Companies Emerald Holding, Inc.
Emerald (EEX): executive pay, fiscal 2025
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CEO pay, last three years
- $6,224,816FY2023
- $1,130,450FY2024
- $2,669,073FY2025
CEO total pay was $2,669,073 in fiscal 2025, up from $1,130,450 in fiscal 2024.
FY2025: salary $650,000 · bonus $472,500 · stock awards $1,171,123 · option awards $0
Executives and directors
Frequently asked questions
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.
Full detail
Every table from the filing. Open any section.
Summary compensation table
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issa Jouaneh | $448,952 | $297,533 | $1,075,522 | $1,406,563 | $236,250 | $0 | $11,180 | $3,476,000 |
| President, Connections | ||||||||
| Hervé Sedky | 650,000 | 472,500 | 1,171,123 | 0 | 367,500 | 0 | 7,950 | 2,669,073 |
| Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| David Doft | 480,000 | 351,000 | 869,980 | 0 | 273,000 | 0 | 7,950 | 1,981,930 |
| 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 officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issa Jouaneh | $3,476,000 | $716,934 | $751,730 | ↑ +2,759,066 |
| Hervé Sedky | 2,669,073 | 1,130,450 | 6,224,816 | ↑ +1,538,623 |
| David Doft | 1,981,930 | 1,038,950 | 4,478,335 | ↑ +942,980 |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
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 policy | true |
| Anti-hedging | true |
| Anti-pledging | true |
Equity grants and outstanding awards
No plan-based awards are on file for this fiscal year.
Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 15,000 | 5.75 | — |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 15,000 | 6 | — |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 15,000 | 8 | — |
| David Doft | RSU | 17,940 | — | 80,192 |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 30,000 | 3.7 | — |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 30,000 | 6 | — |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 30,000 | 8 | — |
| Hervé Sedky | RSU | 67,529 | — | 301,853 |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 90,000 | 3.81 | — |
| David Doft | Option | 147,000 | 6 | — |
| David Doft | Option | 147,000 | 8 | — |
| David Doft | RSU | 156,600 | — | 700,000 |
| David Doft | Option | 174,987 | 5.26 | — |
| Hervé Sedky | Option | 210,000 | 6 | — |
| Hervé Sedky | Option | 210,000 | 8 | — |
| David Doft | RSU | 210,649 | — | 941,601 |
| Hervé Sedky | Option | 246,076 | 5.26 | — |
| Issa Jouaneh | RSU | 260,417 | — | 1,164,064 |
| Hervé Sedky | RSU | 283,565 | — | 1,267,536 |
| Issa Jouaneh | Option | 600,000 | 4.13 | — |
| David Doft | Option | 1,366,270 | 3.81 | — |
| Hervé Sedky | Option | 2,008,002 | 3.81 | — |
Director compensation
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael AliceaIndependent · Audit Committee · Compensation Committee (Chair) | $100,000 | $100,000 | — | — | — | $200,000 |
| Lisa KlingerIndependent · Audit Committee (Chair) | 100,000 | 100,000 | — | — | — | 200,000 |
| Todd HyattIndependent · Audit Committee | 85,000 | 100,000 | — | — | — | 185,000 |
| Lynda ClarizioIndependent · Compensation Committee | 82,500 | 100,000 | — | — | — | 182,500 |
| Emmanuelle SkalaIndependent · Compensation Committee · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (Chair) | 82,500 | 100,000 | — | — | — | 182,500 |
| David LevinIndependent | 75,000 | 100,000 | — | — | — | 175,000 |
| Kosty GilisIndependent · Compensation Committee · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 |
| Anthony MunkIndependent | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 |
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 |
Total cost of the board
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| 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.
Peer group, and who names Emerald as a peer
Companies that benchmark against EEX
2 companies name EEX as a compensation peer
- RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.RMAXFY2024
- TechTarget, Inc.TTGTFY2025
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.
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.
| Rank | Company | FY | Chief executive | Salary | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emerald Holding, Inc. | 2025 | Hervé 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.
Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-21 | 189,521,520 | 437,532 | 11,451 | 99.77% | Passed |
| 2023 | 2023-05-17 | 122,939,879 | 578,667 | 9,326 | 99.53% | 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 year | Meeting date | Approval — company’s computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-21 | 99.77%a |
| 2023 | 2023-05-17 | 99.53%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.
CEO pay ratio
| Ratio (CEO : median employee) | 54 : 1 |
|---|---|
| CEO total compensation | $6,224,816 |
| Median employee compensation | $115,517 |
Insider trades since the proxy
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
Sources (17 citations)
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.
- Section 01, Issa Jouaneh. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES” · page 27. As printed: 3,476,000. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Hervé Sedky. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES” · page 27. As printed: 2,669,073. View filing ↗
- Section 01, David Doft. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION TABLES” · page 27. As printed: 1,981,930. View filing ↗
- Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2024-04-11. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 54 : 1. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Michael Alicea. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 200,000. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Lisa Klinger. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 200,000. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Todd Hyatt. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 185,000. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Lynda Clarizio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 182,500. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Emmanuelle Skala. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 182,500. View filing ↗
- Section 08, David Levin. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 175,000. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Kosty Gilis. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Anthony Munk. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-26. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.77% (votes for as printed: 189,521,520). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2023 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2023-05-19. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.53% (votes for as printed: 122,939,879). View filing ↗
- Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
- Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 525,000 + equity 600,000 + all other 0 = 1,125,000, summed across the director compensation table rows.
- Emerald Holding, Inc. (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-09. CEO total compensation as printed in Emerald Holding, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,669,073. View filing ↗