Item 10. Directors, Executive Officer and Corporate Governance.
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Item 10. Directors, Executive Officer and Corporate Governance.
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Below is a list of our executive officers and directors and their respective ages and a brief account of the business experience of each of them.
| Name | Age | Position | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David M. Cote | 67 | Executive Chairman of the Board | ||||
| Rob Johnson | 53 | Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||||
| Joseph van Dokkum | 66 | Director | ||||
| Roger Fradin | 66 | Director | ||||
| Jacob Kotzubei | 51 | Director | ||||
| Matthew Louie | 42 | Director | ||||
| Edward L. Monser | 69 | Director | ||||
| Steven S. Reinemund | 71 | Director | ||||
| Robin L. Washington | 57 | Director | ||||
| David J. Fallon | 50 | Chief Financial Officer | ||||
| Giordano Albertazzi | 54 | President of Europe, Middle East and Africa | ||||
| Andrew Cole | 55 | Chief Organizational Development and Human Resources Officer | ||||
| Colin Flannery | 54 | General Counsel and Corporate Secretary | ||||
| Jason M. Forcier | 48 | Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice President of Infrastructure and Solutions | ||||
| Sheryl Haislet | 54 | Chief Information Officer | ||||
| John Hewitt | 50 | President of the Americas | ||||
| Patrick Johnson | 49 | Executive Vice President of Information Technology and Edge Infrastructure | ||||
| Steve Lalla | 57 | Executive Vice President of Service and Software Solutions | ||||
| Stephen Liang | 61 | President of Asia Pacific | ||||
| Gary Niederpruem | 45 | Chief Strategy and Development Officer |
The directors were nominated pursuant to the director nomination rights set forth in the Stockholders Agreement.
Directors
David M. Cote. Mr. Cote has served as our Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors since February 7, 2020. From April 2018 until the Business Combination, Mr. Cote served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Secretary, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GSAH. Mr. Cote served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell from July 2002 to March 2017. Most recently, Mr. Cote was Executive Chairman of the Board at Honeywell until April 23, 2018. He joined Honeywell as President and Chief Executive Officer in February 2002. Prior to joining Honeywell, he served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of TRW Inc., a provider of products and services for the aerospace, information systems and automotive markets, from August 2001 to February 2002. From February 2001 to July 2001, he served as TRW’s President and Chief Executive Officer and from November 1999 to January 2001 he served as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Cote was Senior Vice President of General Electric Company and President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Appliances from June 1996 to November 1999. Mr. Cote was a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from March 2014 to March 2018. He previously served as a director of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from July 2007 to July 2013. Mr. Cote was selected to serve on our Board due to his significant leadership experience and his extensive management and investment experience, including in the industrial sector.
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Rob Johnson. Mr. Johnson has served as our Chief Executive Officer and one of our directors since February 7, 2020. From December 2016 until the Business Combination, Mr. Johnson served as the Chief Executive Officer of Vertiv and was Vertiv’s first CEO. Prior to that he had been an operating partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (“Kleiner Perkins”) from 2014 to 2016. From 2013 to 2014, Johnson worked in executive positions at Consolidated Container Corporation. Prior to Consolidated Container Company, Mr. Johnson had a five year tenure, between 2008 and 2013, in executive positions at A123 Systems (formerly NASDAQ: AONE), a global manufacturer of lithium ion batteries. On October 16, 2012, A123 Systems voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and, on January 29, 2013, A123 Systems completed the sale of substantially all of its assets and operations. Mr. Johnson was the Chief Executive Officer of American Power Conversion (formerly NASDAQ: APCC) (“APC”) from 2006 until 2007, where he managed the company’s sale to Schneider Electric (OTC: SBGSY) for $6.1 billion in 2007. Prior to his CEO role at American Power Conversion, Mr. Johnson was a general manager at APC with responsibility for power management, thermal management, IT infrastructure, along with software and controls. Before his roles at APC, Mr. Johnson led Systems Enhancement Corporation, a company he founded to create innovative software and hardware solutions for the data center industry. He sold that company to American Power Conversion in 1997. Mr. Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science and honorary Ph.D. in Engineering Management from The Missouri University of Science and Technology. He was elected into the Engineering Management Academy of Sciences. He served on several boards in the past and is the co-author of “Executing Your Business Transformation,” a guide for companies navigating major changes published in 2010. Rob Johnson is the brother of Patrick Johnson who serves as our Executive Vice President of Information Technology and Edge Infrastructure. Mr. Johnson was selected to serve on our Board due to his knowledge of the data center industry and his experience operating Vertiv for the past 3 years.
