Alexis Lê-Quôc
DatadogAbout Alexis Lê-Quôc
Alexis Lê-Quôc is Datadog’s co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, and a director, serving in these roles since June 2010. He previously held engineering and operations roles at Wireless Generation (Director of Live Operations), IBM Research, and France Télécom; he holds an M.S. in Computer Science from CentraleSupélec . Age: 50 (as of the proxy date) . In 2024, Datadog revenue was $2.68B (+26% YoY) with 25% non-GAAP operating margin, and GAAP EPS of $0.52, reflecting strong execution in the core platform . The company’s TSR (value of $100 initial investment) stood at 378 in 2024 vs 301 for the peer group, underscoring multi-year value creation .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Datadog, Inc. | Co-founder; Chief Technology Officer; Director | Since Jun 2010 | “Experience building and leading the development of our technology,” bringing deep product/engineering leadership to the board and company . |
| Wireless Generation | Director of Live Operations | 2004–2010 | Senior operations leadership in ed-tech; prior engineering roles . |
| IBM Research | Engineer | Not disclosed | Engineering experience in advanced research settings . |
| France Télécom S.A. | Engineer | Not disclosed | Engineering roles at a major telecom . |
External Roles
No other public company directorships or external committee roles for Alexis Lê-Quôc are disclosed in the proxy .
Board Governance
- Board service: Director at Datadog since June 2010; not independent (current/former executive status) .
- Committees: Not listed as a member of Audit, Compensation, or Nominating and Corporate Governance committees in 2024 .
- Board leadership/independence safeguards: Dev Ittycheria serves as Lead Independent Director with responsibilities over agendas and independent sessions .
- Meeting attendance: Board met five times in FY24; each director attended ≥75% of board and committee meetings of which they were members .
- Director pay: As an executive-director, he receives no additional compensation for board service .
Fixed Compensation
Multi-year summary of cash and total compensation for Alexis Lê-Quôc:
| Metric | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary ($) | 395,833 | 400,000 | 420,833 |
| Target Bonus ($) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 400,000 (94% of salary) |
| Actual Bonus Paid ($) | 306,873 | 335,546 | 371,295 |
| All Other Compensation ($) | 299,815 (incl. HSR-related fees in 2022) | 2,450 | 2,690 |
| Total Compensation ($) | 9,543,163 | 11,646,934 | 16,987,357 |
Additional fixed compensation context:
- 2024 base salary increased to $425,000 (from $400,000) effective March 1, 2024, aligned with peer ranges .
- Benefits: standard employee benefits and 401(k) with company match up to $2,000; minimal perquisites .
Performance Compensation
Annual cash bonus design and 2024 outcome:
- Metrics and structure: Net new ARR and non-GAAP operating income; threshold requires ≥50% net new ARR and minimum non-GAAP OI; cap at 200% of target .
- 2024 Target/Threshold/Max for Lê-Quôc: $400,000 / $50,000 / $800,000 .
- 2024 Actual: $371,295 .
Long-term equity incentives (2024 grants):
- Mix: 50% time-based RSUs and 50% PSUs at target; grants on July 29, 2024 .
- Alexis Lê-Quôc received 68,659 RSUs and 68,659 target PSUs (total grant-date fair value $16,192,539) .
- PSU design: One-year performance period on revenue growth subject to achieving target non-GAAP operating income; earned shares then vest over four years .
- 2024 performance result: Revenue $2,684,275k vs $2,672,000k target (100.5%); non-GAAP OI target met; PSUs certified at 115% of target on Feb 25, 2025 .
