Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-07-29

Research Frontiers (REFR)

Fiscal year 2025 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.

$754,777
Joseph Harary total, FY2025
1st
CEO pay percentile vs peers
CEO-to-median pay ratio
81.94%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against REFR
No companies currently name REFR as a compensation peer in their most recent disclosure.

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

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Joseph Harary$625,000$0$0$63,700$18,000$0$48,077$754,777
President and Chief Executive Officer
Michael LaPointe27,84600030,88403,07761,807
Vice President-Aerospace Products

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 FY20242025
Joseph Harary$754,777$766,962−12,185
Michael LaPointe61,80746,360+15,447

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

02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

03

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Joseph HararyRSU2025-12-3165,00065,000$63,700
03b

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Joseph Harary$63,700$0$00.0%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Michael LaPointeOption6,0001.02
Joseph HararyOption60,0001.68
Joseph HararyOption55,0001.72
Michael LaPointeOption6,0001.95
Michael LaPointeOption5,0001.72
Joseph HararyOption60,0001.02
Michael LaPointeOption5,0003.11
Michael LaPointeOption6,0001.68
Joseph HararyOption60,0001.95
Joseph HararyOption65,0001.33
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

The Company seeks to include in compensation for the Company's executive officers a combination of base salary, equity incentives, and performance-based bonuses that is intended to attract, retain and motivate executive officers who have the skills, experience and knowledge important to the success of the Company and to reward superior performance and encourage actions that drive our business strategy.

CEO STI target (% of salary)
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultantConnell & Partners
Clawback policy
Anti-hedging
Anti-pledging
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-06-117,016,8001,353,117193,17281.94%Passed
20252025-06-127,678,696614,856688,57585.49%Passed
20242024-06-138,772,887924,360300,11387.75%Passed
20232023-06-086,917,810819,624257,39186.53%Passed
20202020-06-118,379,1431,042,525342,62285.81%Passed
20172017-06-086,801,4191,138,830340,47382.14%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
20262026-06-1181.94%a
20252025-06-1285.49%b
20242024-06-1387.75%c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the same effect as votes against the proposal.”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the same effect as votes against the proposal.”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have the same effect as votes against the proposal.”.

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)
CEO total compensation
Median employee compensation
08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Eyal PesoIndependent · Audit · Nominating and Corporate Governance$40,000$0$44,100$0$0$84,100
Alexander KaganowiczIndependent · Nominating and Corporate Governance (Chair) · Audit · Compensation40,000044,1000084,100
Darryl DaigleIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating and Corporate Governance40,000044,1000084,100
Joseph M. HararyEmployee director00000
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$40,000
Annual equity retainer$47,700
Per board meeting fee
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)
Stock ownership guideline
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$120,000
Equity awards (grant-date value)$0
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$120,000

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

10

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

MVIS Microvision, Inc.PURE PURE Bioscience, Inc.AWRE Aware, Inc.PRSO Peraso Inc.AIOT PowerFleet, Inc.EMAN eMagin Corp.ISSC Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc.CREX Creative Realities, Inc.ARWR Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.RIOT Riot Blockchain, Inc.MLAB Mesa Laboratories, Inc.PRKR ParkerVision, Inc. PCTEL, Inc.AATC Autoscope Technologies Corp.
10a

Peer reciprocity

Of the companies Research Frontiers names as compensation peers, which name it back in their own disclosed peer groups. A peer set the market reciprocates reads differently from one selected in a single direction.

Microvision, Inc. (MVIS) PURE Bioscience, Inc. (PURE) Aware, Inc. (AWRE) Peraso Inc. (PRSO) PowerFleet, Inc. (AIOT)23 eMagin Corp. (EMAN) Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc. (ISSC) Creative Realities, Inc. (CREX) Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARWR)24 Riot Blockchain, Inc. (RIOT)25 Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (MLAB)26 ParkerVision, Inc. (PRKR) Autoscope Technologies Corp. (AATC)

Reciprocity shown where the peer's own current proxy has been read — each mark is cited in the register to that peer's filing. A dash means the peer's current proxy was read and names no reciprocal group including Research Frontiers.

