DEF 14A 1 def14a1122_griddynamics.htm DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

______________________________________

SCHEDULE 14A

______________________________________

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(A) 
of the Securities Exchange Act Of 1934

Filed by the Registrant

 

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant

 

Check the appropriate box:

 

Preliminary Proxy Statement

 

Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))

 

Definitive Proxy Statement

 

Definitive Additional Materials

 

Soliciting Material under §240.14a-12

Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):

 

No fee required.

 

Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.

 

Fee computed on table in exhibit required by Item 25(b) per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(4) and 0-11

  

 

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GRID DYNAMICS HOLDINGS, INC.

Dear Stockholder:

We are pleased to invite you to attend the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc. (“Grid Dynamics” or “the Company”), to be held on Thursday, December 22, 2022, at 7:30 a.m., Pacific Time. The Annual Meeting will be conducted virtually via live audio webcast. You will be able to vote and submit your questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022 (please have your notice or proxy card in hand when you visit the website).

The attached Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and Proxy Statement contain details of the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting.

Whether or not you attend the Annual Meeting, it is important that your shares be represented and voted at the meeting. Therefore, we urge you to promptly vote and submit your proxy via the Internet, by phone or by mail.

On behalf of the Company’s Board of Directors, we would like to express our appreciation for your support of and interest in Grid Dynamics.

Sincerely,

/s/ Lloyd Carney

 

 

 

/s/ Leonard Livschitz

Lloyd Carney

     

Leonard Livschitz

Chairman of the Board of Directors

     

Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

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Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc.
5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520
San Ramon, CA 94583

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

Time and Date

 

December 22, 2022, at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time

Place

 

The Annual Meeting will be a completely virtual audio meeting of stockholders, to be conducted via live audio webcast. You will be able to attend the virtual Annual Meeting and submit your questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022.

Items of Business

 

   To elect three Class III directors to hold office until the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are elected and qualified, subject to their earlier death, resignation or removal.

   To ratify the selection of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.

   To transact such other business that may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment thereof.

Record Date

 

November 4, 2022 (the “Record Date”). Only stockholders of record at the close of business on the Record Date are entitled to receive notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting.

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT.    Whether or not you plan to attend the virtual Annual Meeting, we urge you to submit your vote via the Internet, telephone or mail as soon as possible to ensure your shares are represented. For additional instructions for each of these voting options, please refer to the proxy card. Returning the proxy does not deprive you of your right to attend the virtual Annual Meeting and to vote your shares at the Annual Meeting. The Proxy Statement explains proxy voting and the matters to be voted on in more detail.

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Virtual Annual Meeting to be Held on December 22, 2022.    Our proxy materials, including the Proxy Statement and Annual Report to Stockholders, are being made available on or about November 10, 2022 at the following website: http://www.proxyvote.com, as well as on our investor relations webpage at https://ir.griddynamics.com/investor-relations.html in the “Financial Information” section under “SEC Filings.” We are providing access to our proxy materials over the Internet under the rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

By Order of the Board of Directors,

   

/s/ Anil Doradla

   

Anil Doradla

   

Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

San Ramon, California

November 10, 2022

Your vote is important. To vote your shares, please follow the instructions in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, which is being mailed to you on or about November 10, 2022.

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Page

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING

 

2

BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

8

Director Nominees

 

8

Continuing Directors

 

9

Director Independence

 

11

Board Leadership Structure

 

11

Board and Stockholder Meetings and Committees

 

12

Audit Committee

 

12

Compensation Committee

 

13

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

 

13

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

 

13

Considerations in Evaluating Director Nominees

 

14

Stockholder Recommendations for Nominations to the Board of Directors

 

14

Communications with the Board of Directors

 

14

Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

 

15

Role of the Board in Risk Oversight

 

15

Derivatives Trading and Anti-Hedging and Pledging Policy

 

15

Non-Employee Director Compensation

 

15

Board Diversity Matrix

 

17

PROPOSAL NO. 1 ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

18

Nominees

 

18

Vote Required

 

18

PROPOSAL NO. 2 RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

19

Fees Paid to the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

19

Audit Committee Policy on Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

19

Vote Required

 

20

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

 

21

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

 

22

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

23

Processes and Procedures for Compensation Decisions

 

23

Summary Compensation Table

 

23

Salaries and Incentive Bonuses

 

24

Employment Agreements

 

24

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2021 Year-End

 

25

Retirement Benefits

 

26

Equity Compensation Plan Information

 

26

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

 

27

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

29

Related Party Transactions

 

29

Related Party Transactions Following the Business Combination

 

29

Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions

 

29

OTHER MATTERS

 

30

Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report and SEC Filings

 

30

Company Website

 

30

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GRID DYNAMICS HOLDINGS, INC.

PROXY STATEMENT
FOR 2022 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
To Be Held at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time, on December 22, 2022

This proxy statement (this “Proxy Statement”) and form of proxy are being provided to you in connection with the solicitation of proxies by our board of directors for use at our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”), and any postponements, adjournments or continuations thereof. The Annual Meeting will be held on December 22, 2022 at 7:30 a.m., Pacific Time, via live audio webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022. Stockholders of record as of November 4, 2022 (the “Record Date”) are invited to attend the Annual Meeting and are entitled to vote on the proposals described in this Proxy Statement.

The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) containing instructions on how to access this Proxy Statement and Grid Dynamics’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as amended (the “Annual Report”) is first being mailed on or about November 10, 2022 to all stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING

The information provided in the “question and answer” format below addresses certain frequently asked questions but is not intended to be a summary of all matters contained in this Proxy Statement. Please read the entire Proxy Statement carefully before voting your shares.

Why am I receiving these materials?

Our board of directors is providing these proxy materials to you in connection with our board of directors’ solicitation of proxies for use at the Annual Meeting, which will take place on December 22, 2022. Stockholders are invited to attend the Annual Meeting and are requested to vote on the proposals described in this Proxy Statement.

All stockholders will have the ability to access the proxy materials via the Internet, including this Proxy Statement and our Annual Report. The Notice includes information on how to access the proxy materials, how to submit your vote over the Internet, by phone or how to request a paper copy of the proxy materials. This Proxy Statement and the Annual Report are available at www.proxyvote.com. If you receive a Notice by mail, you will not receive a printed copy of the proxy materials in the mail unless you specifically request these materials.

What proposals will be voted on at the Annual Meeting?

There are two proposals scheduled to be voted on at the Annual Meeting:

        the election of Eric Benhamou, Weihang Wang and Patrick Nicolet as Class III directors to hold office until the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are elected and qualified, subject to their earlier death, resignation or removal; and

        the ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.

At the time this Proxy Statement was mailed, our management and board of directors were not aware of any other matters to be presented at the Annual Meeting.

How does our board of directors recommend that I vote?

Our board of directors recommends that you vote:

        FOR the election of each of Eric Benhamou, Weihang Wang and Patrick Nicolet as Class III directors; and

        FOR the ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.

Who is entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting?

Holders of our common stock at the close of business on November 4, 2022, the record date for the Annual Meeting (the “Record Date”), are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting. Each stockholder is entitled to one vote for each share of our common stock held as of the Record Date. As of the Record Date, there were 73,999,020 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote. Stockholders are not permitted to cumulate votes with respect to the election of directors.

What is the difference between holding shares as a stockholder of record and as a beneficial owner?

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name.    If, at the close of business on the Record Date, your shares were registered directly in your name with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, our transfer agent, then you are considered the stockholder of record with respect to those shares. As the stockholder of record, you have the right to grant your voting proxy directly to the individuals listed on the proxy card or to vote on your own behalf at the Annual Meeting.

Beneficial Owners: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank or Other Nominee.    If, at the close of business on the Record Date, your shares were held in a stock brokerage account or by a bank or other nominee on your behalf, then you are considered the beneficial owner of shares held in “street name.” As the beneficial owner, you have

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the right to direct your broker, bank or other nominee how to vote your shares by following the voting instructions your broker, bank or other nominee provides. If you do not provide your broker, bank or other nominee with instructions on how to vote your shares, your broker, bank or other nominee may, in its discretion, vote your shares with respect to routine matters but may not vote your shares with respect to any non-routine matters. For additional information, see “What if I do not specify how my shares are to be voted?” below.

Do I have to do anything in advance if I plan to attend the Annual Meeting?

The Annual Meeting will be a virtual audio meeting of stockholders, which will be conducted via live audio webcast. You are entitled to participate in the Annual Meeting only if you were a holder of our common stock as of the close of business on the Record Date or if you hold a valid proxy for the Annual Meeting.

You will be able to attend the Annual Meeting and submit your questions during the Annual Meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022. You also will be able to vote your shares electronically at the Annual Meeting.

To participate in the Annual Meeting, you will need the control number included on your Notice or proxy card. The live audio webcast will begin promptly at 7:30 a.m., Pacific Time. We encourage you to access the meeting prior to the start time. Online check-in will begin at 7:15 a.m., Pacific Time, and you should allow ample time for the check-in procedures.

How can I get help if I have trouble checking in or listening to the meeting online?

If you encounter any difficulties accessing the virtual meeting during the check-in or meeting time, please call the technical support number that will be posted on the Virtual Shareholder Meeting log-in page.

How do I vote and what are the voting deadlines?

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name.    If you are a stockholder of record, you can vote in one of the following ways:

        You may vote via the Internet.    To vote via the Internet, go to www.proxyvote.com to complete an electronic proxy card. You will be asked to provide the control number from the proxy card you receive. Your vote must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 21, 2022 to be counted. If you vote via the Internet, you do not need to return a proxy card by mail.

        You may vote by telephone.    To vote by telephone, dial 1-800-690-6903 (the call is toll-free in the United States and Canada; toll charges apply to calls from other countries) and follow the recorded instructions. You will be asked to provide the control number from the proxy card. Your vote must be received by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on December 21, 2022 to be counted. If you vote by telephone, you do not need to return a proxy card by mail.

        You may vote by mail.    To vote by mail using the proxy card (if you requested paper copies of the proxy materials to be mailed to you), you need to complete, date and sign the proxy card and return it promptly by mail in the envelope provided so that it is received no later than December 21, 2022. The persons named in the proxy card will vote the shares you own in accordance with your instructions on the proxy card you mail.

        You may vote at the Annual Meeting.    To vote at the meeting, following the instructions at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022 (have your Notice or proxy card in hand when you visit the website).

