It remains unclear whether Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX) founder and CEO Eyal Waldman will remain with the company after the acquisition by Nvidia is completed.
Following the acquisition last month Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that Waldman would be staying on and that he is one of those who typify "the culture and people in Israel promoting excellence and a spirit of entrepreneurship." For his part, Waldman said, "Regarding my future, I still don't know, we haven't yet decided."
However, if the agenda of the upcoming shareholders meeting is anything to go by, Waldman will not leave Mellanox empty handed if he decides to leave. The shareholders are being asked to approve a golden parachute of $31.5 million, if Waldman decided to leave after the acquisition is completed. If approved he would receive $3.4 million remuneration in cash and equity remuneration of $28.1 million, which is the equivalent of the blocked shares that he owns. This is a maximum amount, which would fall by $12 million if the shareholders fail to approve the remuneration.
Nvidia is buying Mellanox in a deal that will total $7.36 billion with all the blocked shares and options and performance based remunerations held by the company's employees. In addition to his golden parachute, Waldman has a 3.4% equity stake in Mellanox - 1.8 million shares - worth about $230 million.
Waldman, 58, founded Mellanox in 1999. Based in Yokneam near Haifa, the company develops big data connectivity and computer networking chips and products.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 25, 2019
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