Posted 15 September, 2023
Planet Fitness, Inc. appointed Craig R. Benson as new CEO
NYSE:PLNT appointed new Chief Executive Officer Craig R. Benson in a 8-K filed on 15 September, 2023.
On September 15, 2023, the board of directors (the "Board") of Planet Fitness, Inc. (the "Company") appointed Craig R. Benson, a member of the Company's Board, as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.
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Overview of Planet Fitness, Inc.
Leisure/Arts/Hospitality • Recreational Services
Planet Fitness, Inc. engages in the operation and franchising of fitness centers. It operates through the following segments: Franchise, Corporate-Owned Stores, and Equipment. The Franchise segment includes operations related to the company's franchising business in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, and Australia. The Corporate-Owned Stores segment comprises operations with respect to all Corporate-owned stores throughout the United States and Canada. The Equipment segment involves the sale of equipment to franchisee-owned stores. The company was founded by Michael Grondahl and Marc Grondahl in 1992 and is headquartered in Hampton, NH.Market Cap
$5.40B
View Company Details
$5.40B
Relevant filing section
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. Management Transition On September 15, 2023, the board of directors (the "Board") of Planet Fitness, Inc. (the "Company") appointed Craig R. Benson, a member of the Company's Board, as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Benson's appointment follows the decision by the Board to transition to new leadership, resulting in Chris Rondeau's departure as the Company's CEO, effective as of September 15, 2023. Rondeau will continue to serve as a member of the Company's Board and will be nominated for reelection at the Company's 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. Rondeau will continue to serve the Company in an advisory role as contemplated under his existing agreements with the Company to assist with the transition. The Company thanks Chris for his 30 years of service to the Company, during which time he helped significantly grow the Company's membership and store footprint, while cultivating the Company's culture of judgement free fitness. In connection with the transition, the Board is engaging a leading executive search firm to assist in a comprehensive search process to identify a permanent CEO, with both internal and external candidates being considered. Benson, age 68, has served on the Board since July 2017. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Soft Draw Investments, LLC. Benson has also been a franchisee of Dunkin' Donuts LLC for over 15 years with 147 stores. He previously served as the 79th Governor of the State of New Hampshire. During his tenure, the Cato Institute recognized Benson as the most effective new governor in the country, as well as the second most effective of all governors nationwide. In 1983, Benson co-founded Cabletron Systems, Inc., a leading provider of networking solutions. During Benson's 17-year tenure, he served in various roles as Cabletron's Chairman, CEO, COO and President, helping take the company from a garage start-up to a publicly traded company with 7,000 employees and annual sales exceeding $1.6 billion. He serves as the Vice Chairman of the Trustees of Babson College. He previously served as a Director of Sycamore Networks Inc. from October 2007 to April 2013. Benson graduated from Babson College with a degree in Finance and completed an MBA in Operations Management from Syracuse University. He also holds honorary degrees from Dartmouth College, Thomas Jefferson University, the University of New Hampshire and Grand Valley State University. The Company and Benson (or his affiliated entities) are parties to certain related party transactions that are described in the Company's proxy statement, filed with the SEC on March 22, 2023, under the sections "Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions-Franchisee Relationships" and "-Other Contractual Relationships and Transactions," which sections are incorporated by reference herein. The Company's Compensation Committee has engaged its independent compensation consultant to assist the committee in preparing compensation arrangements for Benson in his role as Interim Chief Executive Officer. The Company will file an amendment to this Current Report on Form 8-K with a summary of such compensation once it has been approved. Separation Agreement In connection with Rondeau's departure, the Company and Rondeau have entered into a separation agreement (the "Separation Agreement"), pursuant to which Rondeau is treated as an "eligible employee" under the Company's Executive Severance & Change in Control Policy, which was previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on May 7, 2021 (the "Executive Severance Policy"). Pursuant to the Executive Severance Policy, in exchange for execution of a release of claims and continued compliance with the restrictive covenants set forth in the Executive Severance Policy, Rondeau is entitled to the receive the following separation benefits as if he had been terminated without cause: (i) an amount equal to 200% of Rondeau's current base salary, (ii) an amount equal to the prorated portion of his target annual cash bonus for 2023, (iii) an amount equal to the Company's monthly portion of the premium for each Company benefit plan Rondeau is enrolled into, multiplied by 12, plus such additional amount to compensate Mr. Rondeau for applicable income taxes relating to such monthly premium payments, and (iv) 12 additional months of service credit toward vesting for all unvested time-based equity awards. In addition, the exercise period with respect to stock options held by Mr. Rondeau will be extended until 12 months following his separation date. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement, (i) the Company agreed that it will renominate Rondeau for an additional three-year term as a director at the Company's 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, subject to the conditions set forth in the Separation Agreement, and (ii) Rondeau agreed that for so long as he remains on the Board, and for three months thereafter, he will cause his shares of Company common stock to be voted in favor of the Board's nominees for election, against the election of any person not nominated by the Board and otherwise in accordance with the Board's recommendation on any other nomination or proposal. The foregoing summary of the Separation Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Separation Agreement, a copy of which is filed herewith as Exhibit 10.1 and incorporated herein by reference.
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