Beneficial Owners: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank or Other Nominee.    If you are the beneficial owner of shares held of record by a broker, bank or other nominee, you will receive voting instructions from your broker, bank or other nominee. You must follow the voting instructions provided by your broker, bank or other nominee in order to instruct your broker, bank or other nominee how to vote your shares. The availability of Internet and telephone voting options will depend on the voting process of your broker, bank or other nominee.

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Can I change my vote or revoke my proxy?

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name.    If you are a stockholder of record, you may revoke your proxy or change your proxy instructions at any time before your proxy is voted at the Annual Meeting by:

        entering a new vote by Internet or telephone;

        signing and returning a new proxy card with a later date;

        delivering a written revocation to our Secretary at Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc., 5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520, San Ramon, CA 94583, by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on December 21, 2022; or

        following the instructions at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022.

Beneficial Owners: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank or Other Nominee.    If you are the beneficial owner of your shares, you must contact the broker, bank or other nominee holding your shares and follow their instructions to change your vote or revoke your proxy.

What is the effect of giving a proxy?

Proxies are solicited by and on behalf of our board of directors. The persons named in the proxy have been designated as proxy holders by our board of directors. When a proxy is properly dated, executed and returned, the shares represented by the proxy will be voted at the Annual Meeting in accordance with the instructions of the stockholder. If no specific instructions are given; however, the shares will be voted in accordance with the recommendations of our board of directors. If any matters not described in this proxy statement are properly presented at the Annual Meeting, the proxy holders will use their own judgment to determine how to vote your shares. If the Annual Meeting is postponed or adjourned, the proxy holders can vote your shares on the new meeting date, unless you have properly revoked your proxy, as described above.

What if I do not specify how my shares are to be voted?

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name.    If you are a stockholder of record and you submit a proxy but you do not provide voting instructions, your shares will be voted:

        FOR the election of each of the three directors nominated by our board of directors and named in this proxy statement as Class III directors to serve until the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders (Proposal No. 1);

        FOR the ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 (Proposal No. 2); and

        in the discretion of the named proxy holders regarding any other matters properly presented for a vote at the Annual Meeting.

Beneficial Owners: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker, Bank or Other Nominee.    If you are a beneficial owner and you do not provide your broker, bank or other nominee that holds your shares with voting instructions, then your broker, bank or other nominee will determine if it has discretion to vote on each matter. Brokers do not have discretion to vote on non-routine matters. Proposal No. 1 (election of directors) is a non-routine matter, while Proposal No. 2 (ratification of appointment of independent registered public accounting firm) is a routine matter. As a result, if you do not provide voting instructions to your broker, bank or other nominee, then your broker, bank or other nominee may not vote your shares with respect to Proposal No. 1, which would result in a “broker non-vote,” but may, in its discretion, vote your shares with respect to Proposal No. 2. For additional information regarding broker non-votes, see “What are the effects of abstentions and broker non-votes?” below.

What are the effects of abstentions and broker non-votes?

An abstention represents a stockholder’s affirmative choice to decline to vote on a proposal. If a stockholder indicates on its proxy card that it wishes to abstain from voting its shares, or if a broker, bank or other nominee holding its customers’ shares of record causes abstentions to be recorded for shares, these shares will be considered present and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. As a result, abstentions will be counted for purposes of determining the presence or absence of a quorum and will also count as votes against a proposal in cases where approval of the

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proposal requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present and entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting (e.g., Proposal No. 2). However, because the outcome of Proposal No. 1 (election of directors) will be determined by a plurality vote, abstentions will have no impact on the outcome of such proposal as long as a quorum exists.

A broker non-vote occurs when a broker, bank or other nominee holding shares for a beneficial owner does not vote on a particular proposal because the broker, bank or other nominee does not have discretionary voting power with respect to such proposal and has not received voting instructions from the beneficial owner of the shares. Broker non-votes will be counted for purposes of calculating whether a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting but will not be counted for purposes of determining the number of votes present and entitled to vote or votes cast. Therefore, a broker non-vote will make a quorum more readily attainable but will not otherwise affect the outcome of the vote on any proposal.

What is a quorum?

A quorum is the minimum number of shares required to be present at the Annual Meeting for the meeting to be properly held under our bylaws and Delaware law. The presence (including by proxy) of a majority of all issued and outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting will constitute a quorum at the Annual Meeting. As noted above, as of the Record Date, there were a total of 73,999,020 shares of common stock outstanding, which means that 36,999,511 shares of common stock must be represented at the Annual Meeting to have a quorum. If there is no quorum, a majority of the shares present at the Annual Meeting may adjourn the meeting to a later date.

How many votes are needed for approval of each proposal?

        Proposal No. 1:    The election of Class III directors requires a plurality vote of the shares of our common stock present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon to be approved. Plurality means that the three nominees who receive the most FOR votes will be elected. Withhold votes and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of the vote.

        Proposal No. 2:    The ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP requires an affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our common stock present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon. Abstentions will have the same effect as a vote AGAINST the proposal.

How are proxies solicited for the Annual Meeting and who is paying for such solicitation?

Our board of directors is soliciting proxies for use at the Annual Meeting by means of the proxy materials. We will bear the entire cost of proxy solicitation, including the preparation, assembly, printing, mailing and distribution of the proxy materials. Copies of solicitation materials will also be made available upon request to brokers, banks and other nominees to forward to the beneficial owners of the shares held of record by such brokers, banks or other nominees. The original solicitation of proxies may be supplemented by solicitation by telephone, electronic communication, or other means by our directors, officers, employees or agents. No additional compensation will be paid to these individuals for any such services, although we may reimburse such individuals for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in connection with such solicitation. We do not plan to retain a proxy solicitor to assist in the solicitation of proxies.

If you choose to access the proxy materials and/or vote over the Internet, you are responsible for Internet access charges you may incur. If you choose to vote by telephone, you are responsible for telephone charges you may incur.

What does it mean if I received more than one Notice?

If you receive more than one Notice, you hold shares that may be registered in more than one name or in different accounts. Please follow the voting instructions on each Notice to ensure that all of your shares are voted.

I share an address with another stockholder, and we received only one paper copy of the proxy materials. How may I obtain an additional copy of the proxy materials?

We have adopted an SEC-approved procedure called “householding.” Under this procedure, we will deliver only one copy of our Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, and for those stockholders that received a paper copy of proxy materials in the mail, one copy of our Annual Report to stockholders and this Proxy Statement,

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to multiple stockholders who share the same address (if they appear to be members of the same family) unless we have received contrary instructions from an affected stockholder. Stockholders who participate in householding will continue to receive separate proxy cards if they received a paper copy of proxy materials in the mail. This procedure reduces our printing and mailing costs. Upon written or oral request, we will promptly deliver a separate copy of the proxy materials and Annual Report to any stockholder at a shared address to which we delivered a single copy of any of these documents. To receive a separate copy, or, if you are receiving multiple copies, to request that we only send a single copy of next year’s proxy materials and annual report, you may contact us as follows:

Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc.
Attention: Secretary
5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520
San Ramon, CA 94583
(650) 523-5000

Stockholders who hold shares in street name may contact their brokerage firm, bank, broker-dealer or other nominee to request information about householding.

How can I find out the results of the voting at the Annual Meeting?

Preliminary voting results will be announced at the Annual Meeting. In addition, final voting results will be published in a current report on Form 8-K that will be filed within four business days after the Annual Meeting. If final voting results are not available to us at that time, we will file a Form 8-K to publish preliminary results and, within four business days after the final results are known to us, file an amendment to the Form 8-K to publish the final results.

What is the deadline to propose actions for consideration at next year’s annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate individuals to serve as directors?

Stockholder Proposals

Stockholders may present proper proposals for inclusion in our proxy statement and for consideration at the next annual meeting of stockholders by submitting their proposals in writing to our Secretary in a timely manner. We will provide stockholders with sufficient notice of the date of our 2023 annual meeting. Because we expect the date of next year’s annual meeting to change by more than 30 days from the date of the Annual Meeting, the deadline for a stockholder proposal to be considered for inclusion in our proxy statement for next year’s annual meeting will be a reasonable time before we begin to print and send our proxy materials. In addition, stockholder proposals must comply with the requirements of Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, regarding the inclusion of stockholder proposals in company-sponsored proxy materials. Stockholder proposals should be addressed to:

Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc.
Attention: Secretary
5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520
San Ramon, CA 94583

Our bylaws also establish an advance notice procedure for stockholders who wish to present a proposal before an annual meeting of stockholders but do not intend for the proposal to be included in our proxy statement. Our bylaws provide that the only business that may be conducted at an annual meeting is business that is (i) specified in our proxy materials with respect to such meeting, (ii) otherwise properly brought before the annual meeting by or at the direction of our board of directors, or (iii) properly brought before the annual meeting by a stockholder of record entitled to vote at the annual meeting who has delivered timely written notice to our Secretary, which notice must contain the information specified in our bylaws.

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Because we expect the date of our 2023 annual meeting of stockholders to be more than 25 days before or more than 25 days after the first anniversary of the date of the Annual Meeting, notice of a stockholder proposal that is not intended to be included in our proxy statement must be received no earlier than the close of business on the 120 day before the 2023 annual meeting and no later than the close of business on the later of the following two dates:

        the tenth day following the day on which notice of the date of the 2023 annual meeting is mailed to the stockholder; or

        the tenth day following the day public disclosure of the date of the 2023 annual meeting is made.

We will provide stockholders with sufficient notice of the date of next year’s annual meeting so that a stockholder’s notice may be timely. If a stockholder who has notified us of his, her or its intention to present a proposal at an annual meeting does not appear to present his, her or its proposal at such annual meeting, we are not required to present the proposal for a vote at such annual meeting.

Nomination of Director Candidates

You may recommend director candidates for consideration by our nominating and corporate governance committee. Any such recommendations should include the nominee’s name and qualifications for membership on our board of directors and should be directed to our Secretary at the address set forth above. For additional information regarding stockholder recommendations for director candidates, see the section titled “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance — Stockholder Recommendations for Nominations to the Board of Directors.”

