Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2024 · Filings through 2025-11-28

Brand Engagement Network (BNAI)

CEO Paul Chang was paid $1,420,250 in fiscal year 2024, ↑ up 414.9% from fiscal year 2023 (SEC filing 0001493152-25-020967 ↗): executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.

$1,420,250 ↑
Paul Chang total, FY2024
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CEO pay percentile vs peers
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CEO-to-median pay ratio
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Say-on-pay support, latest vote

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Sample answer — “What is the CEO’s total compensation?”
- Paul Chang (Chief Executive Officer), FY2024 total compensation $1,420,250 (base salary $420,000) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001493152-25-020967, filed 2025-11-06]

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BNAI's next annual pay disclosure, estimated November 6, 2026.est. Filing ↗

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2024

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Paul Chang$420,000$250,250$750,000$0$0$0$0$1,420,250
Chief Executive Officer
Michael Zacharski345,865294,423000091,667731,995
former Chief Executive Officer
Bill Williams458,334150,00000000608,334
former Chief Financial Officer
James Richard350,000150,25000——0500,250
Chief Information and Data Officer
James Richard Howard350,000150,25000000500,250
Chief Information and Data Officer
Tyler Luck167,160100,00012,84000024,786304,786
Chief Product Officer and former principal executive officer

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2024 totalFY2023 totalFY2022 totalΔ FY2023→2024
Paul Chang$1,420,250$275,817—↑ +1,144,433
Michael Zacharski731,9953,308,572—↓ −2,576,577
Bill Williams608,3341,592,169—↓ −983,835
James Richard500,25043,750—↑ +456,500
James Richard Howard500,25043,750—↑ +456,500
Tyler Luck304,786117,774—↑ +187,012

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

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Companies that benchmark against BNAI
No companies currently name BNAI as a compensation peer in their most recent disclosure.

This is the complete answer, not a partial one — the list is never padded.

01c

Board of directors

One page per director: the seat, the committees and the fee table, read for one person at a time.

DirectorRoleFY2024 total
Bernard PuckettChair of the Board$97,794
Christopher GaertnerIndependent Director$120,899
Janine GrassoIndependent Director$113,967
Jon LeibowitzIndependent Director$116,278
Richard IsaacsIndependent Director$92,269
Thomas Morgan JrIndependent Director$107,036
02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2024

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Michael ZacharskiRSU337,625—$337,625
Bill WilliamsOption7,5028.11—
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

The Company designs its compensation and benefits program to attract, retain, incentivize and reward deeply talented and qualified executives who share its philosophy and desire to work towards achieving its goals. The program is intended to promote company success and align executive incentives with the long-term interests of stockholders.

CEO STI target (% of salary)—
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantCompensation Advisory Partners
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingtrue
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20252025-11-26—————
20242024-03-05—————
20232023-12-01—————

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year's compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company's computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company's computation
20252025-11-26—a
20242024-03-05—b
20232023-12-01—c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

Approval percentages are the company's own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2024

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Christopher GaertnerIndependent · Departed during FY$0$120,899———$120,899
Jon LeibowitzIndependent · Audit · Nominating/Governance · Special Litigation (Chair) · Compensation0116,278———116,278
Janine GrassoIndependent · Audit · Departed during FY0113,967———113,967
Thomas Morgan JrIndependent · Compensation · Nominating/Governance0107,036———107,036
Bernard PuckettIndependent · Board Chair · Audit097,794———97,794
Richard IsaacsIndependent · Audit · Nominating/Governance · Special Litigation · Compensation092,269———92,269
Paul ChangEmployee director · Not standing for re-election—————0
Tyler LuckEmployee director—————0
Ruy CarrascoIndependent · Compensation · Newly elected——————
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$45,000
Annual equity retainer$120,000
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)20,000 / 15,000 / 10,000
Stock ownership guideline$3
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2024
Cash retainers and fees$0
Equity awards (grant-date value)$648,243
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$648,243

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

10b

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Brand Engagement Network2024Paul Chang$420,000$750,000$0$0$1,420,250

Each peer's compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer's figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

10d

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Brand Engagement Network in fiscal 2024?
As disclosed, Paul Chang (Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at Brand Engagement Network in fiscal 2024, with total compensation of $1,420,250.
How much does Brand Engagement Network spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2024?
As disclosed, Brand Engagement Network reported total board compensation of $648,243 for fiscal 2024.

Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.

11

Source register

Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Paul ChangDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 41. As printed: 1,420,250. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c25 · span 532715–532724
2Section 01, Michael ZacharskiDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 41. As printed: 731,995. Filing ↗machine: r3 · c25 · span 534868–534875
3Section 01, Bill WilliamsDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 41. As printed: 608,334. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c24 · span 537022–537029
4Section 01, James RichardDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 41. As printed: 500,250. Filing ↗
5Section 01, James Richard HowardDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 41. As printed: 500,250. Filing ↗machine: r7 · c25 · span 539208–539215
6Section 01, Tyler LuckDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Executive Compensation Tables” · page 41. As printed: 304,786. Filing ↗machine: r9 · c25 · span 541340–541347
7Section 08, Christopher GaertnerDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 120,899. Filing ↗machine: span 385903–385910
8Section 08, Jon LeibowitzDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 116,278. Filing ↗machine: span 385342–385349
9Section 08, Janine GrassoDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 113,967. Filing ↗machine: span 384165–384172
10Section 08, Thomas Morgan JrDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 107,036. Filing ↗machine: span 386471–386478
11Section 08, Bernard PuckettDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 97,794. Filing ↗machine: span 387025–387031
12Section 08, Richard IsaacsDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 92,269. Filing ↗machine: span 384781–384787
13Section 08, Paul ChangDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
14Section 08, Tyler LuckDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
15Section 08, Ruy CarrascoDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: —. Filing ↗
16Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-11-280001493152-25-025376Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: —. Filing ↗
17Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-03-070001193125-24-061564Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: —. Filing ↗
18Section 06, 2023 voteForm 8-K2023-12-070001193125-23-290773Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: —. Filing ↗
19Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)Computed——Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
20Section 09b board cost (computed)Computed——Cash 0 + equity 648,243 + all other 0 = 648,243, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 648,243
21Brand Engagement Network (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2025-11-060001493152-25-020967CEO total compensation as printed in Brand Engagement Network's own proxy. As printed: 1,420,250. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c25 · span 532715–532724

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