Stockholder Urges WITHHOLD VOTE on Douglas Elliman's CEO Howard Lorber
Stockholder Urges WITHHOLD VOTE on Douglas Elliman's CEO Howard Lorber
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 31, 2024 / Mr. Bradley Tirpak announced he has issued the following letter to the Stockholders of Douglas Elliman, Inc. ("DOUG" or "Company").
Bradley Tirpak先生宣布他已经向道格拉斯·爱利曼股份有限公司("DOUG"或"公司")的股东发出以下信函。
In his letter, he urges his fellow stockholders to WITHOLD VOTES ON PART- TIME CEO HOWARD LORBER at the upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held August 21, 2024.
在他的信中,他敦促他的股东同僚在即将于2024年8月21日举行的年度股东大会上撤回对兼职首席执行官霍华德·洛布尔的投票权。
The full text of the letter is below:
信函全文如下:
Dear Fellow Stockholders,
亲爱的股东,
I am writing to you to urge you to vote "WITHOLD" on the company's part-time CEO Howard Lorber at the upcoming Douglas Elliman Inc. ("DOUG" or "Company") Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held August 21, 2024.
我写信给你,敦促你在即将于2024年8月21日举行的道格拉斯·爱利曼股份有限公司("DOUG"或"公司")年度股东大会上投下"撤回"对公司兼职首席执行官霍华德·洛伯尔的投票。
Stockholders are urged to vote "AGAINST" Proposal 3, the advisory vote ("SAY-ON-PAY") on executive compensation, and to vote "FOR" Proposal 4, the proposal to elect directors annually.
股东们被敦促在提案3上投"反对",即有关公司高管薪酬的建议性投票("SAY-ON-PAY"),并投"赞成"提案4,即年度选举董事的提案。
Given the fact that Company's share price has declined approximately 80% since the spin off from Vector Group Ltd. ("VGR" or "Vector" ), Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis will be asked to rigorously scrutinize the compensation policies at the Company.
考虑到公司自独立于Vector Group Ltd.("VGR"或"Vector")以来股价已下跌约80%,因此机构股东投票代理机构Institutional Shareholder Services("ISS")和Glass Lewis将被要求对公司的薪酬政策进行严格审查。
In the recent proxy statement filed on July 11, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, stockholders learned that the compensation committee of the board of directors significantly lowered the metrics used to measure the success of the Company when awarding executive bonuses.
在最近提交给证券交易委员会的关于投票代理的声明中,股东们了解到公司董事会的薪酬委员会在授予高管奖金时显着降低了用于衡量公司成功的标准。
A WITHOLD VOTE on Mr. Lorber and a VOTE AGAINST PROPOSAL 3 will make sure that the board of directors understands that the compensation policies of the Company are flawed and the Company requires truly independent oversight that aligns management compensation with stockholder returns.
对洛伯尔先生的撤回投票和对提案3的反对投票将确保董事会明白公司的薪酬政策的缺陷以及公司需要真正独立的监督来保持管理层的薪酬与股东回报相一致。
Between fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the compensation committee lowered the Threshold, Target and Maximum Adjusted EBITDA performance goals from a positive $72 million, $80 million, and $95 million to a Threshold of rewarding management for posting a loss of $20 million, a Target of merely breaking even at $0, and a Maximum bonus for reporting a paltry $10mm in Adjusted EBITDA.
在2022年至2023年财年之间,薪酬委员会将调整后的调整后的运营利润(Adjusted EBITDA)的阈值、目标和最高执行目标从正的7200万、8000万和9500万分别降至奖励管理层出现2000万元损失的阈值、仅在0处停留不前的目标和汇报10mm调整后的EBITDA所获得的最高奖金。
When Mr. Lorber agreed to his part-time job just over two years ago, the board believed $72mm in EBITDA was a worthy "Threshold." Today, the board has lowered that "Threshold" by an astonishing $92 million and happily accepts continuing losses as the "Threshold" of success.
当洛伯尔于两年多前接受他的兼职工作时,董事会认为7200万美元的EBITDA是一个值得的"阈值"。如今,董事会已将这个"阈值"惊人地降低了9200万美元,并乐意接受继续亏损作为成功的"阈值"。
Under the 2022 bonus structure, management would have widely failed the Adjusted EBITDA Threshold, fallen short of the Gross Transaction Value Target, and whiffed the Dividend Threshold. As a painful reminder, the Company cancelled its dividend in early 2023.
根据2022年的奖金结构,管理层将远未达到调整后的EBITDA阈值,未达到总交易价值目标,也未达到分红阈值。公司在2023年初取消了股息支付,这是一个痛苦的提醒。
From the proxy, it is unclear how the board evaluated the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion portion of Mr. Lorber's bonus where he received the Maximum permissible award, but given recent headlines in the Wall Street Journal surrounding problematic brokers accused of sexual assault, stockholders deserve to know how the assault and harassment claims were handled by management.
