Opendoor Applied sciences goes all in on new CEO Kaz Nejatian with an aggressive compensation bundle that might see him clear $2.78 billion and personal almost 12% of the corporate. However he’ll need to do greater than triple the share value of an actual property know-how firm some have deemed a buzzy meme inventory.
Within the meantime, Nejatian may have Opendoor’s founders—Eric Wu and Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois—overseeing him on the board. Wu served as Opendoor’s CEO from 2013 to 2022 and chaired the board from 2020 to 2022. Rabois, who served on the boards of Reddit and Yelp and presently serves on the board of Ramp, was appointed chairman. Each are returning to Opendoor to deliver again “founder DNA and vitality,” the corporate introduced. They’ll additionally inject capital; Khosla Ventures and Wu invested $40 million of fairness capital into Opendoor by means of a personal buy. In the meantime, two different administrators, Pueo Keffer and Glenn Solomon, have stepped down in a big management shuffle.
In a press launch, Opendoor mentioned it was “going into founder mode” with Nejatian’s appointment and in luring Rabois and Wu again with seats on the board and new financing.
“Actually there was just one alternative for the job: Kaz,” mentioned Rabois in an announcement. “I’m thrilled that he can be serving as CEO of Opendoor.”
Nejatian’s pay bundle will see Opendoor flip away from conventional CEO compensation plans in favor of a return to large fairness awards tied totally to inventory value efficiency, in line with his supply. Nejatian left his position as chief working officer at Shopify to affix Opendoor, and he’ll get two “make-whole” awards from his new bosses. The primary is a $15 million money award, and the second is a $15 million restricted-stock unit award. Each vest in 9 months.
Nejatian, who beforehand cofounded a cost tech firm referred to as Kash, may also get two performance-based awards. The primary award of 40.9 million shares is mainly designed round making certain that shareholder worth isn’t eroded, mentioned Farient Advisors vp Eric Hoffmann. The shares vest in installments over 5 years with a inventory value gate of $6.24, which suggests the inventory has to take care of a median closing value of $6.24 or larger over a 60-day interval for vesting to happen. Opendoor’s inventory surged greater than 78% on Thursday following Nejatian’s appointment to $10.49, however in June, the inventory hovered round 56 cents a share.
The second efficiency award is designed like a moonshot with seven inventory value hurdles starting from $9 to $33. The tranches solely vest when the inventory hits value milestones of $9, $13, $17, $21, $25, and $33.
If Nejatian can hit all these value targets, he’ll be rewarded with compensation valued at $2.78 billion—and he’ll personal 11.6% of the corporate, double the stake Wu held when Opendoor went public by means of a SPAC in 2020, Hoffmann instructed Fortune.
“What I discover fascinating is that they clearly imagine that this man, who was the COO at Shopify, goes to make or break this firm,” mentioned Hoffmann. “They’re keen to make a really giant guess and put numerous energy and cash into his pocket to get him on board and motivated to develop and drive the corporate ahead.”
Nejatian’s bundle is much like that of different CEOs at tech firms with hefty inventory value development targets, mentioned Farient’s senior information analyst, Claire Kamas. Comparable plans have been in place at on-line supply platform DoorDash and Airbnb after they went public, she added.
When Wu served as CEO, the corporate had a related construction, famous Hoffmann, though Wu’s value milestones have been larger at $18.11, $23.54, $30.60, $39.78, $51.71, and $67.23. He hit the primary milestone earlier than resigning in 2022. The Opendoor board changed him with Carrie Wheeler, who had been the chief monetary officer. Wheeler stepped down on Aug. 15.
Wheeler’s pay bundle included a base wage of $750,000 plus a money bonus of $250,000, and he or she was awarded restricted inventory valued at $25 million.
Nejatian, conversely, may have a base wage of $1 and no bonus.
“It’s a privilege to grow to be Opendoor’s chief,” mentioned Nejatian. “Few life occasions are as vital as shopping for or promoting a house. With AI, we have now the instruments to make that have radically less complicated, sooner, and extra sure. That’s the longer term we’re constructing.”
