VanEck Slams Metaplanet Over 'Bad' Executive Compensation Design

Asset manager VanEck has criticized Metaplanet's executive compensation design for potentially causing dilution among existing shareholders. In a recent report, VanEck ranked Metaplanet's approach as 'Bad' due to its equity plan size of 14.7% of fully diluted shares and officer exposure of 8.2%. This is significantly higher than the average officer exposure of 0.8% across nine other digital asset treasury companies reviewed by VanEck.

VanEck attributed part of Metaplanet's problem to a prior option-pool mechanism that automatically expanded as new shares were issued for Bitcoin purchases, growing from 46 million shares to 319.5 million - an increase of roughly 273 million potential shares. To address these concerns, Metaplanet ended the automatic adjustment mechanism in August and cut the overall pool by 41% in September.

Despite these changes, VanEck still believes that Metaplanet's current structure 'falls well short of the mark.' The report calls on Metaplanet to unwind the earlier expansion and replace remaining rights with a compensation plan approved by shareholders. VanEck also warns that unless past grants are clawed back, much of the dilution effect may already have occurred.