Christian Henry
About Christian Henry
Christian Henry (age 57) is President and CEO of Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PacBio) since September 2020; he has served on Ginkgo Bioworks’ Board since 2016 and is independent under NYSE/SEC rules . He previously held senior roles at Illumina (including CFO, SVP/GM Life Sciences, SVP Genomic Solutions, EVP & CCO), Tickets.com (CFO), Affymetrix (VP Finance & Controller), Nektar (Corporate Controller/Chief Accounting Officer), Sugen (General Accounting Manager), and began at Ernst & Young as a Senior Accountant; he holds a BA in biochemistry and cell biology (UC San Diego) and an MBA in finance (UC Irvine) . Henry is Audit Committee Chair, a Compensation Committee member, and designated an “audit committee financial expert” by Ginkgo’s Board .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illumina, Inc. | EVP & Chief Commercial Officer; SVP Genomic Solutions; SVP & GM Life Sciences; SVP & CFO | 2005–Jan 2017 | Senior finance and operating leadership in global sequencing |
| Tickets.com, Inc. | Chief Financial Officer | 2003–2005 | Led finance at e-commerce tickets firm |
| Affymetrix, Inc. | VP Finance & Corporate Controller | 1999–2003 | Corporate controllership at genomics tools company |
| Nektar Therapeutics (formerly Inhale Therapeutic Systems) | Corporate Controller; Chief Accounting Officer | 1997–1999 | Accounting leadership at biotech |
| Sugen, Inc. | General Accounting Manager | 1996 | Accounting operations |
| Ernst & Young LLP | Senior Accountant | 1992–1996 | Audit/assurance foundation |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. | President & CEO; Director; former Chairman (Aug 2018–Sep 2020) | CEO since Sep 2020; Director current | Leading sequencing company |
| WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. | Director and Chairman of the Board | Current | Board chair in therapeutics |
| CM Life Sciences III Holdings LLC | Director | Apr 2021–Dec 2021 | SPAC directorship |
Board Governance
- Committee assignments: Audit (Chair), Compensation (Member) .
- Independence: Determined independent under SEC/NYSE standards (majority of Board independent) .
- Audit committee financial expert: Board designated Henry an “audit committee financial expert” with financial sophistication .
- Attendance and engagement:
- Board met 12 times in 2024; all incumbent directors attended at least 75% of Board and committee meetings on which they served .
- All nine directors then serving attended the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders .
- 2024 Committee meeting counts: Audit (7), Compensation (5), Nominating & Corporate Governance (4) .
| Governance Item | Detail | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Audit Chair | Yes | |
| Compensation Committee | Member | |
| Independence | Independent director | |
| Audit Financial Expert | Yes | |
| 2024 Attendance | ≥75% of meetings (all incumbents) | |
| 2024 Annual Meeting Attendance | All nine directors then serving attended |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2024 Amount | 2025 Program (effective as of Annual Meeting) | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board annual cash retainer | $50,000 | $45,000 | |
| Audit Committee Chair fee | $20,000 | $20,000 | |
| Compensation Committee member fee (non-chair) | $7,500 | $7,500 | |
| Lead Independent Director fee | $25,000 | $25,000 | |
| Chair of the Board fee | $36,000 | $32,500 |
| Henry – Cash Earned 2024 | Amount ($) | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Fees Earned or Paid in Cash | $77,500 |
Notes: Director fees paid quarterly in arrears; directors may elect equity in lieu of cash .
