Didier Wimmers
AEHR TEST SYSTEMSAbout Didier Wimmers
Didier Wimmers (age 63) serves as Executive Vice President of Research & Development at Aehr Test Systems, having joined on March 3, 2025; he holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from INSA Lyon (France) and has extensive leadership experience across semiconductor test and semiconductor companies . He replaced the prior R&D head following a leadership transition and is part of the executive team responsible for product development execution and innovation focus . Company performance context since FY2023 is shown below (TSR and net income); these are company-level indicators overlapping his tenure, not individual attribution .
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TSR value of initial $100 investment | $394 | $137 | $114 |
| Net Income (Loss) ($000) | $14,557 | $33,156 | $(3,910) |
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schlumberger Automated Test Equipment (Schlumberger Ltd.) | Executive engineering management | — | Led worldwide product development teams with focus on customer needs, innovation, quality, on‑time delivery |
| NPTest (later acquired by Credence Systems) | Executive engineering management | — | Built world-class engineering teams in semiconductor test |
| Credence Systems (later acquired by Xcerra) | Executive engineering management | — | As above |
| FormFactor | Executive engineering management | — | As above |
| Altera (acquired by Intel) | Executive engineering management | — | As above |
| Thin Film Electronics ASA | Executive engineering management | — | As above |
| Advantest America (Advantest Corp.) | Executive engineering management | — | As above |
External Roles
- No public-company board roles or committee positions for Mr. Wimmers were disclosed in the 2025 proxy statement .
Fixed Compensation
- Mr. Wimmers was not a Named Executive Officer (NEO) in FY2025; the NEOs were CEO (Erickson), CFO (Siu), and COO (Engineer). Individual salary/bonus detail for Mr. Wimmers was not provided in the 2025 proxy .
Performance Compensation
Aehr’s executive compensation program uses cash bonus and equity (options and RSUs, including performance-based RSUs) under the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan; awards are subject to clawback, and repricing is prohibited without shareholder approval .
| Metric/Condition | Type | Vesting/Payout Structure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time-based stock options | Options | 1/48 monthly; fully vested at 4 years, service-based | Plan terms; exercise price ≥ FMV at grant |
| Time-based RSUs | RSUs | 1/16 every three months; fully vested at 4 years, service-based | Standard RSU schedule |
| FY2025 performance RSUs | RSUs (performance + time) | 25% vests based on FY2025 financial goals; then 1/16 quarterly over next 3 years | Earnout can be 0–200%; FY2025 component earned at 200% based on actual performance |
| Cumulative revenue performance RSU | RSUs (performance) | 100% vests upon achieving cumulative revenue target through May 31, 2026 | As of May 30, 2025, performance not yet met |
| Clawback policy | Recovery | 3-year lookback on incentive comp after material restatement | Applies to Section 16 officers; effective Aug 14, 2023 |
| Prohibition on repricing | Governance | No option/SAR repricing without shareholder approval | Except for corporate transactions |
Note: The proxy does not provide individual award amounts or metric weightings for Mr. Wimmers; details above reflect plan mechanics and selected outcomes applicable to executives in aggregate .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Policy prohibits short sales, hedging, derivatives, margin purchases, and pledging of company stock by covered individuals (including named executive officers); insider trading policy is on file with the 10‑K. This mitigates misalignment from pledging or hedging .
| Date | Filing | Transaction | Shares (A/D) | Price | Beneficially Owned After | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-03 (filed 06-12-2025) | Form 3 | Initial statement | — | — | 13,601 | Includes unvested RSUs (footnote) |
| 2025-09-03 (filed 09-03-2025) | Form 4 | Withholding for taxes on RSU vest (Code F) | (308) | $24.52 | 13,293 | Not a sale; withholding only |
| 2025-10-01 (filed 10-01-2025) | Form 4 | ESPP purchase | +1,628 | $6.6725 | 14,921 | Purchase under IRC §423 tax-conditioned plan (exempt from §16 short-swing) |
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Ownership as % of outstanding shares (approximate): 14,921 / 29,968,988 ≈ 0.05%; outstanding shares as of August 28, 2025 were 29,968,988 .
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Options: None reported on the above Section 16 filings; holdings are primarily common stock and RSUs .
Employment Terms
| Area | Terms | Applicability |
|---|---|---|
| Offer/severance agreement | The 2025 proxy discloses new severance agreements for CEO (Erickson), CFO (Siu), and COO (Engineer) with specified cash, equity acceleration, and healthcare benefits upon qualifying terminations (enhanced during CIC window). Mr. Wimmers is not named among these agreements in the proxy | Erickson/Siu/Engineer only |
| Change-in-control (equity plan) | If awards are not assumed/substituted in a CIC, time-based awards fully vest; performance goals deemed at 100% for awards with performance criteria; similar treatment disclosed for non-employee directors | 2023 Equity Plan terms |
| Clawback policy | Recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation for three fiscal years preceding a material restatement; applies to Section 16 officers | Company-wide policy |
| Hedging/pledging | Prohibited (short sales, options/derivatives on company stock, hedging, purchase on margin, or pledging) | Applies to covered individuals (includes named executive officers) |
Investment Implications
- Alignment/pressure: Filings show no discretionary open-market selling; one tax withholding event on RSU vest and a subsequent ESPP purchase at $6.67, which reduces near-term selling pressure and signals engagement with long-term equity ownership .
- Retention and incentives: While individual salary/bonus specifics are not disclosed for Mr. Wimmers, the standard Aehr package (time-based and performance RSUs with four-year vesting, clawback, and anti-hedging/pledging) supports retention and alignment; FY2025 performance RSUs across executives earned at the 200% maximum underscores a high-performance payout environment but is not individually attributed to Mr. Wimmers .
- Contract protection: Unlike CEO/CFO/COO, the proxy does not list Mr. Wimmers among executives with the 2024 severance/CIC agreements, suggesting comparatively less disclosed cash protection in a transition scenario; equity acceleration still governed by the 2023 Plan if not assumed in a CIC .
- Execution risk/track record: His background across leading ATE and semiconductor firms (Schlumberger ATE, Credence, FormFactor, Altera, Advantest) indicates deep domain expertise to drive R&D execution; company TSR and profitability volatility across FY2023–FY2025 provides a mixed backdrop for value creation post‑hire, warranting monitoring of product milestones and revenue-linked performance awards .
Citations:
Form 3: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040470/000159396825000753/0001593968-25-000753.txt
Form 4 (09/03/2025): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040470/000159396825000992/0001593968-25-000992.txt and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040470/000159396825000992/xslF345X05/primary_01.xml
Form 4 (10/01/2025): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040470/000104047025000019/xslF345X05/primary_01.xml