Ben Beneski
About Ben Beneski
Ben Beneski, 48, is Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO) since March 2025. He joined Allogene in 2019 and led the design, construction, and startup of Cell Forge 1 (CF1), advancing through VP Manufacturing and VP Product Development & Manufacturing before his promotion to CTO; he holds a B.E. in Chemical Engineering (Stevens Institute of Technology) and an MBA (Northeastern) . Company performance context: 2024 net loss was $257.6 million and the Pay vs Performance table shows the value of a $100 TSR investment at $14.28 in 2024 (vs. $21.51 in 2023 and $42.16 in 2022), underscoring a challenging equity backdrop for incentive alignment .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allogene Therapeutics | Executive Director & Plant Manager | 2019–Mar 2025 | Led design, construction, and startup of CF1 manufacturing facility . |
| Allogene Therapeutics | VP Manufacturing; VP Product Development & Manufacturing | 2019–Mar 2025 | Built next‑gen platforms; managed internal/external manufacturing; supported INDs and commercial readiness . |
| Allogene Therapeutics | SVP & Chief Technical Officer | Mar 2025–present | Oversees technical operations; succession to CTO role after leadership transition . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vir Biotechnology | Senior manufacturing/technical operations roles | Not disclosed | Biologics manufacturing and operational leadership experience . |
| Amgen | Senior manufacturing/technical operations roles | Not disclosed | Large‑scale biologics and process development expertise . |
Fixed Compensation
- Not disclosed for Ben in the latest proxy; he was not a 2024 Named Executive Officer (SCT covers CEO, CMO, former CTO) .
- Executive program guardrails relevant to Ben’s role include: stock ownership guidelines, clawback policy, and prohibitions on hedging/pledging (see “Equity Ownership & Alignment” and “Employment Terms”) .
Performance Compensation
- Annual cash incentive framework (company-wide): 2024 targets were 65% of base salary for CEO and 45% for other NEOs; corporate goals achieved at 70% of target for 2024. Payouts to NEOs were formulaic at 70% of target; no discretionary upward adjustments .
- Executive equity mix:
- 2024 annual grants: 70% options / 30% RSUs; three‑year vesting to reinforce retention post‑RIF .
- 2025 program: 50% options / 30% RSUs / 20% PSUs with PSU metrics tied to the autoimmune ALLO‑329 program; options drive stock‑price alignment, PSUs link to strategic milestones .
Detailed corporate score (selected elements):
| Goal category | Core goals | Core weighting | Stretch goals | Stretch weighting | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cema‑cel ALPHA3 (1L consolidation) | Initiate ALPHA3 | 20% | Enrollment stretch tiers | 60% (20% x 3) | Core initiated; stretch not fully disclosed . |
| CLL study | Complete Phase 1 enrollment | 10% | Transition to Phase 2 | 10% | Core as planned . |
| Manufacturing | CF1 comparability; AutoFill for cema‑cel; ALLO‑329 GMP run | 10% | Additional ALLO‑329 GMP run | 5% | Core achieved . |
| Ops & financing | Improve financial strength | 10% | Stretch financing | 10% | Core and some stretch achieved . |
Note: The 2024 company score was set at 70% of target .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership at appointment (Form 3 filed Mar 4, 2025): 192,240 common shares directly owned .
- Derivative holdings and vesting schedules (as of Form 3):
- Option: 43,698 @ $1.94, exp. 1/24/2035; vests 25% on 1/24/2026, monthly thereafter (36 months) .
- Option: 24,428 @ $5.04, exp. 3/22/2033; vests 25% on 3/13/2024, monthly thereafter (36 months) .
- Option: 54,314 @ $13.31, exp. 7/19/2029; vests 1/3 annually from 7/19/2022 (3‑year schedule) .
- Option: 9,014 @ $9.69, exp. 3/23/2032; vests 25% on 3/13/2023, monthly thereafter (36 months) .
- Ownership as % of outstanding: common shares ≈ 0.09% (= 192,240 / 218,598,262 shares outstanding as of 3/31/2025) .
- Stock ownership guidelines: CEO 6x salary; other executive officers 1x salary; non‑employee directors 5x retainer. Unvested RSUs/PSUs do not count; up to 50% of vested in‑the‑money options count. Compliance is monitored annually; hedging and pledging prohibited under insider trading policy .
- Hedging/pledging: Officers are prohibited from short sales, options, hedging, or pledging company stock (reduces misalignment and downside‑protection behaviors) .
Employment Terms
- Change‑in‑Control and Severance Plan (applies to executive officers including CTO):
- Without cause / good reason (non‑CIC): 12 months base salary continuation and paid/reimbursed COBRA for 12 months.
- CIC window (3 months before through 12 months after a change in control): 18 months base salary; 150% of annual target cash incentive; accelerated vesting of outstanding equity; COBRA for the severance period. CEO has higher multiples (24 months salary; 200% target bonus) .
- Clawback policy: Executive officer recoupment policy in effect; committee retains authority to enforce clawbacks in accordance with SEC/Nasdaq rules .
- Insider trading policy: 10b5‑1 plan usage permitted subject to policy; hedging/pledging prohibited .
Company Performance Context (for Pay-Performance alignment)
| Metric | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($) | 114,089,000* | 156,000* | 95,000* | 22,000* |
| EBITDA ($) | (169,738,000)* | (321,241,000)* | (300,293,000)* | (243,843,000)* |
| Net Income (Loss) ($) | (182,051,000)* | (340,414,000)* | (327,265,000)* | (257,590,000) |
Values with asterisks were retrieved from S&P Global.
Pay vs Performance (company‑reported):
- Value of $100 TSR investment: $57.63 (2021), $42.16 (2022), $21.51 (2023), $14.28 (2024) .
Governance, Peer Benchmarking, Say‑on‑Pay
- Peer group for 2024 decisions included (selected): Agios, AlloVir, Beam, Cabaletta, Caribou, Celldex, Editas, Fate, IGM, Iovance, Lyell, Mirati (pre‑acq), Nurix, Sana, SpringWorks, Ultragenyx, Xencor. Allogene’s market cap was at ~46th percentile of the group at approval .
- Say‑on‑pay responsiveness: support was below 70% in 2023; changes led to ~87% support in 2024. 2025 actions included freezing CEO/Executive Chair base salaries, reducing director equity, and introducing PSUs for executives .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and retention: As a newly appointed CTO with meaningful unvested equity and multi‑year vesting schedules, Ben’s incentives are geared toward retention and execution of manufacturing and platform milestones. Prohibitions on hedging/pledging and stock ownership guidelines support alignment with shareholders .
- Selling pressure: Initial Form 3 indicates baseline ownership and several option series with staggered vesting; policy constraints and vesting schedules may moderate near‑term selling pressure typical of promotion grants .
- Change‑in‑control economics: Double‑trigger equity vesting and 18‑month salary/150% target bonus multiple for executive officers in a CIC window reduce downside risk of leadership turnover during strategic events (supporting continuity through potential commercialization timelines) .
- Execution risk: Company TSR has remained under pressure through 2024, and net losses are significant; successful scaling of CF1, platform advances, and autoimmune PSUs in 2025 program indicate increased emphasis on milestone‑driven value creation that will be central to compensation outcomes .
Sources: 2025 DEF 14A (executive bio, compensation governance, policies, ownership guidelines, pay vs performance), 2024 DEF 14A (CIC/severance detail), Jan 29, 2025 press release (promotion), 2025 Form 3 (beneficial ownership and vesting detail), 2024 10‑K (bio).
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