Joseph van Dokkum. Mr. van Dokkum has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. Mr. van Dokkum is Chairman of Imperative Science Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on science breakthroughs. From 2009 to 2019, he was an Operating Partner with Kleiner Perkins in Menlo Park, CA, where he worked closely with his investment partners and the leadership of their start-up and growth portfolio companies to accelerate commercialization and scale the businesses. Before that, Mr. van Dokkum served for seven years as President of UTC Power, a division of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX), where he was instrumental in organically growing UTC Power’s power generation products and service offerings, including fuel cells, renewable power solutions and combined cooling, heating and power applications for the commercial building markets. Prior to UTC Power, Mr. van Dokkum was with Siemens (OTC: SIEGY) for 17 years. For the last six of those years, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc. During that time he augmented the company’s traditional power equipment, such as switchgear, power breakers, transformers and regulators, with intelligent systems and controls. This effort returned profitability to the business and enabled the expansion of the product portfolio through numerous acquisitions. Mr. van Dokkum serves on the boards of Ionic Materials, Inc., Solidia Technologies, Inc., and TAS Energy, Inc. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Albertus Magnus. Mr. van Dokkum was selected to serve on our Board due to his extensive leadership experience and industry knowledge.
Roger Fradin. Mr. Fradin has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. From June 2018 until the Business Combination, Mr. Fradin served as one of GSAH’s directors. Mr. Fradin joined Honeywell in 2000 when Honeywell acquired Pittway Corporation. Mr. Fradin served as president and chief executive officer of Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions business from January 2004 to April 2014. Mr. Fradin served as vice chairman of Honeywell from April 2014 until his retirement in February 2017. Mr. Fradin is also a consultant for The Carlyle Group and an advisor to Seal Rock Partners. Mr. Fradin received his M.B.A. and B.S. degrees from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has also served as a member of the faculty. Mr. Fradin is currently a director of L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX), Resideo Technologies Inc (NYSE: REZI) and Juniper Industrial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: JIH.U) (“JIH”), and was formerly a director of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: MSM) and Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI). Mr. Fradin was selected to serve on our Board due to his deep industrial expertise, specifically in the automation and control solutions sectors, as well as for his experience overseeing acquisitions.
Jacob Kotzubei. Mr. Kotzubei has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. Mr. Kotzubei joined Platinum Equity, a private equity firm, in 2002 and is a Partner at the firm. Mr. Kotzubei serves as a director or manager of a number of Platinum Equity’s portfolio companies. Prior to joining Platinum Equity in 2002, Mr. Kotzubei worked for 4.5 years for Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division in New York City. Previously, he was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York City, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Kotzubei serves on the board of directors of Key Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: KEG), KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM), Ryerson Holding Corporation (NYSE: RYI) and Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ: VRRM). On November 12, 2019, KEMET Corporation announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Yageo Corporation, a Taiwan-based company, in an all-cash transaction. Mr. Kotzubei received a Bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law, where he was elected a member of the Columbia Law Review. Mr. Kotzubei was selected to serve on our Board due to his experience in executive management oversight, private equity, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and other transactional matters.
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Matthew Louie. Mr. Louie has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. Mr. Louie joined Platinum Equity in 2008 and is a Principal at the firm. Mr. Louie serves on the board of certain Platinum Equity’s portfolio companies. Prior to joining Platinum Equity, Mr. Louie was an investment professional at American Capital Strategies, a middle-market focused private equity firm. Prior to American Capital, Mr. Louie worked in venture capital and growth equity at both Canaan Partners and Agilent Technologies, and in investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Louie holds undergraduate degrees in both Economics as well as Political Science from Stanford University. He also holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Mr. Louie was selected to serve on our Board due to his experience related to private equity, capital markets, transactional matters and post-acquisition oversight of operational performance at portfolio companies.
