UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
CURRENT REPORT
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| Item 5.02 |
Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
Effective March 31, 2021, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Viasat, Inc. (the “Company”) increased the size of the Board to eight directors and appointed James Bridenstine as a director to fill the newly created vacancy on the Board. Mr. Bridenstine will serve as a Class II director, with an initial term expiring at the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. With the appointment of Mr. Bridenstine, the Board now consists of eight members, six of whom are independent directors.
Mr. Bridenstine served as Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) from April 2018 until January 2021. Since January 2021, Mr. Bridenstine has worked as a senior advisor to Acorn Growth Companies, a private equity firm. From 2013 to 2018, Mr. Bridenstine was a member of the United States House of Representatives, where he served on the Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. Mr. Bridenstine’s career in federal service began in 1998 as a pilot in the United States Navy. Mr. Bridenstine provides our Board with extensive experience in space technology, innovation and safety based on his leadership role at NASA, as well as military and aerospace expertise based on his public service in the United States Navy and Congress. Mr. Bridenstine earned a B.A. degree with three majors – Economics, Business and Psychology – from Rice University and an M.B.A. degree from Cornell University.
Mr. Bridenstine will be compensated under the Company’s non-employee director compensation policy as in effect from time to time, as most recently described in the Company’s 2020 proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 23, 2020. Mr. Bridenstine will also enter into the Company’s standard form of director and officer indemnification agreement.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| Date: April 1, 2021 |
Viasat, Inc. | |||||
| By: |
/s/ Brett Church | |||||
| Brett Church | ||||||
| Associate General Counsel | ||||||