For 2024, we expect continued growth and margin expansion, forecasting to approximately double our Adjusted EBITDA margin to between 12% to 14%, with a path to achieving 25% to 30% Adjusted EBITDA margins within the next few years.1 We have a more focused business model than ever before, and one that is well-positioned for sustainable, profitable growth.
This Year’s Annual Meeting
At this year’s Annual Meeting, Xperi is nominating five candidates for election to the Board, all of whom oversaw the transformative merger with TiVo and subsequent separation, and all of whom have been instrumental in driving the Company’s transformation: Darcy Antonellis, Laura J. Durr, David C. Habiger, Jon E. Kirchner and Christopher Seams.
Our candidates for the Board are dedicated, diverse and experienced. They have been executives and directors at prominent technology and media companies, like J.D. Power, Reddit, Polycom, NETGEAR, Amdocs, Cinemark and Warner Bros. They also bring deep expertise in areas that are important to our go-forward business, including content monetization, consumer and media technology, automotive software, subscription-based business models, streaming media and product development.
Despite the actions we have taken to strengthen and reposition the business, one of our stockholders, Rubric Capital Master Fund LP (together with its affiliates, “Rubric”), has nominated two individuals to our Board and is seeking to replace half of our independent directors. Rubric’s candidates include Tom Lacey, the former leader of Tessera – a business that no longer exists within Xperi – and one of his former colleagues and close personal friends. Neither of Rubric’s nominees have any meaningful experience in entertainment technology, digital media, content monetization or any other area that is critical for the future of Xperi. We do not believe they would bring any relevant expertise that is not already well-represented on the Board. In fact, during our conversations with them, they admitted that their skills are not additive to those of Xperi’s incumbent directors.4
We have known Rubric and its principals for many years. Rubric traded in and out of the stocks of our predecessor entities before investing in Xperi shortly after our separation. To date, however, Rubric has not identified any concerns that we are not already addressing, nor has it provided any recommendations for how to improve Xperi.
Rubric’s motives are unclear. But what is clear is that Rubric is intent on electing its candidate, Mr. Lacey, to the Board. We have engaged constructively with Rubric and have presented Rubric with two proposals that would achieve its aim of Board change. Our most recent proposal included the appointment of one of Rubric’s two candidates, Deborah Conrad, to an expanded Board along with two new Board-identified candidates who are experts in areas that are more relevant to our business, including advertising monetization, capital allocation, digital media and automotive technology. Rubric, however, refuses to accept any resolution that does not include its candidate Mr. Lacey being appointed Chair of the Board.
We do not believe Rubric’s proposal is in the best interests of stockholders. We know and respect Mr. Lacey. Some of us have even worked with him. But Mr. Lacey’s last involvement with Xperi was nearly seven years ago, when semiconductor IP licensing – Mr. Lacey’s area of expertise – was still an important part of our business. Today, that is no longer the case; Xperi’s business has changed dramatically, and Mr. Lacey’s background is no longer relevant to the Company’s present or its future. The primary businesses during Mr. Lacey’s tenure – Tessera and its subsidiaries Invensas, Ziptronix and FotoNation – are no longer part of our company. In our view, the election of Mr. Lacey and Rubric’s other nominee, Ms. Conrad, would take Xperi backwards and substantially weaken the Board.