Companies Wheels Up Experience
Wheels Up Experience (UP): executive pay, fiscal 2025
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CEO pay, last three years
- $148,978,853FY2023
- $1,567,560FY2024
- $2,074,510FY2025
CEO total pay was $2,074,510 in fiscal 2025, up from $1,567,560 in fiscal 2024.
FY2025: salary $625,000 · bonus $760,000 · stock awards $0 · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Verkamp | $401,923 | $212,104 | $9,720,000 | $0 | $269,500 | $0 | $3,808 | $10,607,335 |
| Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Mark Briffa | 606,015 | 161,457 | 703,126 | 0 | 1,126,290 | 0 | 100,043 | 2,696,932 |
| Chief Sales Officer | ||||||||
| George Mattson | 625,000 | 760,000 | 0 | 0 | 490,000 | 0 | 199,510 | 2,074,510 |
| Chief Executive Officer & Director | ||||||||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Verkamp | $10,607,335 | — | — | — |
| Mark Briffa | 2,696,932 | 2,867,580 | 1,514,770 | ↓ −170,648 |
| George Mattson | 2,074,510 | 1,567,560 | 148,978,853 | ↑ +506,950 |
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 philosophy and programs are designed to support our overall business and compensation goals. The Compensation Committee sets our executive compensation philosophy and oversees our compensation and employee benefits programs, including the compensation to our NEOs.
| CEO STI target (% of salary) | — |
|---|---|
| CEO LTI target (% of salary) | — |
| Independent consultant | Willis Towers Watson US LLC |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Briffa | PSU | 2024-02-26 | — | — | 58,174 | — | $178,594 |
| John Verkamp | PSU | 2025-03-31 | — | — | 12,000,000 | — | 9,720,000 |
| Mark Briffa | PSU | 2025-02-26 | — | — | 146,485 | — | 175,782 |
Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type
| Named executive officer | Time-vested (RSU) | Performance-vested (PSU) | Options / SARs | % performance-vested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Briffa | $0 | $354,376 | $0 | 100.0% |
| John Verkamp | 0 | 9,720,000 | 0 | 100.0% |
% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Briffa | RSU | 10,547 | — | $6,961 |
| Mark Briffa | PSU | 14,544 | — | 9,599 |
| Mark Briffa | PSU | 36,621 | — | 24,170 |
| Mark Briffa | PSU | 36,622 | — | 24,171 |
| Mark Briffa | PSU | 58,174 | — | 38,395 |
| Mark Briffa | RSU | 98,169 | — | 64,787 |
| Mark Briffa | RSU | 327,598 | — | 216,215 |
| Mark Briffa | RSU | 439,454 | — | 290,040 |
| John Verkamp | PSU | 12,000,000 | — | 7,920,000 |
| George Mattson | PSU | 73,000,000 | — | 48,180,000 |
Director compensation
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gregory SummeIndependent · Compensation · Audit | $62,500 | $175,001 | $0 | — | $77,054 | $314,554 |
| Timothy ArmstrongIndependent · Nominating & ESG · Audit · NESG Committee · Not standing for re-election | 50,000 | 175,001 | 0 | — | 76,116 | 301,117 |
| Lee MoakIndependent · Safety & Security · Audit · NESG Committee | 70,000 | 175,001 | 0 | — | 35,786 | 280,786 |
| Alain BellemareIndependent · Safety & Security | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Zachary LazarIndependent · Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| George MattsonEmployee director | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| Thomas KleinIndependent · Nominating & ESG (Chair) · NESG Committee | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Adam ZirkinIndependent · Board Chair · Safety & Security · Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel JankiNot independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Adam CantorIndependent · Nominating & ESG · NESG Committee | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Dwight JamesIndependent | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew DavisIndependent · Audit (Chair) | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 |
| Roger FarahIndependent · Newly elected | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Board fee structure and ownership guideline
| Annual cash retainer | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer | $175,000 |
| Per board meeting fee | — |
| Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov) | 15,000 / 10,000 / 10,000 |
| Stock ownership guideline | $150,000 |
Total cost of the board
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Cash retainers and fees | $182,500 |
| Equity awards (grant-date value) | $525,003 |
| All other compensation | $188,956 |
| Total cost of the board | $896,459 |
Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.
Peer group, and who names Wheels Up Experience as a peer
Companies that benchmark against UP
2 companies name UP as a compensation peer
- Strata Critical Medical, Inc.SRTAFY2025
- Virgin Galactic Holdings, IncSPCEFY2025
Each company listed discloses UP 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 UP 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 | Wheels Up Experience | 2025 | George Mattson | $625,000 | $0 | $0 | $490,000 | $2,074,510 |
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 | 2026-06-09 | 504,699,609 | 2,937,327 | 166,988 | 99.42% | Passed |
| 2025 | 2025-06-10 | 480,489,807 | 2,488,503 | 81,501 | 99.48% | 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 | 2026-06-09 | 99.42%a |
| 2025 | 2025-06-10 | 99.48%b |
a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “2 and 4, which are considered "non-routine" matters, abstentions and broker non-votes will not count as votes cast and will have no effect on the voting outcomes.”.
b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “2, 4, 5, and 6, which are considered "non-routine" matters, abstentions and broker non-votes will not count as votes cast and will have no effect on the voting outcome.”.
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.
Insider trades since the proxy
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
Sources (25 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, John Verkamp. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 38. As printed: 10,607,335. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Mark Briffa. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 38. As printed: 2,696,932. View filing ↗
- Section 01, George Mattson. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 38. As printed: 2,074,510. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Mark Briffa PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, John Verkamp PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Mark Briffa PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Gregory Summe. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 314,554. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Timothy Armstrong. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 301,117. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Lee Moak. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 280,786. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Alain Bellemare. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Zachary Lazar. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, George Mattson. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Thomas Klein. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Adam Zirkin. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Daniel Janki. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Adam Cantor. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Dwight James. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Andrew Davis. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Roger Farah. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: —. View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-06-10. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.42% (votes for as printed: 504,699,609). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-06-11. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.48% (votes for as printed: 480,489,807). 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 182,500 + equity 525,003 + all other 188,956 = 896,459, summed across the director compensation table rows.
- Wheels Up Experience (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Wheels Up Experience's own proxy. As printed: 2,074,510. View filing ↗