François Locoh-Donou

President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director at F5 Inc

Board

Since April 2017

Age

53 years

Education

Holds an engineering degree from École Centrale de Marseille, a Master's degree in Sciences from Télécom ParisTech, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Tenure

Since joining in April 2017, has served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director at FFIV, spearheading the transformation from a datacenter hardware-centric company to a software-first leader with over 70% recurring revenues and an expanding SaaS portfolio.

Also at F5 Inc

Chad Whalen

Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer

Kunal Anand

Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer

Lyra Schramm

Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer

About

François Locoh-Donou was born in Togo and has built a global profile with an impressive educational foundation, earning an engineering degree from École Centrale de Marseille, a Master's degree in Sciences from Télécom ParisTech, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Before joining FFIV, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career at Ciena Corporation where he held key leadership positions such as Vice President and General Manager for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Senior Vice President for the Global Products Group, and Chief Operating Officer.

Since April 2017, he has led FFIV as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, driving major strategic initiatives that include a critical shift from datacenter hardware to a software-first approach with an emphasis on multi-cloud application security and delivery. Additionally, his role as a director at Capital One Financial Corporation and his commitment to social enterprises like Cajou Espoir underscore his strong leadership and dedication to both business innovation and social impact.

$FFIV Performance Under François Locoh-Donou

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Date Range	Details [N/A]
Ciena Corporation	Chief Operating Officer	November 2015 - January 2017	N/A
Ciena Corporation	Senior Vice President, Global Products Group	August 2011 - November 2015	N/A
Ciena Corporation	Vice President and General Manager, Europe, Middle East, and Africa	June 2005 - August 2011	N/A

External Roles

Organization	Role	Date Range [N/A]	Details
Capital One Financial Corporation	Director	N/A	N/A
Cajou Espoir	Co-founder and Chairperson	N/A	Social enterprise focused on cashew-processing in rural Togo

Fixed Compensation

Data from FY 2024

Component Name	Amount	Payment Schedule	Additional Details
Base Salary	$962,000	Annually	Fiscal Year 2024 base salary
Company 401(k) Contribution	$4,400	As Provided	Part of All Other Compensation
Communication Stipend	$1,200	As Provided	Part of All Other Compensation
High Performing Employee Recognition Trip	$24,767	As Provided	Includes a tax reimbursement of $6,168

Performance Compensation

Data from FY 2024

Annual Cash Incentive Bonus

Metric	Threshold	Target	Maximum	Actual	Weighting	Details
Revenue	$2,216.0M	$2,770.0M	$5,540.0M	$2,816.1M	45%	Achieved 101.7% of target
Operating Income	$743.2M	$929.0M	$1,858.0M	$945.6M	45%	Achieved 101.8% of target
Diversity & Inclusion	N/A	N/A	N/A	75.4%	10%	Includes global, U.S. Black, U.S. Hispanic/Latino(a) and inclusion targets

Bonus Opportunity: Target bonus is 130% of the base salary with an actual attainment of 99.1%, but a Compensation Committee-imposed cap limits payout to 50% of target, resulting in a final cash bonus of $625,300.

Performance-Based Equity Awards

Component	Grant Date	Grant Date Fair Value	RSUs Granted	Vesting Schedule	Performance Criteria/Weighting	Notes
Performance-Based Equity	Nov 1, 2023	$9,039,124	52,989 RSUs	Vests over three years: 1/3 vesting each year for revenue and EPS metrics (cliff vesting after each one-year period); rTSR metric vests 25% in year 1, 25% in year 2, and 50% in year 3	Metrics include Revenue Growth, EPS, and rTSR with revenue weighted double; maximum performance payout up to 200%	Stock price on grant was $151.92 ; part of aligning executive value with shareholder returns

This performance compensation structure for 2024 combines a cash incentive bonus with performance-based equity awards. The cash incentive bonus is evaluated based on financial and operational metrics with set thresholds, targets, and a cap on payout, whereas the equity awards are structured around multi-year performance goals with specific vesting schedules and performance conditions.