. The proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.

Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, and any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and are subject to a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described under the section in this Annual Report on Form 10-K titled “Risk Factors.” These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks, including, without limitation, the following:

•The ability to maintain our key relationships with network partners and advertisers, including our monetization arrangements;

•The ability to collect, process, effectively utilize and safely store the first party data that we obtain through our services;

•The performance of our responsive acquisition marketing platform, or RAMP;

•Changes in customer demand for our services and our ability to incorporate to such changes;

•The ability to maintain and attract consumers and advertisers in the face of changing economic or competitive conditions;

•The ability to improve and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting and remediate identified material weaknesses;

•The ability to successfully source and complete acquisitions and to integrate the operations of companies System1 acquires;

•The ability to raise financing in the future as and when needed or on market terms;

•The ability to compete with existing competitors and the entry of new competitors in the market;

•Changes in applicable laws or regulations impacting the business which we operate and our ability to maintain compliance with the various laws that our business and operations are subject to;

•The ability to protect our intellectual property rights; and

•Other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including those described herein under the heading “Risk Factors.”

Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond our control, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in a rapidly evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. As a result of these factors, we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K will prove to be accurate. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K, along with our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.