In addition, our bylaws permit stockholders to nominate directors for election at an annual meeting of stockholders. To nominate a director, the stockholder must provide the information required by our bylaws. In addition, the stockholder must give timely notice to our Secretary in accordance with our bylaws, which, in general, require that the notice be received by our Secretary within the time period described above under “Stockholder Proposals” for stockholder proposals that are not intended to be included in a proxy statement.

Availability of Bylaws

A copy of our bylaws may be obtained by accessing our public filings on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. You may also contact our Secretary at our principal executive office for a copy of the relevant bylaw provisions regarding the requirements for making stockholder proposals and nominating director candidates.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our business is managed under the direction of our board of directors, which is currently comprised of nine members. Six of our nine directors are independent within the meaning of the independent director requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”). Our board of directors is divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. At each annual meeting of stockholders, a class of directors will be elected for a three-year term to succeed the same class whose term is then expiring.

Upon the recommendation of our nominating and corporate governance committee, we are nominating Eric Benhamou, Weihang Wang, and Patrick Nicolet as Class III directors at the Annual Meeting. If elected, Messrs. Benhamou, Wang and Nicolet will each hold office until the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2025 or until their successors are elected and qualified, subject to their earlier death, resignation or removal.

The following table sets forth the names, ages as of November 4, 2022 and certain other information for each of the directors with terms expiring at the Annual Meeting (who are also nominees for election as a director at the Annual Meeting) and for each of the continuing directors:

Name

 

Class

 

Age

 

Position

 

Director
Since

 

Current
Term
Expires

 

Expiration
of Term
For Which
Nominated

Director Nominees

                       

Eric Benhamou(1)(2)(3)

 

III

 

67

 

Director

 

2015

 

2022

 

2025

Weihang Wang

 

III

 

55

 

Director

 

2017

 

2022

 

2025

Patrick Nicolet

 

III

 

63

 

Director

 

2022

 

2022

 

2025

Continuing Directors

                       

Leonard Livschitz

 

I

 

56

 

Chief Executive Officer
and Director

 

2006

 

2023

 

Shuo Zhang(1)

 

I

 

57

 

Director

 

2017

 

2023

 

Marina Levinson(1)

 

I

 

64

 

Director

 

2020

 

2023

 

Lloyd Carney(2)(3)

 

II

 

60

 

Director and Chairman

 

2018

 

2024

 

Yueou Wang

 

II

 

48

 

Director

 

2017

 

2024

 

Michael Southworth(1)

 

II

 

50

 

Director

 

2020

 

2024

 

____________

(1)      Member of our audit committee

(2)      Member of our compensation committee

(3)      Member of our nominating and corporate governance committee

Director Nominees

Eric Benhamou.    Mr. Benhamou, a director since 2015, co-founded Bridge Communications, a specialist in computer network technologies in 1981. Bridge Communications later merged with 3Com Corporation, a networking equipment vendor, in 1987. Thereafter, he became Chief Executive Officer of 3Com, serving there from 1990 to 2000, and as chairman until 2010. As 3Com’s Chief Executive Officer, he led the company in acquiring US Robotics, the owner of Palm, Inc. the maker of the groundbreaking Palm Pilot. Palm, Inc. was thereafter spun off in 2000, and Mr. Benhamou served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2003. In 2003, Mr. Benhamou founded BGV, a venture capital firm focused on technology companies, specializing in cloud software, artificial intelligence cyber security, and mobile applications. Mr. Benhamou has been a member of the board of directors of Silicon Valley Bank since 2004. He is Chief Executive Officer and a director of Enterprise 4.0 Technology Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded SPAC. He was a member of the board of directors of Finjan Holdings, a cybersecurity firm, from 2013 until July 2020. He served on the board of Cypress Semiconductor as chairman for over a decade, until 2017. He also serves on the board of several privately held technology companies. He holds an M.S. from Stanford University’s School of Engineering and a Diplôme d’Ingénieur and a Doctorate from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Paris. Mr. Benhamou taught entrepreneurship in various business schools around the world for over 10 years, principally at INSEAD, Stanford University and IDC’s Herzliya’s Arison School of Business, where he was a visiting professor. He also served on the Advisory Board of Stanford’s School of Engineering and the Board of Governors of Ben Gurion

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University of the Negev in Israel. We believe Mr. Benhamou is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive operational and management experience in the technology industry as well as his public company governance experience and his venture capital background.

Weihang Wang.    Mr. Wang has served as a non-employee director of Grid Dynamics’ board of directors since 2017. Mr. Wang Weihang has been a Director of ASL, the former parent company of Grid Dynamics, since 2009 and was re-designated from a Non-Executive Director to an Executive Director in May 2014. Mr. Wang has also served as the chairman and a director of Teamsun, ASL’s ultimate holding company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, since 2014, and currently is also the sole director of Hong Kong Teamsun. Hong Kong Teamsun is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teamsun. Mr. Wang previously also served as the chief executive officer of Teamsun from 2014 to July 2019. Prior to his re-designation as the chairman and chief executive officer of Teamsun in 2014, Mr. Wang was the general manager of Teamsun, and the vice-chairman and general manager of Teamsun’s first board of directors. Mr. Wang holds an Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Tsinghua University in the PRC and a Master’s Degree in Semi-Conductor Materials and Microelectronic Technology from the Information and Electronic Engineering Department of Zhejiang University in the PRC. Mr. Wang was awarded as China Software Industry Outstanding Entrepreneur Laureate and China Software Industry Prestige Award Laureate by China Software Industry Association in 2009. He was also awarded the “Innovation Outstanding Personality of Chinese Brand Award” in 2011. We believe Mr. Wang’s leadership roles in the IT industry and background in technology and engineering enable Mr. Wang to provide valuable insight to the board of directors regarding business strategy and industry trends.

Patrick Nicolet.    Mr. Nicolet is the Managing Partner of Line Break Capital Ltd, a technology brokering company specialized in distributed computing that he founded in January 2021. Prior to that, he spent over twenty years in various roles at Capgemini SE, a consulting, technology services and digital transformation company, including seven as a Group Executive Board member. He also serves on the boards of directors of several private companies. Mr. Nicolet received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland in 1984 and previously served in the Swiss Air Force where he obtained the Grade of Major. We believe Mr. Nicolet’s decades of operational and management experience in the technology industry, particularly in consulting and digital transformation, provides him with the necessary skills to serve as a member of the board of directors.

Continuing Directors

Leonard Livschitz.    Mr. Livschitz has served as a director of Grid Dynamics’ board of directors since 2006 and the Chief Executive Officer of Grid Dynamics since 2014. Prior to joining Grid Dynamics as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Livschitz co-founded the LED solutions company Luxera, serving as director from 2010 to 2014 and as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to 2014. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ledengin. Mr. Livschitz has over 25 years of experience in the high tech industry. He has held executive and management roles in sales, marketing, business development, and research and development with Philips Lumileds Lighting, Ledengin, Visteon Lighting and Ford Motor Company. Mr. Livschitz holds a Masters of Science degree in Systems and Control Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Kharkov State Polytechnic University, Ukraine. We believe Mr. Livschitz’s extensive experience in and knowledge of the high tech industry, as well as his experience with executive and management roles and responsibilities at Grid Dynamics, provide him with the necessary skills to serve as a member of the board of directors.

Shuo Zhang.    Mr. Zhang has served as a non-employee director of Grid Dynamics’ board of directors since 2017. Ms. Zhang currently serves on the boards of directors at several public and private companies, including S.O.I.TEC Silicon on Insulator Technologies SA, Telink Semiconductor and PDF Solutions. She is also actively involved with private venture capital firms in the Silicon Valley and currently serves a China Advisory Partner for Benhamou Global Ventures (“BGV”). From December 2007 to September 2015, Ms. Zhang served in various senior management capacities at Cypress Semiconductor, including corporate development, general management and worldwide mobile sales. Prior to Cypress, Ms. Zhang served in many different product, marketing and sales management roles in Silicon Light Machines, Agilent Technologies, Altera Corporation, and LSI Corporation. Ms. Zhang holds a Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering from Zhejiang University and a Master of Science in material science and mechanics from Penn State University. We believe Ms. Zhang is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her experience in general management, marketing, sales and strategic business development.

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Marina Levinson.    Ms. Levinson is the founder and CEO of CIO Advisory Group LLC, which was founded in September 2011 and provides technology advice to venture capital and private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Since April 2014, she has also been a partner at venture capital firm BGV. She is on the board of HomeSmart International, a real estate brokerage company, and is chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. Previously, Ms. Levinson was a member of the board of directors of Personal Capital from October 2018 until August 2020 when Personal Capital was acquired by Empower Retirement. She also served on the board of Ellie Mae where she was the chair of the technology and cybersecurity committee and a member of the compensation committee from August 2014 until April 2019 when Ellie Mae was acquired by Thoma Bravo. She was also on the board of Carbonite where she was the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee and a member of the information security risk committee from May 2017 until January 2020 when Carbonite was acquired by OpenText. From 2005 to 2011, Ms. Levinson served as senior vice president and chief information officer for NetApp, Inc. From 1999 to 2005, she served as vice president and chief information officer of Palm, Inc., having earlier served as senior director of global integration at 3Com. Ms. Levinson holds a B.S. in Computer Science from St. Petersburg Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics. We believe Ms. Levinson is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her extensive operational and management experience in the technology industry as well as her public company governance experience.

Lloyd Carney.    Mr. Carney, a director since June 14, 2018, has spent more than 25 years in the technology industry. He started at Wellfleet and Nortel Networks in 1997 and in 2002 he rose to become division president. In 2003, he joined Juniper Networks as Chief Operating Officer where he oversaw the engineering, product management and manufacturing divisions. Thereafter, in 2004, he was named Chief Executive Officer of Micromuse, an enterprise and telecom network management company. Mr. Carney led the sale of Micromuse to IBM for $865 million, staying at IBM for a year after the sale to ensure a smooth transition. In 2008, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Xsigo Systems, a provider of network visualization systems, which was sold to Oracle Corporation in 2012. Mr. Carney then accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer and director of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., a networking solutions company, in early 2013. His tenure culminated in the sale of Brocade to Broadcom Ltd. for $5.5 billion in late 2017. Mr. Carney is currently a member of the board and chairs the audit committee of Visa, a leading credit card company, is currently chairman of Nuance Communications, a leading conversational AI solution provider, and is a member of the board of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company. From 2005 to 2014, he was a member of the board of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, where he served on the audit and compensation committees. He was also a member of the board of Technicolor (SA), a technology company in the media and entertainment sector from 2010 until 2015, where he chaired its technology committee. In addition, since 2007 he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Carney Global Ventures, LLC, a global investment vehicle. Mr. Carney holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from Wentworth Institute of Technology, as well as a M.S. degree in Applied Business Management from Lesley College. We believe Mr. Carney is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive operational and management experience in the technology industry as well as the broad scope of experience he brings to bear.

