New CEO at iPass gets relocation benefit extended
The housing market in Seattle is proving to be a bigger concern than originally thought for Evan Kaplan, the new chief executive at iPass, the Redwood City developer of software designed to help mobile work forces.
When he signed on as CEO last November, among the benefits he was offered was up to $10,000 per month in temporary living expenses during the first six months of his employment. The arrangement was to end sooner if Kaplan closed the purchase of a residence in the Bay Area before that.
He was also eligible for reimbursement of brokerage commissions paid on the sale of his residence in Seattle within 15 months of starting work. On Monday, iPass filed a change to that part of Kaplan’s agreement, extending the time-period from 15 to 48 months.
Interestingly, that aligns the deadline for that benefit with one other perk iPass offered Kaplan when he was hired — paying for his return trip to Seattle in the event that he is terminated or resigns before November 2012.
Any uncertainty Kaplan may be harboring about iPass would be understandable.
The company is in the midst of a proxy battle with one of its largest owners stock owners, Foxhill Master Fund, which has proposed declassifying the board and forcing all its directors to stand for election each year. Foxhill has also put forward its own slate of three directors in opposition to the three current directors up for re-election on June 24.
In the same filing today, iPass also named Steven Gatoff as its new chief financial officer, to replace Frank Verdecanna, whose employment is expected to be July 31. Gatoff, who is expected to begin June 22, will get a $20,000 relocation bonus.
The company also announced the expected termination of the employment of its chief operating officer, John Charters, who is expected to leave Aug. 31.
