Joseph Liotine
AptivAbout Joseph Liotine
Joseph T. Liotine is Executive Vice President and President, Electrical Distribution Systems (EDS) at Aptiv; he joined Aptiv on April 29, 2024 and was appointed to lead EDS in November 2024 . He previously served as CEO of Briggs & Stratton (appointed August 29, 2023) and before that spent nearly two decades at Whirlpool, including President & COO (effective September 1, 2021) . Liotine is 52 years old, holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s from Illinois State University . Company performance context during the most recent compensation cycles includes adjusted operating income of $2.4B and a 12.0% adjusted operating margin in 2024, with long-term PSU vesting for 2022–2024 at 63% of target driven by a 21st percentile relative TSR outcome over that period .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aptiv | President, Signal & Power Solutions | Apr 2024–Nov 2024 | Leadership of S&PS segment; AIP weighting set 50% Total Aptiv/50% S&PS for 2024 plan design |
| Aptiv | EVP & President, Electrical Distribution Systems | Nov 2024–Present | Leads EDS ahead of planned separation; EDS Q3’25 net sales +12% YoY and adjusted operating income +54% YoY |
| Briggs & Stratton | Chief Executive Officer | Aug 2023–early 2024 (reported exit within ~6 months) | Brief CEO tenure; subsequent permanent CEO named July 31, 2024 |
| Whirlpool Corporation | President & Chief Operating Officer | Effective Sep 1, 2021 | Global operations leadership (KitchenAid SDA, global product dev/R&D/IT, sourcing) |
| Whirlpool Corporation | EVP & President, North America | Nov 2014–2021 | Led North America region; earlier roles in Canada ops, U.S. ops, marketing |
| Quaker Oats / PepsiCo | Various roles | Pre-2004 | Early career in sales/procurement prior to Whirlpool |
External Roles
- No public company directorships disclosed in Aptiv’s 2025 proxy; prior external executive roles shown above .
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2024 Detail |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $900,000 target annual base salary |
| Target annual bonus | $1,125,000 target (prorated for 2024 based on 4/29/2024 hire) |
| Actual 2024 bonus paid | $799,366 (Total payout factor 105%) |
| One-time cash sign-on | $2,000,000 (paid $1,000,000 upon hire and $1,000,000 on first anniversary, subject to continued employment; 2-year clawback on voluntary quit/for-cause) |
Performance Compensation
| Element | Metric/Terms | Weighting/Targets | 2024 Results/Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Incentive Plan (AIP) | Adjusted Operating Income (OI) | 30% | Total Aptiv OI payout 114% |
| Cash Flow Before Financing (CFBF)/SOCF | 30% | Total Aptiv CFBF payout 200%; S&PS SOCF 172% | |
| Growth Over Market (GOM) | 15% | Total Aptiv 0% payout; S&PS 0% | |
| Strategic Results Metric | 25% | 75% payout (qualitative goals across foundation/platforms) | |
| Weighting for Liotine | 50% Total Aptiv financials / 50% S&PS financials (reflecting his S&PS leadership in 2024) | ||
| AIP payout | Payout factor 105% (Target $761,301; Paid $799,366, prorated to service) | ||
| Long-Term Incentive (LTI) – 2024 PBRSUs | Metrics: Average RONA; Cumulative Net Income; Relative TSR | 33.3% each; 0–200% payout; performance period 1/1/2024–12/31/2026; settled early 2027 | Target units 34,236 granted 6/21/2024; vest based on 3-year results |
| Long-Term Incentive (LTI) – 2024 TBRSUs (annual) | Time-based RSUs vest ratably over 3 years | Annual time-based award units: 22,824 (grant 6/21/2024) | Ratable vesting on 6/21/2025, 2026, 2027 |
| New-hire equity (TBRSUs) | Sign-on time-based RSUs | $3,000,000 targeted value; units 39,809 (grant 6/21/2024) | Vests 50% on 6/21/2025 and 50% on 6/21/2026 |
| 2025 plan changes | AIP replaces Cash Flow and GOM with Revenue; LTI replaces RONA/NI with ROIC and Software & Adjacent Market Revenue; TSR becomes +/-20% modifier | Program rebalanced for top-line and software/adjacent focus | Effective for 2025 awards |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Shares owned (beneficial) | 4,219 shares as of Feb 28, 2025 |
| Unvested time-based RSUs | 39,809 (sign-on; 50% vests 6/21/2025, 50% 6/21/2026) and 22,824 (annual; vests ratably over 3 years) |
| Performance-based RSUs outstanding | 2024–2026 PBRSUs shown at maximum 68,472 in year-end table; target grant 34,236 units (granted 6/21/2024) |
| Ownership guidelines | NEOs: 3x base salary; measurement Feb 14, 2025—NEOs at/above or on track within five years |
| Hedging/Pledging | Prohibited by insider trading policy (no hedging, no pledging, no margin) |
| Clawback | SEC/NYSE-compliant recovery policy (restatements) plus supplemental fraud-based forfeiture/repayment policy |
| Deferred compensation | Executive contributions $18,327; company contributions $19,636; ending balance $37,458 (2024) |
| Shares outstanding (context) | 229,446,368 ordinary shares outstanding as of record date (for context on ownership %) |
Note: “Equity Incentive Plan Awards” are shown at maximum in the Outstanding Equity Awards table; actual earned PBRSUs will depend on 2024–2026 performance and settle in early 2027 .