Edward L. Monser. Mr. Monser has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. Mr. Monser serves on the board of directors for Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: APD), where he is chairman of the Management Development and Compensation Committee, and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (TSX: CP) (NYSE: CP), where he is on the Audit and Compensation Committees. From 2010 to 2018, Mr. Monser served as president of Emerson (NYSE: EMR), where he had more than 30 years of experience in senior operational positions and played a key role in its globalization. From 2001 to 2015, he was a member of Emerson’s Office of the Chief Executive and served as its Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Monser is active in promoting international understanding and trade and is vice chairman of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum. He has served on the advisory Economic Development Board for China’s Guangdong Province, the board of advisors for South Ural State University in Chelyabinsk, Russia and the board of the U.S.-China Business Council, where he was also vice chairman. Mr. Monser received a Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1980 and has a Bachelor’s Degree in education from Eastern Michigan University. He is an alumnus of the executive education program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Mr. Monser was selected to serve on our Board due to his extensive experience in key management positions, including at Emerson when Vertiv was part of that company.
Steven S. Reinemund. Mr. Reinemund has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. From June 2018 until the Business Combination, Mr. Reinemund served as one of GSAH’s directors. Mr. Reinemund served as Dean of Business at Wake Forest University from July 2008 to June 2014, an organization he joined after a 23-year career with PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) (“PepsiCo”). At PepsiCo, Mr. Reinemund served as Executive Chairman from October 2006 to May 2007, and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from May 2001 to October 2006. Prior to being Chief Executive Officer, he was PepsiCo, Inc.’s president and chief operating officer from September 1999 to May 2001. Mr. Reinemund began his career with PepsiCo, Inc. in 1984 at Pizza Hut, Inc. and held other positions until he became president and Chief Executive Officer of Frito-Lay’s North American snack division in 1992. He became chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Frito-Lay’s worldwide operations in 1996. Mr. Reinemund was a director of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) from 2003 to 2008 and of American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) from 2007 to 2015. Mr. Reinemund currently serves as a director of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), Marriott International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR), Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Chick-fil-A, Inc. He also serves on the Board of Directors at USNA Foundation. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy in 1970, Mr. Reinemund served five years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, achieving the rank of Captain. He received an MBA from the University of Virginia, and has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees by Johnson and Wales University and Bryant University. Mr. Reinemund was selected to serve on our Board due to his considerable business leadership roles, mergers and acquisitions experience and his relevant board expertise.
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Robin L. Washington. Ms. Washington has served as one of our directors since February 7, 2020. Ms. Washington is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), a biopharmaceutical company. She held this role from May 2008 until November 1, 2019, the effective date of her retirement as Chief Financial Officer, and remains an advisor to the company until March 1, 2020. From 2006 to 2007, Ms. Washington served as Chief Financial Officer of Hyperion Solutions, an enterprise software company that was acquired by Oracle Corporation in March 2007. Prior to that, she spent nearly 10 years at PeopleSoft, Inc., a provider of enterprise application software, where she served in a number of executive positions, most recently in the role of Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller. Since April 2019, Ms. Washington has served on the board and on the leadership development and compensation committee of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), a multinational technology company. Ms. Washington also currently serves as a director of Honeywell International, Inc. (NYSE: HON), a diversified technology and manufacturing company, where she has served since April 2013, and as director of Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), a global leader in customer relationship management technology, where she has served since September 2013, where she currently chairs the audit committee. Ms. Washington also serves on the Board of Visitors, Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University, the Presidents Council & Ross Business School Advisory Board, University of Michigan and the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Board of Directors. She is a Certified Public Accountant, and received a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. Ms. Washington was selected to serve on our Board due to her extensive experience in management, operations and accounting in the technology sector, along with her financial expertise.
Executive Officers
David M. Cote. Mr. Cote has served as our Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors since February 7, 2020. Biographical information for Mr. Cote is set forth under “—Directors” above.
Rob Johnson. Mr. Johnson has served as our Chief Executive Officer and one of our directors since February 7, 2020. Biographical information for Mr. Johnson is set forth under “—Directors”above.
