Jefferies announces $25M retention grant for its CEO and President
Investment bank and financial services firm Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) has granted each of its Chief Executive Officer and President a special long-term eight-year retention grant with a grant date value of $25 million, in the form of 871,992 restricted stock units under the Company’s Equity Compensation Plan (ECP).
Vesting of the Leadership Continuity Grant requires that each Executive remains in continuous service to Jefferies for the entire next five years (that is, until December 16, 2026), with limited exceptions (e.g., death, disability, termination without cause, or a change in control).
In addition, following vesting, each Leadership Continuity Grant is subject to an additional three-year holding period, resulting in an eight-year period of restriction that will end on December 16, 2029. The Leadership Continuity Grant will also be subject to the clawback/recoupment provisions contained in the ECP.
Richard Handler, Jefferies’ Chief Executive Officer, has been with the Jefferies family of companies since 1990, and Brian Friedman, Jefferies’ President, since 2001.
The company states:
“During their partnership, each Executive has contributed to delivering impressive return on equity and total shareholder return, and driven our primary operating company, Jefferies Group LLC, to become one of the leading global Wall Street firms. Each has also been instrumental to the design and execution of our strategy and has worked tirelessly to instill in our Company a strong entrepreneurial spirit properly tempered with an acutely risk-aware culture that has led to our success”.
In making this award, the Board recognizes the impact of each Executive’s long-term stewardship in an extremely competitive industry and a robust market for talent, and intends to ensure leadership continuity for many years into the future.