Yueou Wang.    Mr. Wang has served as a non-employee director of Grid Dynamics’ board of directors since 2017. Mr. Wang has served as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of ASL, the former parent company of Grid Dynamics, since September 2016 and September 2015, respectively. Mr. Wang joined ASL in 2011 as Financial Controller, Chief Financial Officer and Joint Company Secretary. Mr. Wang is currently a director of certain ASL subsidiaries and an associate of ASL (i.e., the directorship of i-Sprint). He was a director of Teamsun from December 2017 until February 2020. Previously, Mr. Wang was the Chief Financial Officer and a board secretary of Guangzhou Headway Technology Co., Ltd., and a regional finance manager (China) of Wistron Information Technology & Services Corporation. Mr. Wang holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Accounting from Jinan University, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Wales, United Kingdom and an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration from Research Institute of Tsinghua University. We believe Mr. Wang’s financial management expertise, including his expertise in the IT industry, provides him with the necessary skills to serve as a member of the board of directors and enables him to contribute valuable insight regarding financial and strategic business issues.

Michael Southworth.    Mr. Southworth is currently the CEO of Babel Street, an AI-enabled open-source analytics company, where he has served since March 2022. Previously, he was President of Transflo, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions for the transportation market, from October 2020 to January 2022, and General Manager of the Intelligent Self-Service business at Verint Systems, Inc., a leading provider of customer engagement solutions, from February 2016 until September 2020. From June 2014 to February 2016, Mr. Southworth was Chief Executive Officer of Contact Solutions, a company acquired by Verint in February 2016 and led Contact

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Solution’s business transformation, including strategy planning, risk mitigation, executive recruitment and change management. For over two decades, Mr. Southworth has directed companies from the start-up phase through major periods of growth, leading numerous equity and debt financings and over $5.0 billion in mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Contact Solutions, Mr. Southworth was Senior Vice President of Global Wireless Solutions at Corning. In addition, he held senior financial roles at a number of technology companies including MobileAccess Networks, Telemus Solutions, Lucent Technologies, Chromatis Networks, and the X-Stream Network. Mr. Southworth began his career in the Silicon Valley office of PricewaterhouseCoopers where he managed IPOs and advised clients on tax and accounting matters. Mr. Southworth holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Quality of Life Plus. Mr. Southworth previously served on the Board of Directors of Finjan Holding, Inc. We believe Mr. Southworth is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his extensive operational and management experience with multinational technology growth companies and expertise in equity and debt financing.

Director Independence

Our common stock is listed on Nasdaq. Under the rules of Nasdaq, independent directors must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors. In addition, the rules of Nasdaq require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees be independent. Under the rules of Nasdaq, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of that company’s board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Audit committee members must also satisfy the additional independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act and the rules of Nasdaq. Compensation committee members must also satisfy the additional independence criteria set forth in Rule 10C-1 under the Exchange Act and the rules of Nasdaq.

In order to be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10A-3 and under the rules of Nasdaq, a member of an audit committee of a listed company may not, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the committee, the board of directors, or any other board committee: (1) accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory, or other compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries; or (2) be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of its subsidiaries.

To be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10C-1 and under the rules of Nasdaq, the board of directors must affirmatively determine that the member of the compensation committee is independent, including a consideration of all factors specifically relevant to determining whether the director has a relationship to the company which is material to that director’s ability to be independent from management in connection with the duties of a compensation committee member, including, but not limited to: (i) the source of compensation of such director, including any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee paid by the company to such director; and (ii) whether such director is affiliated with the company, a subsidiary of the company or an affiliate of a subsidiary of the company.

We have undertaken a review of the independence of each director and considered whether each director has a material relationship with us that could compromise his or her ability to exercise independent judgment in carrying out his or her responsibilities. As a result of this review, we determined that each of Eric Benhamou, Lloyd Carney, Marina Levinson, Patrick Nicolet, Michael Southworth, and Shuo Zhang will be considered “independent directors” as defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and the listing requirements and rules of Nasdaq.

Board Leadership Structure

We believe that the structure of our board of directors and its committees provide us strong overall management. The Chairman of our board of directors and our Chief Executive Officer roles are separate. Mr. Livschitz serves as our Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Carney serves as Chairman of our board of directors. This structure enables each person to focus on different aspects of company leadership. Our Chief Executive Officer is responsible for setting the strategic direction of our company, the general management and operation of the business and the guidance and oversight of senior management. The Chairman of our board of directors monitors the content, quality and timeliness of information sent to our board of directors and is available for consultation with our board of directors regarding the oversight of its business affairs. Our independent directors bring experience, oversight and expertise from outside of our company, while Mr. Livschitz brings company-specific experience and expertise. As our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Livschitz is best positioned to identify strategic priorities, lead critical discussion and execute our business plans.

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Board and Stockholder Meetings and Committees

During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, Grid Dynamics’ board of directors held five meetings (including regularly scheduled and special meetings), Grid Dynamics’ audit committee held four meetings, Grid Dynamics’ compensation committee held four meetings, and Grid Dynamics’ nominating and corporate governance committee held no meetings but acted by written consent. Each director attended at least 75% of the aggregate of (i) the total number of meetings of our board of directors held during the period for which he or she served as a director and (ii) the total number of meetings held by all committees of our board of directors on which he or she served during the periods that he or she served.

We encourage, but do not require, our directors to attend our annual meeting of stockholders. All of our directors who served at the time of the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders attended such meeting.

Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, which are standing committees of the board of directors. The current membership of our committees is set forth below. Each of our standing committees operates under a written charter that complies with the applicable requirements of the Nasdaq listing standards and the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. Each of the charters is posted on the “Corporate Governance” section of our investor relations website at https://ir.griddynamics.com/corporate-governance.html.

Name of Director(1)

 

Audit
Committee

 

Compensation
Committee

 

Nominating and
Corporate
Governance
Committee

Shuo Zhang

 

Member

       

Marina Levinson

 

Member

       

Lloyd Carney

     

Member

 

Chair

Michael Southworth

 

Chair

       

Eric Benhamou

 

Member

 

Chair

 

Member

____________

(1)      Lists current membership of our committees.

Audit Committee

Our audit committee is responsible for, among other things:

        selecting a qualified firm to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our financial statements;

        helping to ensure the independence and performance of the independent registered public accounting firm;

        discussing the scope and results of the audit with the independent registered public accounting firm and reviewing, with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, our interim and year-end financial statements;

        developing procedures for employees to submit concerns anonymously about questionable accounting or audit matters;

        reviewing our policies on and oversees risk assessment and risk management, including enterprise risk management;

        reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of our internal control policies and procedures and our disclosure controls and procedures;

        providing oversight on matters related to our cybersecurity, IT strategy, operations, policies, controls and risk management;

        reviewing related person transactions; and

        approving or, as required, pre-approving, all audit and all permissible non-audit services, other than de minimis non-audit services, to be performed by the independent registered public accounting firm.

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Each of the members of our audit committee meets the requirements for independence under the listing standards of Nasdaq and the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. Each member of our audit committee also meets the financial literacy and sophistication requirements of the listing standards of Nasdaq. In addition, our board of directors has determined that Ms. Zhang is an audit committee financial expert within the meaning of Item 407(d) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act of 1933.

Compensation Committee

Our compensation committee is responsible for, among other things:

        reviewing, approving and determining the compensation of our executive officers and key employees;

        reviewing, approving and determining compensation and benefits, including equity awards, to directors for service on the board of directors or any committee thereof;

        administering our equity compensation plans;

        reviewing, approving and making recommendations to our board of directors regarding incentive compensation and equity compensation plans; and

        establishing and reviewing general policies relating to compensation and benefits of our employees.

Each of the members of our compensation committee meets the requirements for independence under the listing standards of Nasdaq and the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC. Each member of the compensation committee is also a non-employee director, as defined pursuant to Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Our nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for, among other things:

        identifying, evaluating and selecting, or making recommendations to our board of directors regarding, nominees for election to our board of directors and its committees;

        evaluating the performance of our board of directors and of individual directors;

        considering, and making recommendations to our board of directors regarding, the composition of our board of directors and its committees;

        reviewing developments in corporate governance practices;

        evaluating the adequacy of our corporate governance practices and reporting; and

        developing, and making recommendations to our board of directors regarding, corporate governance guidelines and matters.

Each of the members of our nominating and corporate governance committee meets the requirements for independence under the listing standards of Nasdaq.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

Mr. Benhamou and Mr. Carney have served as members of our compensation committee since 2020. None of the members of our compensation committee is or has been an officer or employee of Grid Dynamics. None of our executive officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee or director (or other board committee performing equivalent functions or, in the absence of any such committee, the entire board of directors) of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our compensation committee or board of directors.

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Considerations in Evaluating Director Nominees

Our nominating and corporate governance committee uses a variety of methods for identifying and evaluating director potential director candidates. In its evaluation of director candidates, including the current directors eligible for re-election, our nominating and corporate governance committee will consider the current size and composition of our board of directors and the needs of our board of directors and the respective committees of our board of directors. Some of the qualifications that our nominating and corporate governance committee considers include, without limitation, character, integrity, judgment, diversity of experience, independence, area of expertise, corporate experience, length of service, potential conflicts of interest and other commitments. In making determinations regarding nominations of directors, our nominating and corporate governance committee requires the following minimum qualifications to be satisfied by any nominee for a position on the board of directors: (i) the highest personal and professional ethics and integrity, (ii) proven achievement and competence in the nominee’s field and the ability to exercise sound business judgment, (iii) skills that are complementary to those of the existing board of directors, (iv) the ability to assist and support management and make significant contributions to the Company’s success, and (v) an understanding of the fiduciary responsibilities that is required of a member of the board of directors and the commitment of time and energy necessary to diligently carry out those responsibilities. Any search firm retained by our nominating and corporate governance committee to find director candidates would be instructed to take into account all of the considerations used by our nominating and corporate governance committee. After completing its review and evaluation of director candidates, our nominating and corporate governance committee recommends to our full board of directors the director nominees for selection.