David J. Fallon. Mr. Fallon has served as our Chief Financial Officer since February 7, 2020. From July 2017 until the Business Combination, Mr. Fallon served as the Chief Financial Officer of Vertiv and has more than 25 years of experience in financial management with global companies. Prior to joining Vertiv, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Fallon served as Chief Financial Officer at CLARCOR, Inc. (formerly NYSE: CLC), which was a $1.4 billion filtration company with operations in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. From 2009 to 2010, he served as Vice President of Finance for CLARCOR, Inc. CLARCOR, Inc. was purchased by Parker-Hannifin in February 2017. From 2002 to 2009, Mr. Fallon served as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance for Noble International (formerly NASDAQ: NOBL), which was a $1.1 billion auto supplier with global manufacturing operations. Prior to joining Noble International, he served as Treasury Manager at Textron Automotive from 2000 to 2002, a financial analyst at DaimlerChrysler from 1997 to 2000 and as a senior accountant at Deloitte & Touche from 1991 to 1995. Mr. Fallon earned a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Dayton. He is certified as a Chartered Financial Analyst® and a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
Giordano Albertazzi. Mr. Albertazzi has served as our President of Europe, Middle East and Africa since February 7, 2020. From 2016 until the Business Combination, Mr. Albertazzi served as the President of Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa and was responsible for Vertiv’s operations and business development within the region. Mr. Albertazzi began his career at Kone Elevators, where he progressed through operations and product development leadership. He then joined Emerson Network Power in 1998 and held positions with increasing responsibility, including Plant Manager from 1999 to 2001, EMEA Marketing and Product Management Director from 2002 to 2004, and Managing Director for the Italian market unit from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, he was promoted to Vice President Services for the Liebert Europe business. In 2011, Mr. Albertazzi was appointed Vice President Services for the broader Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and in 2014 became Vice President Sales. Mr. Albertazzi holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan as well as a Master’s Degree in Management from Stanford University.
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Andrew Cole. Mr. Cole has served as our Chief Organizational Development and Human Resources Officer since February 7, 2020. From January 2017 until the Business Combination, Mr. Cole served as the Chief Organizational Development and Human Resources Officer of Vertiv and was responsible for Vertiv’s strategic direction for organizational design, change management and talent acquisition. His role included leading Vertiv employees through the transition from publicly traded Emerson to privately held Vertiv. Mr. Cole also has responsibility for Global Business Services (GBS) and the continued efficiency gains across Vertiv’s back office operations. Over the last two decades, Mr. Cole has helped several dynamic, high-growth global market leaders succeed. During his career, he has been responsible for the oversight of organizational development and transformation programs across the globe, corporate talent strategy, leadership development and change management for teams of up to 20,000 employees. Prior to Vertiv, from 2016 to 2017, Mr. Cole was the chief human resources and organizational development officer at Lumeris. From 2013 to 2015, he worked at Goldstine Management Group. Mr. Cole has also worked at high-tech companies such as A123 Systems, Schneider Electric and APC. On October 16, 2012, A123 Systems voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and, on January 29, 2013, A123 Systems completed the sale of substantially all of its assets and operations. Mr. Cole holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Studies and a Master of Science in Management Degree from Regis University.
Colin Flannery. Mr. Flannery has served as our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since February 7, 2020. From June 2017 until the Business Combination, Mr. Flannery served as the General Counsel of Vertiv. Prior to joining Vertiv, from 2007 to 2017, Mr. Flannery was the General Counsel of Sensus, a multinational Smart Grid Technology corporation, and helped steer the successful sale of that company to Xylem (NYSE: XYL) for $1.7B in October 2016. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Flannery was the Vice President—Legal of Atos Origin, a multinational IT Services corporation. He was based in Paris and responsible for the company’s legal function in North and South America, the UK and Asia. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Flannery worked in the legal department of Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) in Atlanta as the Legal Counsel for its North American metering division. In 2000, he was promoted to be Schlumberger’s General Counsel—South America, based in Brazil, where he was responsible for the legal function of all Schlumberger’s operations in South America. In 2002, he was again promoted within Schlumberger to be responsible for the legal function for Schlumberger’s operations in North and South America. Mr. Flannery began his career as a corporate lawyer with Allens Linklaters (f/k/a Feez Ruthning) in Brisbane, Australia in 1988. After obtaining his Juris Doctor from Georgia State University in 1995, he began working for Troutman Sanders in Atlanta, Georgia until 1997. Mr. Flannery holds Anglo-Australian and US law degrees.
