Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On September 13, 2023, the Board of Directors (“Board”) of SkyWater Technology, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed John Sakamoto to serve as the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, effective September 25, 2023. Thomas J. Sonderman, the Company’s current President and Chief Executive Officer, will continue to serve as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer following Mr. Sakamoto’s appointment.
Mr. Sakamoto, age 55, has served as Vice President, Processing Business Unit of Marvell Technology Group, a publicly-traded infrastructure semiconductor solutions company, since October 2019. Prior to joining Marvell, Mr. Sakamoto served Intel Corporation, a publicly-traded multinational technology company, as Vice President and General Manager, Data Center and Communication Division, Programmable Solutions Group, from January 2017 to October 2019, and Vice President, Operations and Engineering, Programmable Solutions Group, from December 2015 to December 2016. Prior to Intel, Mr. Sakamoto held numerous leadership positions of increasing responsibility with Altera Corporation, which was acquired by Intel in 2015. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University.
In connection with his appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Sakamoto is expected to receive (i) an annual base salary of $410,000, (ii) a grant of 78,125 restricted stock units and 234,375 non-qualified stock options, which will vest on a pro rata basis over three and four years, respectively, (iii) an employment sign-on bonus in the amount of $50,000, subject to vesting over twelve months, and (iv) a lump sum relocation bonus in the amount of $50,000, subject to vesting over twenty-four months. In addition, Mr. Sakamoto will be eligible to receive cash bonuses pursuant to the Company’s short-term annual incentive plan with a target percentage of 75% of his annual base salary and a long-term annual incentive grant of 200% of his annual base salary under the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan and participate in the other benefit plans and arrangements made available generally to the Company’s executive officers. Such compensation and benefit plans and arrangements are described in the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 25, 2023.
There are no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Sakamoto and any other person pursuant to which he was selected as an officer, and there are no transactions related to the Company in which he has an interest requiring disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. Additionally, in connection with his appointment, Mr. Sakamoto will enter into a standard indemnification agreement with the Company in the form previously approved by the Board, a copy of which was filed as Exhibit 10.18 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 15, 2023.