Coinbase to pay up to $4M per year to its CEO for “security and IT expenses”
Coinbase has today informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about the latest decisions of the Compensation Committee of its Board.
In an SEC filing, Coinbase says that the Compensation Committee has approved the payment or reimbursement by the company to Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s Chief Executive Officer, of up to $4.0 million annually in expenses related to personal security services and information technology support (the “CEO Security and IT Expenses”) together with any associated tax gross-up payments.
Additionally, for 2022, the Compensation Committee has approved the one-time payment or reimbursement by the company to Mr. Armstrong of up to $1.1 million for expenses related to personal security services and information technology support improvements (the “Additional Expenses”) together with any associated tax gross-up payments.
The Compensation Committee believes that the CEO Security and IT Expenses and Additional Expenses are appropriate and necessary due to the importance of Mr. Armstrong to the Company and because of his unique position with the Company, the high visibility of Coinbase and Mr. Armstrong, and, as a result of the Company’s business, the size of its user base, and the Company and Mr. Armstrong’s continued exposure to global media and regulatory attention.
Brian Armstrong is Coinbase’s co-founder and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors since its inception in May 2012. Before founding Coinbase, Mr. Armstrong served as a software engineer at Airbnb, Inc., an online marketplace company, from May 2011 to June 2012.
From August 2003 to May 2012, Mr. Armstrong served as the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Universitytutor.com, an online tutoring directory and a subsidiary of Johnson Educational Technologies LLC. Mr. Armstrong also previously served as a consultant for the enterprise risk management division at Deloitte & Touche LLP, an accounting and consulting firm, from July 2005 to November 2005.
In January 2020, Mr. Armstrong founded ResearchHub Technologies, Inc., a scientific research development platform, where he currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors.
Mr. Armstrong holds a B.A. in Computer Science and Economics and an M.S. in Computer Science from Rice University.