Applied Digital Proxy Reveals $189M CEO Pay Package and $450M PSU Award
APLD sits 38% above its 52-week low of $19.005.
Summary
Applied Digital's proxy statement discloses CEO Wes Cummins' $189.2M FY2026 compensation package, including a $450M maximum PSU award, plus new governance policies and related party transactions.
Key Events · Corporate Governance and Compliance · APLD
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CEO Compensation Package Disclosed
Wes Cummins received $189.2M total compensation in FY2026, including $185.9M in stock awards and a $1.75M cash bonus earned at 200% of target.
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Multi-Year PSU Awards Granted
Cummins received 4.5M PSUs with $50/$75/$100 stock price hurdles (up to $450M value); Zhang received 1.5M PSUs tied to hyperscaler contracts; Mohmand received 750K PSUs tied to $1B/$2B NOI targets.
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Governance Changes After Low Say-on-Pay
Following only 52.6% say-on-pay support in 2025, the company adopted stock ownership guidelines (CEO 6x salary) and a formulaic FY2027 bonus program tied to Adjusted Cash AEBITDA.
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Related Party Transactions Revealed
Company guaranteed up to $2.4B for Base Electron obligations, extended $100M grid notes to both Base Electron and ChronoScale, and paid $3.3M to six family members of CEO Wes Cummins.
Analysis · APLD · Technology
The definitive proxy statement discloses CEO Wes Cummins received $189.2 million in total compensation for FY2026, including a multi-year PSU grant worth up to $450 million if the stock reaches $100 per share. The company also adopted new stock ownership guidelines and a formulaic bonus program after only 52.6% shareholder support for say-on-pay last year. The filing reveals significant related party transactions with Base Electron and ChronoScale, including a $2.4 billion guarantee and $100 million grid notes. These disclosures give shareholders their first detailed look at executive pay alignment and governance changes ahead of the November 4 annual meeting.
How filings like this one have moved
In the 30 days to Oct 1, 2026, 30.2% of the 1645 measured filings Wiseek scored 7 moved their stock by 5% or more by the next session's close. The median move was -0.49%. These are measured outcomes after filings of this importance, not a forecast for this one.
Measured one observation per ticker per day, after exclusions. Current figures: Filing Impact Tracker · open dataset
At the time of this filing, APLD was trading at $26.22 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.7B. The 52-week trading range was $19.01 to $50.73. This filing was assessed with neutral market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10.