Overview
Our executive compensation program is designed to attract, retain and reward key employees, to incentivize them to achieve key performance goals, and to align their interests with the interests of our stockholders. Our Compensation Committee is generally responsible for determining the compensation of our executive officers. Our Chief Executive Officer then in office made recommendations to our Compensation Committee about the compensation of his direct reports in respect of fiscal year 2024.
In 2024, our Compensation Committee continued to engage Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC, an independent compensation consulting firm, to assist it in evaluating the Company’s executive and director compensation practices, including program design, identification of an appropriate peer group for compensation comparison purposes and providing pay benchmarking data. Prior to engaging Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC, our Compensation Committee assessed the independence of Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC from management and, on the basis of that assessment and taking into consideration the independence factors that are required to be considered under applicable Nasdaq rules, determined that no relationships exist that would create a conflict of interest or that would compromise Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC’s independence.
2024 Base Salary and Annual Bonus
The employment agreement or offer letter with each named executive officer, described below, establishes a base salary for such officer, which was determined at the time that the named executive officer commenced employment with us. For 2024, the base salary for each of Mr. Willis, Ms. Shirley, and Ms. Wasserman was $600,000, $425,000, and $500,000, respectively. In connection with his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective August 12, 2024, Mr. Berg’s base salary increased from $100,000 to $600,000. Effective October 2024, Mr. O'Connor's base salary increased from $400,000 to $425,000.
With respect to fiscal year 2024, each of our named executive officers was eligible to receive an annual bonus, with the target amount of such bonus for each named executive officer initially set forth in his or her employment agreement or offer letter, described below. For fiscal year 2024, the target bonus amounts, expressed as a percentage of base salary, for each of Mr. Berg, Mr. Willis, Mr. O’Connor, Ms. Shirley, and Ms. Wasserman were as follows: 100%, 100%, 60%, 60%, and 60%, respectively. Annual bonuses for fiscal year 2024 for our named executive officers were based on the attainment of key financial, operational and other Company performance goals (90% of the annual bonus opportunity) and individual objectives (10% of the annual bonus opportunity), as determined by our Compensation Committee. The corporate performance goals for 2024 related to achieving certain levels of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) (30%), new center openings (30%), same store sales (15%), and system wide sales (15%). For 2024, the Compensation Committee determined that two of the corporate performance goals were not met at the required minimum threshold level and the other two corporate goals (adjusted EBITDA and system-wide sales) were met between 92.3% and 95.7% of target and that each named executive officer, other than Mses. Shirley and Wasserman met his individual performance goals and Mses. Shirley and Wasserman's individuals performance goals were met between 0% and 50%. Based on such level of achievement, each named executive officer received a 2024 annual bonus as follows: Mr. Berg: $118,423; Mr. Willis, $148,578; Mr. O’Connor, $97,831, Ms. Shirley, $89,967, and Ms. Wasserman, $64,534. Mr. Willis and Ms. Wasserman’s 2024 bonuses were prorated for the time the named executive officer was employed by us during 2024. Mr. O'Connor's 2024 bonus was based on his salary for the portion of 2024 prior to October 23, 2024 and his updated salary for the portion of 2024 following October 23, 2024.
Agreements with our Named Executive Officers
Each of Messrs. Berg, Willis, and O’Connor is or was party to an employment agreement, as amended, with EWC Ventures, one of our subsidiaries, that sets, or set, forth the terms and conditions of his employment with us. Each of Mses. Shirley and Wasserman was party to an offer letter with EWC Corporate, LLC, one of our subsidiaries, that set forth the terms and conditions of her employment with us. The material terms of the agreements are described below. The terms “cause,” “good reason,” and “change in control” referred to below