Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
Executive and Board Transitions
On October 6, 2022, Open Lending Corporation (the “Company”) announced that John J. Flynn retired from his position as Chief Executive Officer and that the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) appointed Mr. Flynn to the Board as its Chairman, each effective as of the same date.
The Company also announced that Ross M. Jessup retired from his positions as President and Chief Operating Officer and as a member of the Board effective as of October 5, 2022. Mr. Jessup will transition to an advisory role at the Company.
On October 6, 2022, the Board appointed Keith A. Jezek, age 58, to succeed Mr. Flynn as Chief Executive Officer of the Company and elected Mr. Jezek as a member of the Board, each effective as of the same date.
On October 6, 2022, Jessica Snyder, a current director who serves as Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board, was appointed Vice Chair of the Board, effective as of the same date.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Jezek served as President, Retail Solutions Group for Cox Automotive group, which includes brands such as DealerTrack, Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, vAuto, Dealer.com, Vin Solutions and Xtime, among others, since 2015. Mr. Jezek co-founded vAuto, Inc. and in September 2010, led vAuto through its successful acquisition by AutoTrader Group (now Cox Automotive). Mr. Jezek served as the Chief Executive Officer of vAuto from January 2007 through September 2010. Prior to vAuto, Mr. Jezek held various key management positions with ADP (now CDK), Digital Motorworks and TraveLogix. Mr. Jezek received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Austin, and his MBA in Finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. We believe that Mr. Jezek is qualified to serve as a member of our Board based on his extensive experience as a leader of several companies in the automotive market.
Mr. Jezek does not have any family relationship with any director or executive officer of the Company, or person nominated or chosen by the Company to become a director or executive officer, and he has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
The Company also will enter into its standard form of officer indemnification agreement and form of director indemnification agreement with Mr. Jezek, the forms of which are filed as Exhibit 10.11 and Exhibit 10.12, respectively, to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 15, 2020.
On October 6, 2022, the Company issued a press release in connection with the foregoing transitions. A copy of this press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this report on Form 8-K.
Employment Agreement with Mr. Jezek
The Company has entered into an employment agreement with Keith A. Jezek (the “Jezek Employment Agreement”), dated as of October 6, 2022, in which Mr. Jezek will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company effective as of October 7, 2022 (the “CEO Employment Commencement Date”).
Pursuant to the Jezek Employment Agreement, Mr. Jezek will be paid an annual base salary of $550,000 and, commencing in 2023, he will be eligible to receive an annual cash incentive bonus with a target of 100% of his base salary and with the opportunity to earn up to 150% of his base salary based on the attainment of performance measures to be established by the Board or the Compensation Committee of the Board. In the event of a change in control of the Company, Mr. Jezek will be eligible to receive a prorated annual cash incentive bonus at the greater of the target or actual level of performance as of the date of the change in control. The Jezek Employment Agreement provides that, commencing in 2023, Mr. Jezek will receive annual long-term incentive awards with a target value of $4,000,000, of which 60% will granted be in the form of performance-based restricted stock units that will vest or be forfeited at the end of a three-year performance period and 40% will be in the form of time-based restricted stock units that vest over four-years following the date of grant, in either case, subject to continued employment through the applicable vesting dates. The Jezek Employment Agreement further provides for an initial long-term equity incentive award of 825,000 time-based restricted stock units, which will vest as to 25% on the 12 month anniversary of the CEO Employment Commencement Date and, thereafter, on each of the first thirty-six (36) monthly anniversaries of the