Performance Compensation
| Component | 2024 Awards | Vesting/Terms | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSUs (annual grant) | $200,000 grant-date fair value | Subsequent RSU vests in single installment by earlier of 1-year or day before next annual meeting; change-in-control acceleration to full vesting | |
| Stock Options (annual grant) | $200,000 grant-date fair value | Subsequent Option vests in single installment by earlier of 1-year or day before next annual meeting; 10-year term; exercise price = closing price; change-in-control acceleration |
2025 program changes (effective as of Annual Meeting):
- Initial option for new directors: $500,000 grant-date fair value; Subsequent annual option: $275,000; 3-year ratable vest; 10-year term; exercise price = closing price; share value floor of $8.00 used to calculate option shares .
| Henry – Equity Granted 2024 | Amount ($) | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Awards (RSUs) | $200,000 | |
| Option Awards | $200,000 |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Company | Role | Interlock/Related Party Exposure at Ginkgo | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| PacBio | CEO; Director; former Chairman | None disclosed involving Henry | |
| WAVE Life Sciences | Chairman; Director | None disclosed | |
| CM Life Sciences III | Former Director | None disclosed |
- Compensation Committee interlocks: None; company notes no officer/director interlocks, other than Jason Kelly’s Octant relationship (not Henry) .
- Related party transactions: Proxy discloses Octant and Founder relationships; no Henry-specific related transactions disclosed .
Expertise & Qualifications
- Finance/accounting depth (former CFO at Illumina; audit background at EY); designated audit committee financial expert .
- Extensive life sciences tools and genomics experience; current CEO leadership in sequencing (PacBio) .
- Board leadership (Chairman at WAVE Life Sciences) .
- Education: BA (biochemistry & cell biology, UCSD); MBA (finance, UC Irvine) .
Equity Ownership
| Metric | Value | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership – Class A shares | 44,310 shares (<1%) | |
| Class B shares | — | |
| Options outstanding (as of 12/31/2024) | 20,493 | |
| Restricted stock outstanding (as of 12/31/2024) | 4,395 | |
| RSUs outstanding (as of 12/31/2024) | 10,822 | |
| Anti-hedging/pledging policy | Hedging prohibited; pledging prohibited unless Board-approved exception | |
| Clawback policy | Dodd-Frank compliant clawback effective Oct 2, 2023; no clawbacks in 2024 |
Stock ownership guidelines: Company maintains director stock ownership guidelines in Corporate Governance Guidelines (specific multiple not disclosed in proxy) .
Governance Assessment
-
Strengths
- Independent director with deep finance and operating experience; Audit Chair and designated audit committee financial expert .
- Active committee engagement (Audit Chair; Compensation member); Board and committee meeting cadence with ≥75% attendance among incumbents in 2024 .
- Transparent director pay structure; shift in 2025 to options-only, multi-year vesting increases at-risk alignment; cash retainer reduced vs 2024 .
- Robust policies: anti-hedging/pledging; clawback adopted; no director-specific exceptions disclosed .
-
Watch items
- External CEO role at PacBio: while no related-party transactions disclosed involving Henry, continued monitoring for potential competitive/conflict exposures is prudent .
- Director equity awards are time-based (no explicit performance metrics for directors), though 2025 option structure increases performance sensitivity via equity-only design .
-
Shareholder signals
- 2025 election results: Henry received 99,921,002 votes for, 8,298,700 against, 645,982 abstentions (broker non-votes 9,647,015), indicating strong support .
- 2025 Say-on-Pay approved: 107,192,721 for, 847,055 against, 825,908 abstentions (broker non-votes 9,647,015) .
Appendix: Committee and Meeting Detail
| Committee | Membership (2024 configuration) | Meetings (2024) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit | Christian Henry (Chair); Myrtle Potter; Harry E. Sloan; Kathy Hopinkah Hannan | 7 | Post-2025 Annual Meeting expected members: Henry, Fubini, Sloan; Henry authored Audit Committee report |
| Compensation | Shyam Sankar (Chair); Ross Fubini; Christian Henry | 5 | Henry is member; Committee oversees director and executive pay |
| Nominating & Corporate Governance | Shyam Sankar (Chair); Kathy Hopinkah Hannan | 4 | Not Henry; post-meeting expected members: Sankar, Sloan, Kosuri |
All citations: .