Employment Terms
- Start date and current role: Joined April 29, 2024; EVP & President, EDS since November 2024 .
- Severance plan (non-CIC): For NEOs other than CEO, severance equals 1x base salary (installments), plus COBRA subsidy up to 18 months, upon termination without cause or for good reason (subject to release) .
- Change-in-control: Double-trigger; 2x base salary and 2x target annual bonus; COBRA premiums for 24 months; equity vests per plan (time-based: full; performance-based: greater of earned-to-date or 100% of granted units) .
- Non-compete / Non-solicit: Confidentiality and non-interference agreements; non-compete generally 12 months post-employment; non-solicitation/hiring prohibitions for 24 months .
- Potential payout illustration (as of 12/31/2024 assumptions): Involuntary (not for cause/good reason) total $930,392; CIC+termination total $11,078,047; Death/Disability total $6,983,637 (valued at $60.48/share; equity treatment per plan) .
- Clawbacks and sign-on conditions: Sign-on cash payable in two installments with repayment obligation if voluntary resignation/for-cause termination within first two years; LTIs subject to clawback policies .
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Mix and pay-for-performance: For 2024, Liotine’s target package emphasized at-risk pay (AIP and LTI) with $4.3M target LTI and $1.125M target bonus vs $0.9M base; PSUs represent 60% of annual LTI with 3-year RONA/NI/Relative TSR metrics; time-based RSUs comprise 40% .
- Year-over-year shifts: Company-wide, 2025 incentives moved to Revenue in AIP and ROIC and Software/Adjacent Revenue in LTI, with TSR as a payout modifier, signaling increased emphasis on top-line growth and software/adjacent diversification .
- Discretion/rigor: 2024 AIP used multi-metric design with capped 200% payouts and qualitative strategic score; growth-over-market paid 0% (rigor maintained), while cash flow paid at maximum, yielding an overall 105% payout for Liotine’s prorated AIP .
- Options/repricing: 2024 grants and outstanding awards consist of RSUs (time-based and performance-based); no stock option awards or repricing disclosed for 2024 .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Hedging/pledging: Prohibited (alignment positive) .
- Related-party transactions: None identified in 2024 (governance positive) .
- Tax gross-ups: No excise tax gross-ups for NEOs (shareholder-friendly) .
- Say-on-Pay: ~90% approval at 2024 AGM (program support) .
- Retention: Two-year sign-on cash repayment and sizable unvested RSUs (both sign-on and annual) increase retention; upcoming vesting dates in June 2025 and 2026 may create incremental selling windows, subject to ownership guidelines and trading windows .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: High equity weighting (annual LTI $4.3M with 60% performance-based) and strict hedging/pledging prohibitions support alignment; clawbacks mitigate misconduct risk .
- Retention vs. selling pressure: Near-term retention is reinforced by unvested RSUs and the two-year sign-on cash condition through April 2026; however, notable vesting events in June 2025 and 2026 (sign-on 50% tranches plus annual RSU tranches) could create episodic selling pressure, especially if performance-based vesting is tracking to payout .
- Performance lens: Company-level 2022–2024 PSU vesting at 63% (with TSR at 21st percentile) underscores that realized value is sensitive to multi-year fundamentals and stock performance; 2025 metric shifts to ROIC and Software/Adjacent Revenue may favor leaders of EDS/software adjacencies if execution is strong .
- EDS separation catalyst: With EDS leadership under Liotine and a planned separation on track, segment execution (Q3’25 EDS +12% YoY net sales; +54% YoY adjusted operating income) is a key monitoring point for value realization and potential spin-related compensation and retention structures .
All facts, figures, dates, terms, metrics, grants and policies above are drawn from Aptiv’s 2025 DEF 14A and SEC filings, and referenced press releases/news, as cited inline.