Jason M. Forcier. Mr. Forcier has served as our Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice President of Infrastructure and Solutions since February 7, 2020. From May 2019 until the Business Combination, Mr. Forcier served as the Chief Operations Officer of Vertiv and, prior to that role, as Executive Vice President of Infrastructure and Solutions of Vertiv since October 2017, where he has global responsibility for manufacturing, operations, supply chain and quality, as well as leading the large infrastructure and solutions lines of business. Prior to joining Vertiv, Mr. Forcier spent eight years at A123 Systems, a global manufacturer of lithium ion batteries, where he was the Chief Executive Officer from 2013 until 2017 and member of the board of management. Mr. Forcier joined and established the automotive business of A123 Systems in 2009 and was a member of the executive management team that led the company through its initial public offering on the NASDAQ. On October 16, 2012, A123 Systems voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and, on January 29, 2013, A123 Systems completed the sale of substantially all of its assets and operations. Prior to joining A123 Systems, Mr. Forcier served as Vice President and General Manager of the global electronics business of Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA) and as the North American President, Automotive Electronics Division of Robert Bosch LLC. Over the course of his 12-year career with Bosch, he was also a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of ETAS, Inc., a Bosch Subsidiary. Mr. Forcier earned a Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering from GMI Engineering & Management Institute (now Kettering University) and a Master’s Degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.
Sheryl Haislet. Ms. Haislet has served as our Chief Information Officer since February 24, 2020. Prior to joining Vertiv, from October 2015 to September 2019, Ms. Haislet was the Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology and Digital Office at Adient plc., a $17 billion global automotive seating manufacturer. She also served on Adient’s audit committee. Prior to joining Adient, Ms. Haislet spent twenty-five years with Johnson Controls Inc., a $42 billion diversified technology corporation. At Johnson Controls, Ms. Haislet held a variety of positions of increasing seniority, culminating in her being appointed Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology, Power Solutions, in October 2014. Ms. Haislet holds an Executive Masters of Business Administration from the Quantic School of Business and Technology, a Graduate Certificate in SAP from Central Michigan University, a Masters in Computer Information Systems from Grand Valley State University and a Bachelor in Arts from the University of Michigan.
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John Hewitt. Mr. Hewitt has served as our President of the Americas since February 7, 2020. From October 2017 until the Business Combination, Mr. Hewitt served as President of the Americas of Vertiv, with responsibility for business development and operations in the United States, Central and Latin America and Canada. Mr. Hewitt is a global business executive with more than 25 years of experience leading both high-growth and turnaround businesses through multiple market cycles in the technology and industrial markets. Prior to joining Vertiv, Mr. Hewitt held a variety of global P&L, strategy, business development and financial leadership roles in the United States, EMEA, South America and Asia. In 2017, he served as Vice President and Managing Director at Aptiv PLC (NYSE: APTV), a global technology and mobility company primarily serving the automotive sector. From 2014 to 2016, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager at TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL), a global industrial technology provider of connectivity and sensor solutions. Mr. Hewitt earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting from Oklahoma State University and an MBA in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Patrick Johnson. Mr. Johnson has served as our Executive Vice President of Information Technology and Edge Infrastructure (“ITEI”) since February 7, 2020. From November 2017 until the Business Combination, Mr. Johnson served as Vertiv’s Executive Vice President of the ITEI. Mr. Johnson started his career with Systems Enhancement Corporation, which was sold to APC in 1997. Mr. Johnson stayed on with APC for 10 years until it was acquired by Schneider Electric in 2007. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Johnson was Vice President of Rack Systems at Schneider Electric and was then promoted to Senior Vice President of Datacenter Systems, having responsibility for the product lines of Racks, Rack PDUs, Thermal and Software. In late 2016, Mr. Johnson joined Artesyn Embedded Technologies, where he served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Mr. Johnson earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management from The Missouri University of Science and Technology. Patrick Johnson is the brother of Rob Johnson who serves as our Chief Executive Officer.