Detailed 2024 incentive outcomes:
| Incentive | Metric(s) | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cash Bonus | Net new ARR; non-GAAP OI | $400,000 | Company metrics achieved; individual payout | $371,295 | Cash (annual) |
| PSUs (2024 cycle) | Revenue (YoY growth) subject to target non-GAAP OI | 68,659 target PSUs | Revenue $2,684,275k vs $2,672,000k (100.5%); non-GAAP OI target met | 79,173 PSUs earned (115%) | 25% on 3/1/2025; remainder in 12 quarterly installments thereafter, service-based |
| RSUs (2024 grant) | Service-based | 68,659 RSUs | N/A | N/A | 25% on 3/1/2025; remainder in 12 quarterly installments thereafter, service-based |
Compensation process and peer context:
- Committee uses Compensia as independent consultant; maintains SaaS peer set (e.g., Atlassian, Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, Dynatrace, Fortinet, HubSpot, MongoDB, Okta, Palantir, Snowflake, Splunk, The Trade Desk, Twilio, Unity, Veeva, Zoom, Zscaler) without targeting a specific percentile; market data is one input among many .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
Beneficial ownership (as of March 15, 2025):
| Holder | Class A shares | Class B shares | Options exercisable within 60 days (Class B) | % Total Voting Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexis Lê-Quôc | 157,948 | 10,349,882 | 1,409,970 | 17.6% |
Outstanding equity and vesting (as of 12/31/2024; selected items):
- Unvested stock awards (counts; market value at $142.89): 79,173 PSUs ($11,313,030) and 68,659 RSUs ($9,810,685) from 2024 grants; plus prior cycle PSUs/RSUs (e.g., 45,140; 48,942; 13,355; 11,080; 4,996) continuing to vest quarterly .
- Option holdings (all exercisable): 901,440 options @ $0.31 expiring 10/26/2025; 540,000 @ $0.91 expiring 10/24/2027; 637,500 @ $10.74 expiring 7/18/2029 .
- 2024 exercises/vesting: 2,675,880 options exercised (value realized $328,810,220) and 127,346 shares vested from stock awards (value realized $16,349,834) .
- Hedging/pledging: Company policy prohibits hedging, margin, and pledging by directors and officers (alignment safeguard) .
Employment Terms
Executive severance agreement (standard NEO form):
- Without Cause/Good Reason (non-CIC): Lump sum = 6 months base salary + 50% of annual target bonus; 6 months COBRA premiums .
- Double-trigger CIC (termination within 3 months prior to or 12 months post-CIC): Lump sum = 12 months base salary + 100% of annual target bonus; 12 months COBRA premiums; 100% vesting of outstanding and unvested time-based equity; performance-based equity subject to award terms (earned-and-certified PSUs follow the time-based vesting acceleration) .
Quantified potential payouts (as of 12/31/2024):
| Scenario | Base Salary ($) | Bonus ($) | Equity Acceleration ($) | COBRA ($) | Total ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Termination w/o Cause or for Good Reason (non-CIC) | 212,500 | 200,000 | — | 11,002 | 423,502 |
| Double-Trigger CIC + qualifying termination | 425,000 | 400,000 | 27,459,457 | 22,004 | 28,306,461 |
Clawback: SEC- and Nasdaq-compliant recoupment policy for incentive comp received in the three fiscal years preceding a restatement .
Other governance guardrails: No single-trigger vesting; no excise tax gross-ups; hedging/pledging prohibited .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance linkage: 2024 PSU outcome at 115% reflects revenue at 100.5% of target with non-GAAP OI target met; the design balances top-line growth with profitability, and earned shares vest over four years, strengthening retention and alignment .
- Vesting and potential selling pressure: Significant quarterly vesting through 2028 on 2024 RSUs/PSUs plus prior cycles; large 2024 option exercises (2.68M shares; $328.8M value realized) indicate substantial liquidity events, though hedging/pledging remains prohibited and sales may be under Rule 10b5-1 plans (not disclosed here) .
- Ownership and control: With 17.6% of total voting power (dual-class structure), Lê-Quôc retains meaningful influence; alignment is reinforced by policy prohibitions on hedging and pledging .
- Downside protection in CIC: Double-trigger economics include 100% vesting of time-based awards and cash equal to one year of salary and target bonus; performance award acceleration limited to earned-and-certified PSUs, mitigating windfalls .
- Governance quality signals: Majority independent board with lead independent director; executives serving as directors receive no extra board pay; strong say-on-pay support (~95% in 2024) suggests investor endorsement of program design .