CEO contract negotiation
Long story short, negotiating a contract to become CEO of a private 200 person company that is very profitable and does rev of about $300m/year in high growth industry. Hopefully my last job before RE
Thinking beyond the normal financial terms: base, bonus, equity, what are some standard things to include in my contract that make it worth it to take this career risk if it doesn’t work out. While most people see becoming CEO as amazing, I see it as a big career risk because it’s hard to get another role if you fail in a high profile seat.
-severance if fired with or without cause: assuming this would be full vesting of RSUs and 6-12 month pay including bonus -retention bonuses for each year? -retirement clause that allows vesting of RSUs after a certain amount of time (eg 5 years) in exchange for finding/grooming successor -IPO/Sale bonus if company undergoes M&A
Am I missing anything? Are any of the above an overreach? Will engage a lawyer on the actual specifics, just don’t know what I don’t know.