Stockholder Recommendations for Nominations to the Board of Directors

Our nominating and corporate governance committee will consider candidates for director recommended by stockholders of the Company who hold no less than $2,000 in market value, or one percent, of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock continuously for at least twelve months prior to the date of the submission of the recommendation or nomination, so long as such recommendations comply with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and applicable laws, rules and regulations, including those promulgated by the SEC. The nominating and corporate governance committee will evaluate such recommendations in accordance with its charter, our amended and restated bylaws, our policies and procedures for director candidates, as well as the regular director nominee criteria described above. This process is designed to ensure that our board of directors includes members with diverse backgrounds, skills and experience, including appropriate financial and other expertise relevant to our business.

A stockholder that wants to recommend a candidate for election to the board of directors should direct the recommendation in writing by letter to the Company, attention of the Secretary, at Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc., 5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520, San Ramon, CA 94583. The recommendation must include the candidate’s name, home and business contact information, detailed biographical data, relevant qualifications, a signed letter from the candidate confirming willingness to serve, information regarding any relationships between the candidate and the Company and evidence of the recommending stockholder’s ownership of Company stock. Such recommendations must also include a statement from the recommending stockholder in support of the candidate, particularly within the context of the criteria for board membership, including issues of character, integrity, judgment, diversity of experience, independence, area of expertise, corporate experience, length of service, potential conflicts of interest, other commitments and the like and personal references.

Communications with the Board of Directors

Interested parties wishing to communicate with our non-management directors may do so by writing to the board of directors or to the particular member or members of our board of directors and mailing the correspondence to our Secretary at Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc., 5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520, San Ramon, CA 94583. Our Secretary, in consultation with appropriate members of our board of directors, as necessary, will review all incoming communications and, if appropriate, all such communications will be forwarded to the appropriate member or members of our board of directors, or if none is specified, to the Chair of our board of directors.

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Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

Our board of directors has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines. These guidelines address items such as the qualifications and responsibilities of our directors and director candidates and corporate governance policies and standards applicable to us in general. In addition, our board of directors has adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors, including our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and other executive and senior financial officers. The full text of our Corporate Governance Guidelines and our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is posted on our investor relations webpage at https://ir.griddynamics.com/corporate-governance.html in the “Corporate Governance” section. We intend to post any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and any waivers of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for directors and executive officers, on the same website.

Role of the Board in Risk Oversight

One of the key functions of our board of directors is informed oversight of our risk management process which risks include, among others, strategic, financial, business and operational, cybersecurity, legal and regulatory compliance, and reputational risks. Our board of directors does not have a standing risk management committee, but rather administers this oversight function directly through the board of directors as a whole, as well as through its standing committees that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight. In particular, our board of directors is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure. Our audit committee is responsible for reviewing and discussing our major financial risk exposures and the steps our management has taken to monitor and control these exposures, including guidelines and policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management. In addition to oversight of the performance of our external audit function, our audit committee also monitors compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and reviews, approves, prohibits and monitors related party transactions. Our nominating and corporate governance committee monitors the effectiveness of our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Our compensation committee assesses and monitors whether any of our compensation policies and programs have the potential to encourage excessive risk-taking. In addition, our compensation committee reviews the relationship between risk management policies and compensation and evaluates compensation policies and practices that could mitigate any such risk.

Derivatives Trading and Anti-Hedging and Pledging Policy

Our insider trading policy prohibits executive officers, members of the Board, and all other employees from trading derivative securities related to our stock or engaging in short sales or other short-position transactions in shares of our stock. This policy does not restrict ownership of company-granted awards, such as options to purchase shares of our common stock or PSU or RSU awards, which have been granted by the Board or Compensation Committee. The policy also prohibits all employees, including our executive officers, and members of the Board, from hedging our stock, engaging in similar transactions, holding it in a margin account, or otherwise pledging our securities.

Non-Employee Director Compensation

Our board of directors has adopted an Outside Director Compensation Policy (the “Policy”), pursuant to which, (i) each outside director will be paid an annual cash retainer of $40,000, an initial grant of restricted stock units with a grant date fair market value of $75,000, and an annual grant of restricted stock units with a grant date fair market value of $75,000, (ii) the non-executive chairperson of the board will be paid an additional annual cash fee of $20,000 and granted an additional grant of restricted stock units with a grant date fair market value of $20,000, (iii) the lead outside director will be paid an additional annual cash fee of $20,000 and granted an additional grant of restricted stock units with a grant date fair market value of $20,000, (iv) the chair of the audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees will be paid an additional annual cash fee of $20,000, $15,000 and $15,000, respectively, and (v) members of the audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees that are not serving as the chair of such committee, will be paid of an additional annual cash fee of $15,000, $10,000 and $10,000, respectively. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no outside director may be paid, issued or granted, in any fiscal year of the company, cash compensation and equity awards with an aggregate value greater than $600,000.

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The table below shows the total compensation earned by our non-employee directors for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Since Mr. Nicolet joined our board of directors in 2022, he did not receive any compensation in 2021.

Name

 

Fees Earned
or Paid in
Cash
($)

 

Stock
Awards
($)
(1)

 

Total
($)

Shuo Zhang

 

55,000

 

74,989

 

129,989

Marina Levinson

 

55,000

 

74,989

 

129,989

Lloyd Carney

 

85,000

 

94,998

 

179,998

Yueou Wang

 

40,000

 

74,989

 

114,989

Michael Southworth

 

60,000

 

74,989

 

134,989

Eric Benhamou

 

80,000

 

74,989

 

154,989

Weihang Wang

 

40,000

 

74,989

 

114,989

____________

(1)      The amounts in this column represent the aggregate grant date fair value of RSU awards granted to the director in the fiscal year computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. See Note 10 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in our Annual Report for a discussion of our assumptions in determining the grant date fair value of our equity awards.

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BOARD DIVERSITY MATRIX (AS OF NOVEMBER 10, 2022)

Total Number of Directors

 

9

   

Female

 

Male

Part I: Gender Identity

       

Directors

 

2

 

7

Part II: Demographic Background

       

African American or Black

 

0

 

1

Asian

 

1

 

2

White

 

1

 

4

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PROPOSAL NO. 1
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Our board of directors is currently composed of eight members. In accordance with our certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. One Class is elected each year at the annual meeting of stockholders for a term of three years. At the Annual Meeting, three Class III directors will be elected for a three-year term to succeed the same class whose term is then expiring. Each director’s term continues until the election and qualification of such director’s successor, or such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal.

Nominees

Our board of directors has nominated Eric Benhamou, Weihang Wang, and Patrick Nicolet as Class III directors at the Annual Meeting. If elected, each of Messrs. Benhamou, Wang and Nicolet will serve as Class III directors until the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are elected and qualified, or their earlier death, resignation or removal. Each of the nominees is currently a director of the Company. For information concerning the nominees, see the section titled “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance.” Mr. Nicolet was originally recommended as a director candidate by a non-employee director.

If you are a stockholder of record and you sign your proxy card or vote over the Internet or by telephone but do not give instructions with respect to the voting of directors, your shares will be voted FOR the election of Messrs. Benhamou, Wang and Nicolet. We expect that Messrs. Benhamou, Wang and Nicolet will accept such nomination; however, in the event that a director nominee is unable or declines to serve as a director at the time of the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be voted for any nominee who shall be designated by our board of directors to fill such vacancy. If you are a beneficial owner of shares of our common stock and you do not give voting instructions to your broker, bank or other nominee, then your broker, bank or other nominee will leave your shares unvoted on this matter.

Vote Required

The election of Class III directors requires a plurality vote of the shares of our common stock present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon to be approved. Accordingly, the three nominees receiving the highest number of “FOR” votes will be elected. Broker non-votes will have no effect on this proposal.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF EACH OF THE THREE DIRECTORS NOMINATED BY OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND NAMED IN THIS PROXY STATEMENT AS CLASS III DIRECTORS TO SERVE UNTIL THE 2025 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS.

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PROPOSAL NO. 2
RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT
REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Our audit committee has appointed Grant Thornton LLP, as our independent registered public accounting firm to audit our consolidated financial statements for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Grant Thornton LLP has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2017.

At the Annual Meeting, stockholders are being asked to ratify the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Stockholder ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP is not required by our bylaws or other applicable legal requirements. However, our board of directors is submitting the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP to our stockholders for ratification as a matter of good corporate governance. In the event that this appointment is not ratified by the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote, such appointment will be reconsidered by our audit committee. Even if the appointment is ratified, our audit committee, in its sole discretion, may appoint another independent registered public accounting firm at any time during our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 if our audit committee believes that such a change would be in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. If the appointment is not ratified by our stockholders, the audit committee may reconsider whether it should appoint another independent registered public accounting firm. A representative of Grant Thornton LLP is expected to be present at the Annual Meeting, will have an opportunity to make a statement if he or she wishes to do so, and is expected to be available to respond to appropriate questions from stockholders.

Fees Paid to the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The following table sets forth the approximate aggregate fees billed to the Company by Grant Thornton LLP in 2020 and 2021 (in thousands):

Fee Category

 

2020

 

2021

Audit Fees(1)

 

$

685,530

 

$

750,000

Audit-Related Fees(2)

 

$

82,495

 

$

116,000

Tax Fees(3)

 

 

 

$

44,250

All Other Fees(4)

 

 

 

$

177,018

Total

 

$

768,025

 

$

1,087,268

____________

(1)      “Audit Fees” consist of fees for professional services provided in connection with the audit of our annual consolidated financial statements, review of our quarterly consolidated financial statements and audit services provided in connection with other statutory and regulatory filings.

(2)      “Audit-Related Fees” are aggregate fees billed by Grant Thornton LLP for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees”. These services include consultations and audits related to mergers and acquisitions; and services related to offering of common stock and consents for registration statements.

(3)      “Tax Fees” are the aggregate fees billed by Grant Thornton LLP for professional services rendered in connection with tax compliance, advice and planning.

(4)      “All Other Fees” consist of the aggregate fees billed by Grant Thornton LLP for professional services rendered for buy-side due diligence.