Steve Lalla. Mr. Lalla has served as our Executive Vice President of Service and Software Solutions since February 7, 2020. From June 2018 until the Business Combination, Mr. Lalla served as Executive Vice President, Service and Software Solutions of Vertiv, overseeing a global portfolio that includes services and software solutions for power, thermal and industrial products. Mr. Lalla has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry running businesses that delivered hardware platforms, software and service solutions, as well as data center transformation. Prior to joining Vertiv, from 2013 to 2017, Mr. Lalla was Senior Vice President of the Cloud Client Computing and Data Security business of Dell Corporation (NYSE: DELL). Mr. Lalla grew these businesses through organic investments and strategic acquisitions, resulting in industry leading PC security solutions and virtual desktop solutions for hyper converged data centers. Mr. Lalla began his career at Dell in 2009 as Vice President for the Commercial PC business. Prior to joining Dell, Mr. Lalla led Mass Market Products for Motorola’s (NYSE: MSI) Mobile Devices division from 2002 to 2009. Mr. Lalla holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University and a Bachelor’s Degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Stephen Liang. Mr. Liang has served as our President of Asia Pacific since February 7, 2020. Mr. Liang previously served as the President of Vertiv in Asia Pacific where he was responsible for Vertiv’s operations and business development in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Liang began working at Emerson in 1994, when he worked in Astec, a business specializing in power supply solutions for the computing and communications industries. At the beginning, he served as Vice President of Manufacturing Operations in the Philippines and was then promoted to Executive Vice President of Asian Operations in 1998. He then was promoted to President of Emerson Network Power China in 2001, leading the merging of four organizations and migrating R&D and production facilities. In 2009, Mr. Liang became President, Emerson Network Power Asia Pacific, responsible for all of Network Power’s Asia Pacific businesses including China, India and Australia. In 2014, as Group Vice President, Mr. Liang also managed the global telecom business. Mr. Liang holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Gary Niederpruem. Mr. Niederpruem has served as our Chief Strategy and Development Officer since February 7, 2020. From 2018 until the Business Combination, Mr. Niederpruem served as the Chief Strategy and Development Officer of Vertiv and was responsible for leading the marketing, strategy and M&A functions. Mr. Niederpruem has more than 20 years of experience in analyzing market trends, engaging customers and setting corporate-wide and business unit offering strategies to align with the market. He has driven strategy and growth initiatives through both organic and inorganic activities. Prior to joining Vertiv, Mr. Niederpruem held a variety of P&L and product management leadership roles at Emerson and Danaher. From 2011 to 2014, Mr. Niederpruem was the General Manager of the Integrated Modular Solutions business and Vice President of Product Management of Emerson (NYSE: EMR). In 2014, he was named Vice President of Global Marketing for Emerson Network Power and, in mid-2016, he assumed oversight for the strategy function serving as Executive Vice President, Marketing, Strategy and Development. Mr. Niederpruem attended John Carroll University where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and Logistics. He also has a Master’s Degree in Business from the University of Notre Dame.
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Committees of the Board of Directors
Our Board has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Each of our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee are composed solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that was approved by our Board and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website.
Audit Committee
The members of our audit committee are Steven S. Reinemund, Robin L. Washington and Edward L. Monser. Mr. Reinemund serves as the chairman of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our Board has determined that Mr. Steven S. Reinemund qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| • | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent auditor’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors; |
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| • | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
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| • | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
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| • | reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; | |
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| • | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors; |
| • | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
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| • | obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent auditors describing (1) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
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| • | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations disclosure; |
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| • | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
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| • | reviewing with management, the independent auditors, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
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Compensation Committee
The members of our compensation committee are Roger Fradin, Joseph van Dokkum and Steven S. Reinemund. Mr. Fradin serves as the chairman of the compensation committee.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:
| • | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
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| • | reviewing and making recommendations to our Board with respect to the compensation, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
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| • | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
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| • | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
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| • | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
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| • | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
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| • | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
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| • | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
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The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Joseph van Dokkum, Roger Fradin and Edward L. Monser. Mr. van Dokkum serves as the chairman of the Nominating Committee.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
| • | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to our Board candidates for nomination for election at the annual meeting of stockholders or to fill vacancies on our Board; |
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| • | developing and recommending to our Board and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
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| • | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of our Board, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
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| • | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
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| 66 |
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The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and is directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, our Board considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to all of our directors, officers and other employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions. The code of ethics is available on our website, www.vertiv.com. We intend to make any legally required disclosures regarding amendments to, or waivers of, provisions of our code of ethics on our website.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of our Class A common stock to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. These reporting persons are also required to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely upon a review of such forms, we believe that during the year ended December 31, 2019 there were no delinquent filers.
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