Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. awarded CEO Mark Potere restricted stock units valued at more than $4.8 million last year, boosting his total compensation package to almost $5.2 million.
That was more than nine times his $560,869 total compensation package in 2020, the only other year reported in Sunlight’s proxy filing this week.
The filing says that stock award represent an estimated value of 510,000 restricted stock units given to Potere upon the closing of the $1.35 billion business combination with Spartan Acquisition Corp., which turned Sunlight (NYSE: SUNL) into a publicly traded company.
For 2021, Potere got a base salary of $300,000, the $4.8 million worth of stock awards and “other compensation” totaling $37,869. The other compensation consists largely of $19,930 in a tax reimbursement and $18,597 for membership in specific business associations.
In 2020, Potere’s package was made up of $300,00 in base salary, a $225,000 bonus and other compensation of $35,869.
The filing notes that Potere was not awarded a bonus in 2021. It says “in consultation with the Compensation Committee, (Potere) determined to forego a bonus … due to the impact of market conditions which resulted in the company revising its earnings forecast downward in the third quarter” of 2021.
Sunlight’s business-combination deal allowed the company to go public through its merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, rather than having to file for an initial public offering. Sunlight was one of seven companies in the Charlotte region to go public in 2021, either through IPOs, SPAC combinations or reverse IPOs. That was a record year for new public companies in the Charlotte region.
As a newly public company, Sunlight was not required to calculate the total compensation of its median employee to compare that to Potere’s total pay package.