The Audit Committee has concluded that the provision of the non-audit services listed above was compatible with maintaining the independence of Grant Thornton LLP.

Audit Committee Policy on Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Our audit committee has established a policy governing our use of the services of our independent registered public accounting firm. Under the policy, our audit committee is required to pre-approve all audit and permissible non-audit services performed by our independent registered public accounting firm and audit engagement fees and terms in order to ensure that the provision of such services does not impair such accounting firm’s independence.

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Vote Required

The ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares of our common stock present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon. Abstentions will have the effect of a vote AGAINST the proposal.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF GRANT THORNTON LLP AS OUR INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM FOR OUR FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2022.

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AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

The information contained in the following Audit Committee Report shall not be deemed to be soliciting material or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, except to the extent that Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc., or the Company, specifically incorporates it by reference in such filing.

The audit committee serves as the representative of our board of directors with respect to its oversight of:

        our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audit of our financial statements;

        the internal controls and integrity of our financial statements;

        our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;

        inquiring about significant risks, reviewing our policies for risk assessment and risk management, and assessing the steps management has taken to control these risks; and

        the independent registered public accounting firm’s appointment, qualifications and independence, and approval of the registered public accounting firm’s services.

The audit committee also reviews the performance of our independent registered public accounting firm, Grant Thornton LLP, in the annual audit of our financial statements and in assignments unrelated to the audit, and reviews the independent registered public accounting firm’s fees.

The audit committee is composed of four non-employee directors. Our board of directors has determined that each member of the audit committee is independent, and that Ms. Zhang qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” under the SEC rules.

The audit committee provides our board of directors such information and materials as it may deem necessary to make our board of directors aware of financial matters requiring the attention of our board of directors. The audit committee reviews our financial disclosures and meets privately, outside the presence of our management, with our independent registered public accounting firm. In fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, the audit committee reviewed and discussed the audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 with management.

The audit committee also reviewed and discussed such audited consolidated financial statements with management and Grant Thornton LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm. The audit committee has discussed with Grant Thornton LLP the matters required to be discussed by Auditing Standard No. 1301, Communications with Audit Committees, issued by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB.

The audit committee received and reviewed the written disclosures and the letter from Grant Thornton LLP required by the applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding Grant Thornton LLP’s communications with the audit committee concerning independence, and discussed with Grant Thornton LLP its independence. In addition, the audit committee discussed with Grant Thornton LLP its independence from management and the Company, including matters in the letter from Grant Thornton LLP required by PCAOB Rule 3526, Communication with Audit Committees Concerning Independence, and considered the compatibility of non-audit services with Grant Thornton LLP’s independence.

Based on the review and discussions referred to above, the audit committee recommended to our board of directors that our audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 be included in our annual report. The audit committee also has selected Grant Thornton LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2022. Our board of directors recommends that stockholders ratify this selection at the Annual Meeting.

Respectfully submitted by the members of the audit committee of the board of directors:

Michael Southworth (Chair)
Eric Benhamou
Marina Levinson
Shuo Zhang

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following table sets forth certain information about our executive officers and their respective ages as of November 4, 2022. Officers are elected by the board of directors to hold office until their successors are elected and qualified. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

Name

 

Age

 

Position

Leonard Livschitz

 

56

 

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Anil Doradla

 

53

 

Chief Financial Officer

Yury Gryzlov

 

39

 

Chief Operating Officer

Stan Klimoff

 

37

 

Chief Strategy Officer

For the biography of Mr. Livschitz, see the section titled “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance — Continuing Directors.”

Anil Doradla.    Mr. Doradla joined Grid Dynamics in December 2019 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Grid Dynamics, Mr. Doradla most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Airgain, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIRG), a provider of advanced antenna technologies used to enable high performance wireless networking across a broad range of devices and markets, from February 2018 until November 2019. Prior to Airgain, Mr. Doradla was an equity research analyst at William Blair covering the technology sector that included ITO and BPO Services from June 2008 through January 2018. Prior to William Blair, Mr. Doradla held a range of senior finance, strategy and technology roles with Caris and Company, Deutsche Bank AG, AT&T Labs, and LCC International.

Yury Gryzlov.    Mr. Gryzlov joined Grid Dynamics in 2007 as the Company’s first QA Manager and has served as Chief Operating Officer since January 2021. As the Chief Operating Officer, he is in charge of all facets of Grid Dynamics’ operations, including budgeting, legal, HR, IT, office management, pricing, and recruiting. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations and the Vice President of Operations in Europe, where he was responsible for all aspects of Grid Dynamics’ people strategy, including hiring, developing, and retaining Grid Dynamics personnel offshore. Prior to that, Mr. Gryzlov was the Deputy Director of the Saratov Engineering Center, where he managed all of the daily operations.

Stan Klimoff.    Mr. Klimoff initially joined Grid Dynamics as Director of Engineering in 2007, served as the Vice President of Corporate Development from 2015-2021, and has served as Chief Strategy Officer since 2021. He is responsible for strategic partnerships, international growth, and M&A. From 2012 to 2015, Mr. Klimoff was Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Tonomi, a developer of a cloud orchestration and application management platform. He also served as Principal Architect of Grid Dynamics from 2009 to 2011 focusing on the technology sector and Vice President of Cloud Services from 2011 to 2013.

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Processes and Procedures for Compensation Decisions

Our compensation committee is responsible for the executive compensation programs for our executive officers and reports to our board of directors on its discussions, decisions and other actions. Our compensation committee reviews, evaluates and recommends to the board of directors, the compensation of the Company’s chief executive officer. Our compensation committee reviews, approves and administers the Company’s incentive compensation plans, equity compensation plans, and such other plans as are designated from time to time by the board of directors.

Our compensation committee is authorized to retain the services of one or more executive compensation advisors, as it sees fit, in connection with the establishment of our compensation programs and related policies.

Summary Compensation Table

Grid Dynamics’ named executive officers (“NEOs”), which consist of the principal executive officer and the next two most highly compensated executive officers, for 2021 are Leonard Livschitz, Chief Executive Officer, Anil Doradla, Chief Financial Officer, and Yury Gryzlov, Chief Operating Officer.

Grid Dynamics’ compensation policies and philosophies are designed to align compensation with business objectives, while also enabling Grid Dynamics to attract, motivate and retain individuals who contribute to Grid Dynamics’ long-term success. The compensation of Grid Dynamics’ NEOs has consisted of a base salary and cash bonus, retirement, health and welfare benefits, and equity awards.

The following table presents summary information regarding the total compensation for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 for the NEOs of Grid Dynamics:

Name and Principal Position

 

Year

 

Salary
($)

 

Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation
($)
(1)

 

Option
Awards
($)
(2)

 

Stock
Awards
($)
(3)

 

All Other
Compensation
($)

 

Total
($)

Leonard Livschitz,

 

2021

 

600,000

 

1,020,000

 

 

5,202,033

 

 

6,822,033

Chief Executive Officer

 

2020

 

555,000

 

440,104

 

 

13,649,920

 

2,222,128

 

16,867,152

                             

Anil Doradla,

 

2021

 

300,000

 

255,000

 

 

505,374

 

 

1,060,374

Chief Financial Officer

                           
                             

Yury Gryzlov,

 

2021

 

270,000

 

239,500

 

 

505,374

 

 

1,014,874

Chief Operating Officer

 

2020

 

225,875

 

82,729

 

455,742

 

1,888,480

 

419,594

 

3,064,420

____________

(1)      The amounts included in this column reflect payments earned in 2021 and 2020 under the Company’s Corporate Bonus Plan as described below.

(2)      The amounts included in this column reflect the aggregate grant date fair value of stock options granted during 2021 and 2020 computed in accordance with the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 718. The assumptions used to calculate these amounts are discussed in notes to Grid Dynamics’ audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 included in our Annual Report. These amounts do not reflect the actual economic value that will be realized by the NEO upon the vesting of the stock options, the exercise of the stock options, or the sale of the common stock underlying such stock options.

(3)      The amounts in this column represent the aggregate grant date fair value of restricted stock unit (“RSU”) awards and performance share awards (“PSAs”) granted to the NEO in 2021 and 2020 computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. In accordance with SEC rules, the grant date fair value of an award that is subject to a performance condition is based on the probable outcome of the performance conditions. The assumptions used to calculate these amounts are discussed in notes to Grid Dynamics’ audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 included in our Annual Report. These amounts do not reflect the actual economic value that will be realized by the NEO upon the vesting of the RSU awards, PSAs, or the sale of the common stock underlying such awards. The grant date fair market value for the PSAs assuming the maximum payout would have been $15,606,098 for Mr. Livschitz and $1,516,121 for Mr. Doradla and Mr. Gryzlov.

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Table of Contents

Salaries and Incentive Bonuses

Each of Grid Dynamics’ NEOs receives a base salary to compensate them for services rendered to Grid Dynamics. The base salary is intended to provide a fixed component of compensation reflecting the executive’s skill set, experience, position and responsibilities.

Each of Grid Dynamics’ NEOs is also eligible to receive payments under the Company’s Corporate Bonus Plan, which provides that eligible participants, including the NEOs, earn quarterly bonuses based on achievement of financial performance objectives of Grid Dynamics. Performance targets are established based on a combination of goals, which generally included revenue and EBITDA targets for 2021. Bonus amounts earned are paid following the end of each calendar quarter based on targeted quarterly and annual amounts for each NEO as set forth in their employment agreements. The target bonus opportunities under the Company’s Corporate Bonus Plan for 2021 for the NEOs were 100% of base salary for Mr. Livschitz, 50% of base salary for Mr. Doradla, and 50% of base salary for Mr. Gryzlov.

Employment Agreements

Grid Dynamics entered into employment agreements with certain officers of Grid Dynamics (including its current NEOs), which became effective as of the consummation of the Business Combination and were assumed by the Company (as amended, the “Post-Combination Employment Agreements”).

