Ashraf Alkarmi
DROPBOXAbout Ashraf Alkarmi
Ashraf Alkarmi, age 46, is General Manager and Senior Vice President, Core Products at Dropbox, a role he has held since November 2024. He previously served as Chief Product Officer at Vimeo (Jul 2022–Sep 2024), Director/GM of Amazon Freevee (May 2018–Jun 2022), Founder/CEO of PresAsk (Jan 2013–Jul 2021), Head of Product at Meta (Jan 2017–May 2018), and Head of Product at Amazon (Jun 2013–Jan 2017); earlier roles include leadership positions at Brightcove, Nokia, and Motorola . He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (University of Jordan, 2002), M.S. in Electrical Engineering (Southern Illinois University, 2004), and M.A. in Management and Operations (Harvard University, 2009) .
Company performance context during the most recent fiscal years:
| Metric | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($USD Millions) | 2,324.9 | 2,501.6 | 2,548.2 |
| EBITDA ($USD Millions) | 513.6* | 592.8* | 670.8* |
Values retrieved from S&P Global*
Additional 2023–2024 operating KPIs from the proxy:
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Paying Users (Millions) | 18.12 | 18.22 |
| ARPU ($) | 140.23 | 139.38 |
| Non‑GAAP Operating Margin (%) | 36.4% | 32.8% |
| Free Cash Flow ($USD Millions) | 871.6 | 759.4 |
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbox | GM & SVP, Core Products | Nov 2024–present | Leads core product portfolio execution |
| Vimeo | Chief Product Officer | Jul 2022–Sep 2024 | Drove product strategy at a public SaaS video platform |
| Amazon (Freevee) | Director, GM, Freevee | May 2018–Jun 2022 | Ran AVOD service within Amazon’s media ecosystem |
| Meta | Head of Product | Jan 2017–May 2018 | Led product within large-scale consumer platform |
| Amazon | Head of Product | Jun 2013–Jan 2017 | Product leadership roles at Amazon |
| PresAsk | Founder & CEO | Jan 2013–Jul 2021 | Built/led a startup over multi‑year period |
| Brightcove; Nokia; Motorola | Senior roles | Prior years | Product/engineering leadership at global tech firms |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | No external directorships disclosed in DBX filings for Alkarmi |
Fixed Compensation
- Not specifically disclosed for Mr. Alkarmi in the 2025 proxy; he was not a 2024 Named Executive Officer (NEO), and the proxy lists 2024 NEOs as CEO, CFO, former CLO, and CCO . Base salary levels for non‑NEO executive officers were not itemized.
Performance Compensation
Dropbox’s 2024 annual bonus plan structure (company-wide program; Alkarmi was not a 2024 NEO):
| Metric | Weight | Target | Actual (for plan calc) | Payout/Funding | Vesting/Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 67% | $2,565M | $2,545M (99% of target) | Corporate performance measure capped at 100% of target (management discretion); individual modifiers 0–150% | Paid annually |
| Non‑GAAP Operating Margin | 33% | 33.1% | 36.1% | Included in the 100% corporate funding cap | Paid annually |
Equity incentives (2024 program features from proxy):
| Equity Type | Grant Practice | Vesting | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSUs | Primary vehicle for execs | Vests over 4 years in equal quarterly installments | No stock options or SARs granted to NEOs in 2024; company has never granted SARs |
Compensation committee, peer group, and policy highlights:
- Independent Talent & Compensation Committee; independent advisor (Compensia) with no conflicts .
- 2024 peer group included DocuSign, Elastic, Dolby, Etsy, F5, GoDaddy, HubSpot, Informatica, Nutanix, Okta, Paycom, Pinterest, Pure Storage, RingCentral, Roku, Splunk, Teradata, Zoom .
- Stock ownership guidelines; clawback policy; no hedging/pledging; no tax gross‑ups on perquisites or CIC payments .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership for Mr. Alkarmi was not itemized in the Security Ownership table (which lists directors and 2024 NEOs; executives as a group are reported) .
- Company policy prohibits hedging and pledging by employees and directors, reducing misalignment/forced‑sale risk .
- Executive stock ownership guideline: 2x base salary within five years of later of Dec 1, 2023 or hire/appointment date .
- As of Mar 31, 2025, group holdings for all current directors, named executive officers, and executive officers (16 persons): 10,165,192 Class A and 76,051,013 Class B (aggregate), representing 78.62% of total voting power when combined with CEO’s holdings; individual executive breakdown beyond NEOs not provided .
Employment Terms
- At‑will employment letters for executive officers; set initial comp, equity recommendations, and include confidentiality, non‑competition, non‑solicitation provisions .
- Change‑in‑control and severance agreements for each executive officer; benefits payable only upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change‑in‑control (double‑trigger) .
- No excise tax gross‑up on CIC payments; payments optimized for best after‑tax outcome (cutback vs full pay) .
- Company maintains a Nasdaq‑compliant clawback policy covering incentive comp tied to financial reporting measures .
Say‑on‑Pay and Shareholder Feedback
- 2024 Say‑on‑Pay support: 98.3% (proxy disclosure) .
- 2025 Annual Meeting results: Say‑on‑Pay approved (For 927,886,541; Against 11,632,621; Abstain 271,834; Broker non‑votes 9,717,315), and “1‑Year” frequency selected for Say‑on‑Pay; shareholder proposal to impose vesting provisions on Class B stock failed (For 90,393,282; Against 848,488,025) .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags (as disclosed)
- Hedging and pledging prohibited for executives and directors .
- No tax gross‑ups for perquisites or change‑in‑control benefits .
- Standard double‑trigger CIC protection for executives (mitigates windfalls; retains talent through transactions) .
- No individual Form 4 insider transactions for Mr. Alkarmi were found in this dataset; investors should monitor future Form 4s for selling pressure or 10b5‑1 plans (tool search returned none) [ListDocuments: Form 4 — 0 results].
Performance & Track Record
- Company growth context: Revenues rose from $2,324.9M in FY22 to $2,548.2M in FY24 ; EBITDA increased over the same period (FY22: $513.6M*, FY24: $670.8M*). Values retrieved from S&P Global*
- 2024 operating highlights: Paying users 18.22M, ARPU $139.38, non‑GAAP operating margin 32.8%, free cash flow $759.4M .
Investment Implications
- Compensation alignment: Executive program design emphasizes at‑risk pay via annual cash tied to revenue and non‑GAAP operating margin and multi‑year RSUs; robust ownership guidelines and hedging/pledging prohibitions enhance alignment .
- Data gaps for individual analysis: Mr. Alkarmi’s specific base salary, target bonus, grant sizes, and vesting schedules were not disclosed in the 2025 proxy (he was not a 2024 NEO); monitor future proxies and any Item 5.02 8‑Ks for his offer letter and compensatory arrangements .
- Retention and transaction risk: Standard double‑trigger CIC protection applies to executive officers, which supports retention through strategic events without single‑trigger windfalls; absence of tax gross‑ups is shareholder‑friendly .
- Trading signals: No Form 4s for Mr. Alkarmi found in this dataset; continue monitoring for insider transactions and 10b5‑1 adoptions to assess potential selling pressure. [ListDocuments: Form 4 — 0 results]