从代理声明中看不出董事会如何评估洛伯尔先生的奖金多样性、平等和包容性部分,因为他获得了最高可允许的奖励,但鉴于《华尔街日报》最近报导的涉及被控性侵的有问题经纪人的新闻标题,股东们应该知道管理层如何处理了这些性侵和骚扰指控。
It is even less clear on what management has done to further address the important issue of climate change. Over the past year, it is clear management has yet to complete a measurement of the Company's emissions, which began in 2022.
管理层对应对气候变化这一重要问题所做的努力尚不明确。过去一年中,公司显然还没有完成该公司排放量的测量,这项工作始于2022年。
Here are some obvious suggestions to the board:
以下是对董事会的明显建议:
The board should hold the CEO to the 2022 EBITDA and Transaction Value thresholds, and claw back his 2023 bonus.
董事会应按照2022年的EBITDA和交易价值标准约束首席执行官,并收回他的2023年奖金。
Mr. Lorber also serves as part-time CEO at the cigarette maker Vector. Given the disastrous stock performance, recent dilution, and failure to maintain profitability, it is clear the Douglas Elliman needs a focused, full-time CEO. Mr. Lorber's contract ends on December 29, 2024. The board should open a search for a new CEO immediately.
洛伯先生还担任香烟制造商Vector的兼职首席执行官。鉴于公司股票业绩惨淡、最近发生的业务稀释和无法维持盈利性,很明显,道格拉斯·爱利曼需要一个专注的、全职的首席执行官。洛伯的合同将于2024年12月29日到期。董事会应立即启动新首席执行官的搜索。
Losses are not acceptable to stockholders. The newly reconstituted compensation committee should retain a new compensation consultant immediately.
亏损对股东来说是不可接受的。新组成的薪酬委员会应立即雇佣一位新的薪酬顾问。
The Company is paying $4.2 million a year for certain services to Vector. These services should be brought in house. It is time for a complete separation from Vector.
该公司每年支付420万美元的某些服务费用给Vector。这些服务应该内部开展。是时候与Vector彻底分离了。
The board should eliminate the private jet arrangement with Vector.
董事会应取消与Vector的私人喷气式飞机安排。
The board should open an independent investigation into recent sexual assault allegations made in the Wall Street Journal and investigate if management participated in a cover-up or has been rewarding certain brokers in a self-serving manner.
董事会应对《华尔街日报》最近披露的性侵指控进行独立调查,并调查公司是否参与了掩盖或以自私的方式奖励某些经纪人。
The board should institute a whistle blowing hotline to allow employees to report sexual harassment, fraud, and other illegal behaviors.
董事会应确立一个吹哨人举报热线,允许员工报告性骚扰、欺诈和其他违法行为。
Normally, poor compensation practices would simply warrant a vote against the compensation committee or compensation committee chairman, but the staggered board prevents this solution. This is why stockholders are urged to vote "FOR" Proposal 4, the proposal to elect directors annually.
通常,糟糕的薪酬惯例通常只会引起针对薪酬委员会或薪酬委员会主席的反对投票,但分层董事会阻止了这个解决方案。因此,股东被敦促投票支持《议题4》以每年选举董事。
The board has paid Mr Lorber over $45 million over the past three years, and stockholders have suffered under his leadership. It is time to send a message to the board that stockholders demand compensation policies aligned with profitability and better corporate governance.
董事会在过去三年里支付给Lorber先生超过4500万美元,而股东们在他的领导下遭受了苦难。现在是向董事会发出信息的时候,股东们要求薪酬政策与盈利能力和更好的公司治理相一致。
Given the abysmal stockholder returns and the massive dilution recently inflicted on stockholders, stockholders are urged to WITHOLD VOTES FOR HOWARD LORBER in the upcoming election.
鉴于可怜的股东回报率和近期对股东造成的巨大稀释,敦促股东在即将到来的选举中反对霍华德·洛伯的选票。
Douglas Elliman is a valuable franchise and a storied real estate brand. Under new leadership, with appropriate cost controls, less dilution, improved capital allocation, and a management team accountable to and aligned with stockholders, it is certain the Douglas Elliman can recover and thrive.
Douglas Elliman是一个有价值的特许经营权,也是一个有着悠久历史的房地产品牌。在新领导人的带领下,通过适当的成本控制、更少的稀释、改善的资本配置和对股东负责和对齐的管理团队,Douglas Elliman肯定可以恢复和发展。
Sincerely,
此致敬礼,
Bradley Tirpak
Bradley Tirpak
About ATI:
关于ATI:
Bradley Tirpak is the managing director of ATI and is an investor based in New York and Aspen. ATI invests in public companies with the aim of improving corporate governance and shareholder returns.
Bradley Tirpak是ATI的董事总经理,是一位总部位于纽约和阿斯彭的投资者。ATI投资于上市公司,旨在提高公司治理和股东回报率。
Contact Information
联系信息
Bradley Tirpak
Managing Member, ATI
brad@tirpak.com
(212) 533-6940
Bradley Tirpak
ATI董事总经理
brad@tirpak.com
(212) 533-6940
SOURCE: ATI
消息来源:ATI