UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
CURRENT REPORT
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| Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
Veritone, Inc. (the “Company”) previously entered into an independent contractor services agreement (the “Original Consulting Agreement”) with Steel Holdings, LLC that became effective on January 1, 2023. Steel Holdings, LLC is an entity affiliated with Chad Steelberg, the Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors and former Chief Executive Officer. Pursuant to the Original Consulting Agreement, the Company retained Mr. Steelberg’s services as a consultant to the Company.
On January 23, 2024, the Company entered into an amended and restated independent contractor services agreement with Steel Holdings, LLC (the “Amended Consulting Agreement”), which supersedes and replaces the Original Consulting Agreement.
Pursuant to the Amended Consulting Agreement, Mr. Steelberg will provide technical advisory services related to the Company’s software, software architecture and technology strategy as requested by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer until December 31, 2025, the termination date of the Amended Consulting Agreement. In consideration for such services, the Company will pay to Steel Holdings, LLC (i) $1.0 million in cash on July 1, 2024 and (ii) $50,000 per month in cash for the period from January 2024 through December 2025. The Company will reimburse Steel Holdings, LLC for reasonable and documented expenses incurred in connection with providing the services in accordance with Company’s standard Travel and Expense policies.
The Amended Consulting Agreement may be terminated by either party with 90 days’ notice. If the Company terminates the Amended Consulting Agreement for any reason other than Steel Holdings, LLC’s material breach, then any remaining compensation payments under the Amended Consulting Agreement will become due and payable. In the event of a Change in Control (as defined in the Company’s 2017 Equity Incentive Plan), the Amended Consulting Agreement will terminate as of the effective date of the Change in Control and any remaining payments will become due and payable.
The foregoing description of the Amended Consulting Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Amended Consulting Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 8.01 | Other Events. |
The Board of Directors of the Company appointed Ryan Steelberg, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, effective as of January 22, 2024. Chad Steelberg, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, will continue to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company.
| Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) Exhibits.
| EXHIBIT |
DESCRIPTION | |
| 10.1† | Amended and Restated Independent Contractor Services Agreement, dated January 23, 2024, between Veritone, Inc. and Steel Holdings, LLC. | |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted in Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101). | |
| † | The Company has omitted portions of the referenced exhibit pursuant to Item 601(b) of Regulation S-K because it (a) is not material and (b) is the type of information that the Company both customarily and actually treats as private and confidential. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| Veritone, Inc. | ||||||
| Date: January 23, 2024 | By: | /s/ Michael L. Zemetra | ||||
| Michael L. Zemetra Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer | ||||||