SES AI (SES): executive pay, fiscal 2025

Free brief. Every figure links to the company’s own filing.

Velarion Intel: free for 3 days, no card →

Email me SES AI Corp’s executive pay brief as a PDF

You get it on this page the moment you ask, and a copy by email. Every figure is cited to its filing.

After the PDF, up to three short notes on the deeper reports for this company. Reply “unsubscribe” to any of them, any time.

CEO total pay$1,921,424CEO Qichao Hu · source

Say-on-pay support99.82%Latest vote · source

CEO vs. named peers15th pct.Against its disclosed peer group

CEO pay ratio20:1To the median employee · source

CEO pay, last three years

$3,528,052FY2023
$4,099,946FY2024
$1,921,424FY2025

CEO total pay was $1,921,424 in fiscal 2025, down from $4,099,946 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $530,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $1,140,930 · option awards $0

Executives and directors

Qichao Hu · CEO Hong Gan · Chief Science Officer Jing Nealis · CFO Anirvan Coomer · Former director (through FY2024)Brian Krzanich · Former director (through FY2024)Dr. Jang Wook Choi · Independent Director Dr. Jiong Ma · Lead Independent Director Eric Luo · Independent Director Michael Noonen · Independent Director

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at SES AI Corp in fiscal 2025?

As disclosed, Qichao Hu (Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director) was the highest-paid executive at SES AI Corp in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $1,921,424.

How does SES AI Corp's chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?

As disclosed, Qichao Hu's total compensation ranked at the 15th percentile of SES AI Corp's disclosed peer group.

What is SES AI Corp's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?

As disclosed, SES AI Corp's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 20:1.

How did shareholders vote on SES AI Corp's executive compensation?

As disclosed, 99.82% of shareholders supported SES AI Corp's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.

How much does SES AI Corp spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?

As disclosed, SES AI Corp reported total board compensation of $816,031 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.

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
Qichao Hu	$530,000	$0	$1,140,930	$0	$0	$0	$250,494	$1,921,424
Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Jing Nealis	470,000	0	516,135	0	0	0	17,500	1,003,635
Former Chief Financial Officer
Kang Xu	500,000	0	135,825	0	0	0	8,788	644,613
Chief Technology 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
Qichao Hu	$1,921,424	$4,099,946	$3,528,052	↓ −2,178,522
Jing Nealis	1,003,635	1,756,964	1,333,808	↓ −753,329
Kang Xu	644,613	—	—	—

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

Our compensation program is centered on a pay-for-performance philosophy and is designed to reward our named executive officers for their abilities, experience and efforts.

CEO STI target (% of salary)	100%
CEO LTI target (% of salary)	—
Independent consultant	—
Clawback policy	True
Anti-hedging	True
Anti-pledging	True

Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

Executive	Award	Grant date	Threshold	Target	Granted	Maximum	Grant-date fair value
Qichao Hu	RSU	2025-03-28	—	—	2,100,000	—	$1,140,930
Jing Nealis	RSU	2025-03-28	—	—	950,000	—	516,135
Kang Xu	RSU	2025-03-28	—	—	250,000	—	135,825

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officer	Time-vested (RSU)	Performance-vested (PSU)	Options / SARs	% performance-vested
Qichao Hu	$1,140,930	$0	$0	0.0%
Jing Nealis	516,135	0	0	0.0%
Kang Xu	135,825	0	0	0.0%

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

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

Executive	Award	Shares unvested	Exercise price	Market value unvested
Qichao Hu	PSU	9,182	—	$16,528
Jing Nealis	RSU	69,736	—	125,525
Kang Xu	RSU	79,366	—	142,859
Kang Xu	RSU	141,243	—	254,237
Kang Xu	RSU	250,000	—	450,000
Jing Nealis	PSU	267,755	—	481,959
Qichao Hu	RSU	278,945	—	502,101
Jing Nealis	RSU	407,064	—	732,715
Jing Nealis	RSU	950,000	—	1,710,000
Qichao Hu	RSU	1,186,446	—	2,135,603
Qichao Hu	RSU	2,100,000	—	3,780,000

Director compensation

Director	Cash fees	Stock awards	Option awards	Non-equity incentive	All other	Total
Andrew BoydIndependent · Strategic Investment	$22,313	$346,666	—	—	—	$368,979
Dr. Jiong MaIndependent · Nominating and · Strategic Investment	100,000	86,880	—	—	—	186,880
Eric LuoIndependent · Nominating and · Strategic Investment	85,000	86,880	—	—	—	186,880
Michael NoonenIndependent	45,375	0	—	—	—	45,375
Dr. Jang Wook ChoiIndependent	42,917	0	—	—	—	42,917

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer	$50,000
Annual equity retainer	$160,000
Per board meeting fee	—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)	22,500 / 15,000 / 15,000
Stock ownership guideline	$5

Total cost of the board

Component	FY2025
Cash retainers and fees	$295,605
Equity awards (grant-date value)	$520,426
All other compensation	$0
Total cost of the board	$816,031

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

Peer group, and who names SES AI as a peer

Companies that benchmark against SES

1 company names SES as a compensation peer

Lightwave Logic, Inc.LWLGFY2025

Each company listed discloses SES 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 SES 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	SES AI Corp	2025	Qichao Hu	$530,000	$1,140,930	$0	$0	$1,921,424

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
2025	2025-10-01	490,343,477	904,654	870,939	99.82%	Passed
2024	2024-06-07	492,391,872	35,938,563	128,640	93.2%	Passed
2023	2023-06-08	462,906,661	96,591	25,430	99.98%	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
2025	2025-10-01	99.82%^a
2024	2024-06-07	93.2%^b
2023	2023-06-08	99.98%^c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Proposal 3 – Say on Pay Proposal -- Majority of votes cast | Abstentions: No impact”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Proposal 3 – Say on Pay Proposal -- Majority of votes cast”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Proposal 3 – Say on Pay Proposal -- Majority of votes cast”.

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)	20 : 1
CEO total compensation	$4,099,946
Median employee compensation	—

Insider trades since the proxy

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

Sources (19 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, Qichao Hu. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,921,424. View filing ↗
Section 01, Jing Nealis. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,003,635. View filing ↗
Section 01, Kang Xu. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 644,613. View filing ↗
Section 03, Qichao Hu RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 03, Jing Nealis RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 03, Kang Xu RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 20 : 1. View filing ↗
Section 08, Andrew Boyd. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 368,979. View filing ↗
Section 08, Dr. Jiong Ma. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 186,880. View filing ↗
Section 08, Eric Luo. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 186,880. View filing ↗
Section 08, Michael Noonen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 45,375. View filing ↗
Section 08, Dr. Jang Wook Choi. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 42,917. View filing ↗
Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-10-03. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.82% (votes for as printed: 490,343,477). View filing ↗
Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-06-10. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 93.2% (votes for as printed: 492,391,872). View filing ↗
Section 06, 2023 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2023-06-09. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.98% (votes for as printed: 462,906,661). View filing ↗
Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
Section 03b vehicle mix (computed). Computed. RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).
Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 295,605 + equity 520,426 + all other 0 = 816,031, summed across the director compensation table rows.
SES AI Corp (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-10-27. CEO total compensation as printed in SES AI Corp's own proxy. As printed: 1,921,424. View filing ↗