Edward Ye
CenntroAbout Edward Ye
Edward Ye serves as Cenntro’s Acting Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer, appointed March 1, 2024; he was previously Financial Director since December 2019. Biographies in Cenntro’s 2025 proxy refer to him as Chief Financial Officer, while Q3’25 and Q1’25 10-Q signatures list him as Acting CFO, indicating the designation varied across filings. He is 35 in the 2025 proxy (34 in the 2024 proxy) and holds a B.S. in Accounting (Hong Kong Baptist University) and an M.Sc. in Corporate Finance (Bayes Business School, City, University of London); he earlier worked as a Senior Associate at Deloitte (2012–2017) with IPO experience across multiple sectors . Operational performance during his tenure as a senior finance leader shows revenue scaling from ~$10.4M in FY23 to ~$31.3M in FY24; EBITDA loss narrowed in FY24 vs FY23 (see table below) .
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (USD) | $10,425,659 | $31,297,393 |
| EBITDA (USD) | -$41,573,505* | -$29,621,277* |
- Values retrieved from S&P Global.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cenntro | Acting CFO; Principal Accounting Officer | 2024–present | Assumed principal financial officer role; signs SOX certifications on periodic filings . |
| Cenntro | Financial Director | 2019–2024 | Senior finance leadership during commercial scaling . |
| Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited | Senior Associate | 2012–2017 | Assisted US/HK IPOs across multiple industries . |
External Roles
No current public-company board roles or committee positions for Mr. Ye are disclosed in the 2024 or 2025 proxies’ executive biographies .
Fixed Compensation
| Component | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary (USD) | $59,314 | $85,368 | Appointment letter sets acting CFO annual compensation at $91,555 effective Mar 1, 2024 . |
| Target Bonus (%) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | No STI target % disclosed in proxies . |
| Actual Bonus Paid (USD) | — | — | No bonuses shown for Ye in 2023–2024 . |
| Stock Awards (USD) | $71,660 | $71,660 | Footnote (3) text references grants to another officer; Ye’s line-item fair value is disclosed but grant specifics for Ye are not detailed . |
| All Other Compensation (USD) | — | — | Not disclosed. |
| Total (USD) | $130,974 | $157,028 | — |
Performance Compensation
- Equity program architecture (2023 Plan): allows ISOs/NSOs, RSAs/RSUs, SARs, cash and performance-based awards; committee discretion on performance criteria; repricing and cancel/re-grant authority with participant consent; potential acceleration upon change-of-control may be provided in award or other agreements .
- 2024 grant activity: Compensation Committee did not grant stock options to NEOs during 2024 .
- Clawback/recoupment: Board may recoup incentive compensation upon restatements owing to intentional misconduct or gross negligence; company intends to comply with Dodd-Frank recoupment rules .
| Incentive Type | Metric(s) | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cash Incentive | Not disclosed | — | — | — | — | N/A |
| Performance Share/Unit | May be used at committee discretion | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Per award agreement; not detailed for Ye |
| Stock Options | NEOs: no new grants in 2024 | — | — | — | — | Vests per award; specifics for Ye not disclosed |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beneficial Ownership | 37,719 shares of common stock that Mr. Ye has the right to acquire within 60 days (options under the 2023 Plan) as of June 25, 2025 . |
| Ownership % of Outstanding | <1% (based on 47,912,831 shares outstanding as of June 25, 2025) . |
| Vested vs Unvested | Not broken out beyond “right to acquire within 60 days” . |
| Option Strike/Expiry | Not disclosed for Ye . |
| Hedging/Pledging | Insider Trading Policy prohibits short sales and derivatives for directors, Section 16 officers, and designated employees; no categories of hedging permitted. Policy text does not expressly state a pledging prohibition . |
| Ownership Guidelines | Not disclosed in the proxy . |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Appointment | Appointed Acting CFO effective March 1, 2024; annual compensation of $91,555 . |
| Title in Filings | Referred to as CFO in 2025 proxy biography; signed Q1’25 and Q3’25 10-Qs as Acting CFO and Principal Accounting Officer . |
| Contract Term/Auto-Renewal | Not disclosed for Ye . |
| Severance | Not disclosed for Ye; no severance terms described . |
| Change-of-Control | 2023 Plan allows the Compensation Committee to provide for vesting acceleration in individual awards or agreements; plan-level flexibility described, not Ye-specific . |
| Clawback/Recoupment | Clawback policy for incentive compensation upon qualifying restatement due to misconduct/gross negligence . |
| Non-Compete/Non-Solicit | Not disclosed for Ye . |
| Controls/ICFR Context | Company disclosed continuing material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting as of Q2’25; evaluation included participation of CEO and Acting CFO . |
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Cash vs equity mix: Ye’s 2024 total pay was modest with no bonus and a small recurring stock award fair value ($71,660) versus salary ($85,368); committee granted no options to NEOs in 2024, indicating a conservative LTI grant cadence .
- Performance linkage: Proxies do not disclose STI metrics or PSU structures for Ye; the 2023 Plan permits performance-based awards at committee discretion but no specific goals/weights are presented for Ye .
- Governance overlays: Clawback/recoupment policy in place; hedging (derivatives, short sales) prohibited; potential for award acceleration on change-of-control at committee discretion .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and selling pressure: Ye’s beneficial ownership is de minimis (<1%), consisting of options exercisable within 60 days as of June 25, 2025 (37,719 shares). Alignment is therefore limited by absolute stake size; potential selling pressure would hinge on whether these options are in-the-money, which is not disclosed here . Hedging is prohibited, reducing adverse alignment behaviors; pledging prohibition is not explicitly stated in policy text .
- Pay-for-performance signals: No cash bonus and modest equity values in 2023–2024 suggest conservative, cost-conscious compensation; however, lack of disclosed quantitative performance metrics limits visibility into pay-performance calibration for the CFO role .
- Retention and transition risk: Acting title persisted through Q3’25 signatures despite proxy biography referring to CFO, signaling potential transitional status. Absence of disclosed severance/change-of-control economics for Ye reduces “golden parachute” risk but may also lessen retention hooks relative to market norms .
- Execution risk: The company reports continuing material weaknesses in ICFR as of Q2’25, evaluated with participation of the Acting CFO—an overhang for financial reporting quality and potential compensation clawback triggers if a restatement were ever required due to misconduct/gross negligence (policy exists) .
- Operating backdrop: Revenues increased meaningfully in FY24 vs FY23; EBITDA losses narrowed, indicating operational progress, though still loss-making—context for evaluating finance leadership effectiveness and resource constraints on compensation .