Each Post-Combination Employment Agreement generally provides, with respect to each officer, the following terms: (i) at-will employment, (ii) the annual base salary, (iii) eligibility to receive annual incentive bonuses at the Company’s discretion and related targeted payment, (iv) initial grant of equity awards by the Company and eligibility to be granted future equity awards by the Company in the discretion of its board of directors, (v) an initial term for the agreement of four years with successive one-year renewal terms unless either party provides timely notice of non-renewal, (vi) severance payments upon a termination without cause (excluding death or disability) or resignation for “good reason” (as defined in the agreement) and (vii) eligibility for enhanced “double-trigger” severance upon such terminations that occur within the three month period prior to or the 12 month period following a “change in control” (as defined in the agreement). Severance payments (including due to a double-trigger termination in connection with a change in control) are generally comprised of: (i) a lump-sum payment equal to 24 months of base salary for Mr. Livschitz, 12 months of base salary for Mr. Doradla and 12 months of base salary for Mr. Gryzlov, (ii) a lump-sum payment equal to 100% with respect to Mr. Livschitz, 50% with respect to Mr. Doradla or 50% with respect to Mr. Gryzlov of the current annual maximum bonus target amount, (iii) reimbursement for the monthly premiums for COBRA continuation coverage for a period of 24 months for Mr. Livschitz, 12 months for Mr. Doradla and 12 months for Mr. Gryzlov and (iv) for severance unrelated to a change in control, one year of accelerated vesting of outstanding unvested equity awards on the termination date.In addition, “double-trigger” change in control severance terms provide for full accelerated vesting of outstanding unvested equity awards. Such severance benefits are conditioned on the officer signing and not revoking a separation agreement and release of claims in favor of the Company within the timeframe set forth in the officer’s agreement.

If any severance or other benefits provided for in an officer’s Post-Combination Employment Agreement or otherwise payable to such officer constitute “parachute payments” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and could be subject to the related excise tax under Section 4999 of the Code, then (i) if such parachute payments are considered contingent on the Business Combination, such officer would be entitled to a gross-up for any such excise taxes up to $14 million across all officers, in accordance with an indemnification agreement entered into between the officer and the Company, and (ii) in all other cases, such officer would be entitled to receive either full payment of the benefits or such lesser amount which would result in no portion of the benefits being subject to the excise tax, whichever results in the greater amount of after-tax benefits to the officer.

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Table of Contents

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2021 Year-End

The following table summarizes information concerning the outstanding equity awards, including unexercised options, as of December 31, 2021, for each of Grid Dynamics’ NEOs:

 

Option Awards

 

Stock Awards

Name

 

Grant Date

 

Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#) –
Exercisable

 

Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#) –
Unexercisable
(1)

 

Option
Exercise
Price
($)

 

Option
Expiration
Date

 

Number of
Shares or
Units of
Stock that
Have Not
Vested
(#)

 

Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock that
Have Not
Vested
($)
(4)

 

Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number of
Unearned
Shares or
Units of
Stock that
Have Not
Vested
(#)
(5)

 

Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Market or
Payout
Value of
Unearned
Shares or
Units of
Stock that
Have Not
Vested
($)
(6)

Leonard Livschitz

 

3/13/2020

                 

749,814

(2)

 

28,470,438

       
   

3/2/2021

                   

 

     

69,983

 

2,657,255

Anil Doradla

 

3/13/2020

 

61,250

 

78,750

 

8.26

 

3/12/2030

   

 

           
   

3/13/2020

                 

72,846

 

 

2,765,963

       
   

5/4/2020

                 

43,750

 

 

1,661,188

       
   

3/2/2021

                   

 

     

6,799

 

258,158

Yury Gryzlov

 

11/12/2018

 

252,588

     

3.54

 

11/11/2028

   

 

           
   

5/22/2019

 

46,518

     

3.54

 

5/21/2029

   

 

           
   

5/22/2019

 

18,565

     

3.54

 

5/21/2029

   

 

           
   

3/13/2020

 

61,250

 

78,750

 

8.26

 

3/12/2030

   

 

           
   

3/13/2020

                 

72,846

(2)

 

2,765,963

       
   

5/4/2020

                 

43,750

(3)

 

1,661,188

       
   

3/2/2021

                   

 

     

6,779

 

258,158

____________

(1)      Twenty-five percent (25%) of the shares subject to the option vested on March 13, 2021 and the remaining shares vest in 12 equal quarterly installments thereafter, provided the participant’s service has not terminated prior to each such date.

(2)      Twenty-five percent (25%) of the shares underlying these RSUs vested on March 13, 2021, and the remaining RSUs vest in 12 equal quarterly installments thereafter.

(3)      Twenty-five percent (25%) of the shares underlying these RSUs vested on May 4, 2021, and the remaining RSUs vest in 12 equal quarterly installments thereafter.

(4)      This amount reflects the fair market value of our common stock of $37.97 per share as of December 31, 2021, multiplied by the amount shown in the column for Number of Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested.

(5)      The shares underlying these performance share awards (“PSAs”) vest upon our board’s certification of the achievement of certain performance metrics, with such certification to occur no later than March 1, 2022. The PSAs generally required the achievement of performance relating to specified levels of revenue growth from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021, and gross margin for revenue (as adjusted for certain items) for fiscal year 2021 with each such performance goal weighted at 50% of the award. Upon maximum performance achievement, 300% of the target number of PSAs awarded could become eligible to vest. In the event that Grid Dynamics’ change in control occurred during the fiscal year, 100% of the target number of PSAs would become eligible to vest on December 31, 2021, subject to continued service through such date. In December 2021, the compensation committee of our board of directors and our board of directors certified the achievement of certain performance metrics, resulting in 250% of the target number of PSAs vesting on the certification date, resulting in the issuance of the following number of shares to the following individuals: 833,125 shares for Mr. Livschitz, 80,938 shares for Mr. Doradla and 80,938 shares for Mr. Gryzlov. In February 2022, the compensation committee of our board of directors and our board of directors certified the achievement of certain performance metrics, resulting in 271% of the target number of PSAs vesting on the certification date (minus the 250% that had already been issued in December 2021), with such target numbers reflected here. The amounts shown in the table above reflect shares of our common stock issued on February 25, 2022 as if such determination had been made as of December 31, 2021.

(6)      This amount reflects the fair market value of our common stock of $37.97 per share as of December 31, 2021, multiplied by the amount shown in the column for Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares or Units of Stock That Have Not Vested.

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Retirement Benefits

Grid Dynamics maintains a defined contribution plan that is intended to meet the tax-qualification requirements of Section 401(k) of the Code, commonly called a 401(k) plan, for substantially all of its employees. The 401(k) plan generally is available on the same basis to all employees, including the Grid Dynamics’ NEOs. Each participant in the 401(k) plan can elect to make pre-tax deferrals, subject to limitations under the Code and Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table provides information as of December 31, 2021 with respect to shares of our common stock that may be issued under our existing equity compensation plans.

Plan Category

 

Number of
Securities to
be Issued upon
Exercise of
Outstanding
Options,
Restricted
Stock Units and Rights

 

Weighted Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options and Rights(1)

 

Number of
Securities
Remaining
Available for
Future Issuance
Under Equity
Compensation
Plans
(Excluding
Securities
Reflected
in the first
Column)

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders

     

 

     

2018 Stock Plan(2)

 

1,916,101

 

$

3.54

 

2020 Equity Incentive Plan(3)

 

3,830,687

 

$

8.38

 

10,268,816

Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders

 

 

 

 

TOTAL

 

5,746,788

 

 

 

 

10,268,816

____________

(1)      The weighted average exercise price does not take into account outstanding RSUs.

(2)      The 2018 Stock Plan was terminated in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, and accordingly, no further shares are available for issuance under the 2018 Stock Plan. Under the terms of the 2018 Stock Plan, certain option grants were accelerated in full or by an additional 12 months as a result of the Business Combination. Additionally, on March 4, 2020, the date of the closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”), a percentage of outstanding vested Grid Dynamics stock options were settled in exchange for cash consideration. The remaining portion of outstanding vested options and all unvested options were automatically assumed and converted into options to purchase the Company’s common stock as of the Closing. The number of each participant’s assumed options and the exercise price were adjusted. The assumed stock options continued to be subject to the same terms and conditions, including vesting schedule terms, in accordance with the 2018 Stock Plan.

(3)      The Company’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan became effective on March 4, 2020, in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination. The 2020 Equity Incentive Plan provides for grants of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, RSUs, bonus stock, dividend equivalents and other stock-based awards and other substitute awards, annual incentive awards and performance awards. The Company has reserved a total of 16,300,000 shares of Company common stock for issuance pursuant to the 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, subject to certain adjustments set forth therein.

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Table of Contents

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of November 4, 2022 for:

        each person, or group of affiliated persons, who beneficially owned more than 5% of our common stock;

        each of our named executive officers;

        each of our directors and nominees for director; and

        all of our current executive officers and directors as a group.

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC and the information is not necessarily indicative of beneficial ownership for any other purpose. Unless otherwise indicated below, to our knowledge, the persons and entities named in the table have sole voting and sole investment power with respect to all shares that they beneficially owned, subject to community property laws where applicable.

We have based our calculation of the percentage of beneficial ownership on 73,999,020 shares of our common stock outstanding as of November 4, 2022 (the “Beneficial Ownership Date”). We have deemed shares of our common stock subject to stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022 and shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022, to be outstanding and to be beneficially owned by the person holding the stock option or the RSUs, respectively, for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person. We did not deem these shares outstanding, however, for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

Unless otherwise indicated, the address of each beneficial owner listed in the table below is c/o Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc., 5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520, San Ramon, CA 94583.

Name of Beneficial Owner

 

Common Stock(1)

Number

 

Percentage

5% Securityholders:

       

 

Beijing Teamsun Technology Co. Ltd.(2)

 

14,802,570

 

20.0

%

Blackrock Inc.(3)

 

6,222,685

 

8.4

%

         

 

Named Executive Officers and Directors:

       

 

Lloyd Carney(4)

 

1,180,097

 

1.6

%

Eric Benhamou(5)

 

352,868

 

*

 

Marina Levinson(6)

 

17,448

 

*

 

Leonard Livschitz(7)

 

1,821,814

 

2.5

%

Michael Southworth(8)

 

20,268

 

*

 

Weihang Wang(9)

 

18,584

 

*

 

Yueou Wang(10)

 

60,981

 

*

 

Shuo Zhang(11)

 

216,833

 

*

 

Yury Gryzlov(12)

 

518,431

 

*

 

Anil Doradla(13)

 

229,940

 

*

 

Patrick Nicolet

 

10,000

 

*

 

All executive officers and directors as a group (12 persons)(14)

 

4,781,327

 

6.4

%

____________

*        Represents beneficial ownership of less than one percent (1%) of the outstanding shares of our common stock.

