Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-05-26

Emerald Holding (EEX)

CEO Hervé Sedky was paid $2,669,073 in fiscal year 2025, ↑ up 136.1% from fiscal year 2024, the 14th percentile of its disclosed peer group (SEC filing 0001193125-26-149591 ↗): 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.

$3,476,000
Issa Jouaneh total, FY2025
President, Connections — highest-paid officer; CEO Hervé Sedky: $2,669,073
14th
CEO (Hervé Sedky) pay percentile vs peers
54:1
CEO-to-median pay ratio
99.77%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote

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Sample answer — “What is the CEO’s total compensation?”
- Hervé Sedky (Chief Executive Officer), FY2025 total compensation $2,669,073 (base salary $650,000) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001193125-26-149591, filed 2026-04-09]

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EEX's next annual pay disclosure, estimated April 9, 2027.est. Filing ↗

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Issa Jouaneh$448,952$297,533$1,075,522$1,406,563$236,250$0$11,180$3,476,000
President, Connections
Hervé Sedky650,000472,5001,171,1230367,50007,9502,669,073
Chief Executive Officer
David Doft480,000351,000869,9800273,00007,9501,981,930
Chief Financial 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 officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY2024→2025
Issa Jouaneh$3,476,000$716,934$751,730↑ +2,759,066
Hervé Sedky2,669,0731,130,4506,224,816↑ +1,538,623
David Doft1,981,9301,038,9504,478,335↑ +942,980

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 EEX
2 companies name EEX as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses EEX in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named EEX in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

01b

Executives — the named officers

One page per officer: the same table above, read for one person at a time — his own figure and every fiscal year the register holds.

ExecutiveRoleFY2025 total
David DoftCFO$1,981,930
Hervé SedkyCEO$2,669,073
Issa JouanehPresident$3,476,000
01c

Board of directors

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

DirectorRoleFY2025 total
Anthony MunkIndependent Director—
Kosty GilisIndependent Director—
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 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Issa JouanehOption600,0004.13—
Issa JouanehOption90,0003.81—
Hervé SedkyOption210,0006—
David DoftOption147,0006—
Issa JouanehOption30,0008—
Hervé SedkyOption2,008,0023.81—
Hervé SedkyOption210,0008—
Hervé SedkyRSU283,565—1,267,536
Issa JouanehOption30,0003.7—
Issa JouanehRSU260,417—1,164,064
David DoftRSU17,940—80,192
David DoftRSU210,649—941,601
Issa JouanehOption15,0005.75—
David DoftRSU156,600—700,000
Hervé SedkyRSU67,529—301,853
Hervé SedkyOption246,0765.26—
David DoftOption147,0008—
David DoftOption174,9875.26—
David DoftOption1,366,2703.81—
Issa JouanehOption15,0006—
Issa JouanehOption15,0008—
Issa JouanehOption30,0006—
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

The Company's compensation program is designed to attract and retain quality executive officers by setting base salaries competitive with the market and utilizing equity awards to encourage stockholder value creation and retention, operating similarly to a privately-owned company with larger awards issued every few years rather than annually.

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

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-05-21189,521,520437,53211,45199.77%Passed
20232023-05-17122,939,879578,6679,32699.53%Passed

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
20262026-05-2199.77%a
20232023-05-1799.53%b

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “For purposes of this non-binding advisory vote, any shares not voted (whether by abstention, broker non-vote, or otherwise) will not be counted as a vote cast and will have no impact on the result of the vote, although abstentions will count toward the presence of a quorum.”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “For purposes of this non-binding advisory vote, any shares not voted (whether by abstention, broker non-vote, or otherwise) will not be counted as a vote cast and will have no impact on the result of the vote, although abstentions will count toward the presence of a quorum.”.

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.

07

CEO pay ratio

Ratio (CEO : median employee)54 : 1
CEO total compensation$6,224,816
Median employee compensation$115,517
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Michael AliceaIndependent · Audit Committee · Compensation Committee (Chair)$100,000$100,000———$200,000
Lisa KlingerIndependent · Audit Committee (Chair)100,000100,000———200,000
Todd HyattIndependent · Audit Committee85,000100,000———185,000
Lynda ClarizioIndependent · Compensation Committee82,500100,000———182,500
Emmanuelle SkalaIndependent · Compensation Committee · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (Chair)82,500100,000———182,500
David LevinIndependent75,000100,000———175,000
Kosty GilisIndependent · Compensation Committee · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee00———0
Anthony MunkIndependent00———0
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$75,000
Annual equity retainer$100,000
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)25,000 / 15,000
Stock ownership guideline$4
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$525,000
Equity awards (grant-date value)$600,000
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,125,000

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
1Emerald Holding2025Hervé Sedky$650,000$1,171,123$0$367,500$2,669,073

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 Emerald Holding in fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Issa Jouaneh (President, Connections) was the highest-paid executive at Emerald Holding in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $3,476,000.
How does Emerald Holding's chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?
As disclosed, Hervé Sedky's total compensation ranked at the 14th percentile of Emerald Holding's disclosed peer group.
What is Emerald Holding's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?
As disclosed, Emerald Holding's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 54:1.
How did shareholders vote on Emerald Holding's executive compensation?
As disclosed, 99.77% of shareholders supported Emerald Holding's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does Emerald Holding spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Emerald Holding reported total board compensation of $1,125,000 for fiscal 2025.

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 is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Issa JouanehDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES” · page 27. As printed: 3,476,000. View filing ↗
2Section 01, Hervé SedkyDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES” · page 27. As printed: 2,669,073. View filing ↗
3Section 01, David DoftDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES” · page 27. As printed: 1,981,930. View filing ↗
4Section 07, pay ratioDEF 14A2024-04-110000950170-24-043685Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 54 : 1. View filing ↗
5Section 08, Michael AliceaDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 200,000. View filing ↗
6Section 08, Lisa KlingerDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 200,000. View filing ↗
7Section 08, Todd HyattDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 185,000. View filing ↗
8Section 08, Lynda ClarizioDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 182,500. View filing ↗
9Section 08, Emmanuelle SkalaDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 182,500. View filing ↗
10Section 08, David LevinDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 175,000. View filing ↗
11Section 08, Kosty GilisDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
12Section 08, Anthony MunkDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
13Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-05-260001193125-26-239223Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.77% (votes for as printed: 189,521,520). View filing ↗
14Section 06, 2023 voteForm 8-K2023-05-190000950170-23-023154Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.53% (votes for as printed: 122,939,879). View filing ↗
15Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)Computed——Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
16Section 09b board cost (computed)Computed——Cash 525,000 + equity 600,000 + all other 0 = 1,125,000, summed across the director compensation table rows.
17Emerald Holding (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-090001193125-26-149591CEO total compensation as printed in Emerald Holding's own proxy. As printed: 2,669,073. View filing ↗