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
1Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.2025Christopher Anzalone$981,046$6,810,292$0$1,236,000$9,029,861
2Mesa Laboratories, Inc.2026Gary Owens808,8464,700,01701,120,0006,643,208
3Riot Blockchain, Inc.2025Jason Les1,584,337001,827,5813,460,222
4Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc.2025Shahram Askarpour525,0001,019,953196,340750,7502,506,043
5PowerFleet, Inc.2026Steve Towe555,7781,469,0070110,0442,134,829
6Aware, Inc.2025Ajay Amlani111,110881,751833,66401,826,746
7Research Frontiers2025Joseph Harary625,000063,70018,000754,777
8Autoscope Technologies Corp.2021Andrew Berger00000
Microvision, Inc.not in coverage universe
PURE Bioscience, Inc.not in coverage universe
Peraso Inc.not in coverage universe
eMagin Corp.not in coverage universe
Creative Realities, Inc.not in coverage universe
ParkerVision, Inc.not in coverage universe

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.

10c

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Research Frontiersnot disclosedOptions 100not disclosedConnell & Partners
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.125%PSU 70 · RSU 30not disclosedCompensia
Autoscope Technologies Corp.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedSemler Brossy Consulting Group, LLC
Aware, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Creative Realities, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
eMagin Corp.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc.143%not disclosedNoFW Cook
Mesa Laboratories, Inc.125%PSU 50 · RSU 50NoFrederic W. Cook & Co, Inc.
Microvision, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
ParkerVision, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Peraso Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
PowerFleet, Inc.not disclosedPSU 66.7 · RSU 33.3not disclosedFrederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.
PURE Bioscience, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Riot Blockchain, Inc.125%RSU 50 · PSU 50Yes — TSR relative to RUSSELL 3000 IndexCompensia Inc.

Read from each company's Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company's filing does not state the item.

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, Joseph HararyDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 1. As printed: 754,777. Filing ↗
2Section 01, Michael LaPointeDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 61,807. Filing ↗machine: t66 · span 272573–272579
3Section 03, Joseph Harary RSUDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards in 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: t70 · r6 · c17 · span 305911–305917
4Section 07, pay ratio10-K/A2026-03-190001493152-26-011611Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: —. Filing ↗
5Section 08, Eyal PesoDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 84,100. Filing ↗machine: t80 · r5 · c11 · span 393913–393919
6Section 08, Alexander KaganowiczDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 84,100. Filing ↗machine: t80 · r4 · c11 · span 393090–393096
7Section 08, Darryl DaigleDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 84,100. Filing ↗machine: t80 · r3 · c11 · span 392529–392535
8Section 08, Joseph M. HararyDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
9Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-06-120001493152-26-028339Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 81.94% (votes for as printed: 7,016,800). Filing ↗
10Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-06-130001641172-25-015113Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 85.49% (votes for as printed: 7,678,696). Filing ↗
11Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-06-140001493152-24-023797Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 87.75% (votes for as printed: 8,772,887). Filing ↗
12Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
13Section 03b vehicle mix (computed)ComputedcomputedRSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio
14Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 120,000 + equity 0 + all other 0 = 120,000, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 120,000
15Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-01-270000879407-26-000019CEO total compensation as printed in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,029,861. Filing ↗machine: span 692475–692484
16Mesa Laboratories, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-07-220000724004-26-000071CEO total compensation as printed in Mesa Laboratories, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,643,208. Filing ↗machine: r3 · c24 · span 580946–580955
17Riot Blockchain, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-300001104659-26-053098CEO total compensation as printed in Riot Blockchain, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 3,460,222. Filing ↗machine: t177 · span 1400543–1400552
18Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-03-130001104659-26-027765CEO total compensation as printed in Innovative Solutions and Support, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,506,043. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c47 · span 412417–412426
19PowerFleet, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-07-290001493152-26-035236CEO total compensation as printed in PowerFleet, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,134,829. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c26 · span 373462–373471
20Aware, Inc., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-05-220001193125-26-237209CEO total compensation as printed in Aware, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,826,746. Filing ↗machine: r2 · c25 · span 317476–317485
21Research Frontiers (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-300001493152-26-020409CEO total compensation as printed in Research Frontiers's own proxy. As printed: 754,777. Filing ↗
22Autoscope Technologies Corp., Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2022-03-220000897101-22-000300CEO total compensation as printed in Autoscope Technologies Corp.'s own proxy. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
23Section 10a, PowerFleet, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001493152-26-035236PowerFleet, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Research Frontiers. Filing ↗
24Section 10a, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0000879407-26-000019Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Research Frontiers. Filing ↗
25Section 10a, Riot Blockchain, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0001104659-26-053098Riot Blockchain, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Research Frontiers. Filing ↗
26Section 10a, Mesa Laboratories, Inc. reciprocityDEF 14A0000724004-26-000071Mesa Laboratories, Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Research Frontiers. Filing ↗