(1)      The percentage of beneficial ownership on the record date is calculated based on 73,999,020 shares of our common stock as of November 4, 2022, adjusted for each owner’s options, or RSUs held by that person that are exercisable or issuable upon vesting, as applicable, within 60 days of November 4, 2022, if any. Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them.

(2)      Consists of 14,802,570 outstanding shares of our common stock. Beijing Teamsun Technology Co. Ltd. (“Beijing Teamsun”) is the ultimate parent of GDD International Holdings Company (“GDD”), through its subsidiaries Teamsun Technology (HK) Limited (“Teamsun”), Automated Systems Holdings Limited (“ASL”) and GDB International Investment Limited (“GDB”). Beijing Teamsun, GDD, Teamsun, ASL and GDB share voting and dispositive power of all these shares. The address of

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ASL, GDB and GDD is 15/F, Topsail Plaza, 11 On Sum Street, Shain, Hong Kong, the address of Teamsun is Unit 907, 9th Floor, Tai Yau Building, 181 Johnston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong and the address of Beijing Teamsun is Room 501, 5/F., No. 23 Building, 10 East Block XiBeiWang East Road, HaiDian District, Beijing, China.

(3)      Based solely on information reported on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 3, 2022. Includes 6,187,897 shares over which Blackrock Inc. has sole power to vote and 6,222,685 shares over which Blackrock Inc. has sole dispositive power. The address of Blackrock Inc. 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10055.

(4)      Consists of (a) 1,089,079 shares held of record by Mr. Carney, (b) 88,421 shares held of record by The Lloyd A. Carney Revocable Trust dated September 25, 1995, and (c) 2,597 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(5)      Consists of (a) 63,785 shares held of record by Mr. Benhamou, (b) 23,500 shares held of record by The Eric Benhamou Living Trust, (c) 200,000 shares held of record by The Eric Benhamou Grantor Retained Annuity Trust, (d) 63,533 shares subject to options exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022, and (e) 2,050 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(6)      Consists of (a) 15,398 shares held of record by Ms. Levinson and (b) 2,050 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(7)      Consists of (a) 1,738,502 shares held of record by Mr. Livschitz and (b) 83,312 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(8)      Consists of (a) 18,218 shares held of record by Mr. Southworth, and (b) 2,050 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(9)      Consists of (a) 16,534 shares held of record by Mr. Wang and (b) 2,050 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(10)    Consists of (a) 16,534 shares held of record by Mr. Wang, (b) 42,397 shares subject to options exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022, and (c) 2,050 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(11)    Consists of (a) 11,595 shares held of record by Ms. Zhang, (b) 139,655 shares held of record by Renascia Fund B LLC for which Ms. Zhang is the managing member and chief executive, (c) 63,533 shares subject to options exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022, and (d) 2,050 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(12)    Consists of (a) 131,417 shares held of record by Mr. Gryzlov, (b) 378,921 shares subject to options exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022, and (c) 8,093 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(13)    Consists of (a) 160,597 shares held of record by Mr. Doradla, (b) 61,250 shares subject to options exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022, and (c) 8,093 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

(14)    Consists of (a) 3,842,280 shares held of record, (b) 816,559 shares subject to options exercisable within 60 days of November 4, 2022, and (c) 122,488 shares issuable upon the vesting of RSUs within 60 days of November 4, 2022.

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Related Party Transactions

Since January 1, 2021, there have been no transactions to which Grid Dynamics has been a participant, in which: (i) the amount involved exceeded or will exceed the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of Grid Dynamics’ total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years; and (ii) any of its directors, executive officers, or holders of more than 5% of its capital stock, or any member of the immediate family of the foregoing persons, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest, other than compensation and other arrangements that are described in the section titled “Executive Compensation.”

Related Party Transactions Following the Business Combination

Certain equity holders have registration rights requiring the Company to register a sale of any of the Company securities held by them pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement entered into in connection with the Business Combination. These holders are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. Pursuant to the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, we filed a registration statement to register the resale of certain securities held by the holders and subject to certain conditions, we are separately required at all times to maintain an effective registration statement for the benefit of such holders. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by the Company.

On November 13, 2019, and effective as of the closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”), ChaSerg and each of ChaSerg Technology Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”), BGV, GDB International Investment Limited, GDD International Holding Company, Leonard Livschitz, Victoria Livschitz and ASL (together with any individuals or entities that are signatories thereto or hereafter become party to the agreement, the “Voting Parties”) entered into a Stockholders’ Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, the Voting Parties agreed (i) to take all necessary action to cause the Company’s board of directors to be comprised of eight directors effective immediately following the Closing, (ii) subject to certain share ownership thresholds, which the Sponsor no longer meets, to grant each of ASL and the Sponsor rights to designate two directors for election to the Company’s board of directors (and the Voting Parties will vote in favor of such designees), (iii) to designate the Chief Executive Officer of Grid Dynamics for election to the Company’s board of directors, and (iv) to designate three unaffiliated designates for election to the Company’s board of directors.

Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions

The Company’s audit committee has the primary responsibility for reviewing and approving or disapproving “related person transactions,” which are transactions between us and related persons in which the aggregate amount involved exceeds or may be expected to exceed $120,000, and in which a related person has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. The charter of our audit committee provides that our audit committee shall review and approve in advance any related person transaction.

We have adopted a formal written policy providing that we are not permitted to enter into any transaction that exceeds $120,000, and in which any related person has a direct or indirect material interest, without the consent of our audit committee. In approving or rejecting any such transaction, our audit committee considers the relevant facts and circumstances available and deemed relevant to our audit committee, including whether the transaction is on terms no less favorable than terms generally available to an unaffiliated third party under the same or similar circumstances and the extent of the related person’s interest in the transaction. Our audit committee has determined that certain transactions will not require audit committee approval, including certain employment arrangements of executive officers, director compensation, transactions with another company at which a related party’s only relationship is as a director, non-executive employee or beneficial owner of less than 10% of that company’s outstanding capital stock, transactions where a related party’s interest arises solely from the ownership of our common stock and all holders of our common stock received the same benefit on a pro rata basis, and transactions available to all employees generally.

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OTHER MATTERS

Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report and SEC Filings

Grid Dynamic’s financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 are included in its Annual Report. This Proxy Statement and the Annual Report are posted on our investor relations webpage at https://ir.griddynamics.com/investor-relations.html in the “Financial Information” section under “SEC Filings” and are available from the SEC at its website at www.sec.gov. You may also obtain a copy of the Annual Report and the Current Report without charge by sending a written request to Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 5000 Executive Parkway, Suite 520, San Ramon, CA 94583.

Company Website

We maintain a website at https://www.griddynamics.com. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not intended to be incorporated by reference into this proxy statement, and references to our website address in this proxy statement are inactive textual references only.

* * *

The board of directors does not know of any other matters to be presented at the Annual Meeting. If any additional matters are properly presented at the Annual Meeting, the persons named on the enclosed proxy card will have discretion to vote the shares of common stock they represent in accordance with their own judgment on such matters.

It is important that your shares of common stock be represented at the Annual Meeting, regardless of the number of shares that you hold. You are, therefore, urged to vote by telephone, by using the Internet or by mail at your earliest convenience, as instructed on the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials.

 

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

   

San Ramon, California

   

November 10, 2022

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SCAN TO VIEW MATERIALS & VOTE GRID DYNAMICS HOLDINGS, INC. 5000 EXECUTIVE PARKWAY, SUITE 520 SAN RAMON, CA 94583 VOTE BY INTERNET - www.proxyvote.com or scan the QR Barcode above Use the Internet to transmit your voting instructions and for electronic delivery of information. Vote by 11:59 P.M. ET on December 21, 2022. Have your proxy card in hand when you access the web site and follow the instructions to obtain your records and to create an electronic voting instruction form. During The Meeting - Go to www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022 You may attend the meeting via the Internet and vote during the meeting. Have the information that is printed in the box marked by the arrow available and follow the instructions. VOTE BY PHONE - 1-800-690-6903 Use any touch-tone telephone to transmit your voting instructions. Vote by 11:59 P.M. ET on December 21, 2022. Have your proxy card in hand when you call and then follow the instructions. VOTE BY MAIL Mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the postage-paid envelope we have provided or return it to Vote Processing, c/o Broadridge, 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717. TO VOTE, MARK BLOCKS BELOW IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS FOLLOWS: KEEP THIS PORTION FOR YOUR RECORDS DETACH AND RETURN THIS PORTION ONLY THIS PROXY CARD IS VALID ONLY WHEN SIGNED AND DATED. The Board of Directors recommends you vote FOR the following: 1. Election of Class III Directors to hold office until the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are elected and qualified. Nominees For All Withhold All For All Except To withhold authority to vote for any individual nominee(s), mark “For All Except” and write the number(s) of the nominee(s) on the line below. 01) Eric Benhamou 02) Weihang Wang 03) Patrick Nicolet The Board of Directors recommends you vote FOR the following proposal: 2. The ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. For Against Abstain NOTE: Such other business as may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment thereof. Please sign exactly as your name(s) appear(s) hereon. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, or other fiduciary, please give full title as such. Joint owners should each sign personally. All holders must sign. If a corporation or partnership, please sign in full corporate or partnership name by authorized officer. Signature [PLEASE SIGN WITHIN BOX] Date Signature (Joint Owners) Date

 

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Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting: The Notice and Proxy Statement and Form 10-K are available at www.proxyvote.com GRID DYNAMICS HOLDINGS, INC. Annual Meeting of Stockholders December 22, 2022 This proxy is solicited by the Board of Directors The stockholder(s) hereby appoint(s) Leonard Livschitz, Anil Doradla, and Yury Gryzlov, or any of them, as proxies, each with the power to appoint his substitute, and hereby authorize(s) them to represent and to vote, as designated on the reverse side of this ballot, all of the shares of common stock of GRID DYNAMICS HOLDINGS, INC. that the stockholder(s) is/are entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held at 7:30 AM PST on December 22, 2022, at the meeting live via the Internet - please visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/GDYN2022, and any adjournment or postponement thereof. This proxy, when properly executed, will be voted in the manner directed herein. If no such direction is made, this proxy will be voted in accordance with the Board of Directors’ recommendations. Continued and to be signed on reverse side