Jigish Trivedi
About Jigish Trivedi
Jigish Trivedi is Chief Operating Officer (principal operating officer) of ESS Tech, Inc. (GWH), appointed effective August 18, 2025. He is 53 and holds a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA; prior roles include Senior Vice President, Operations & Global Supply Chain at Electric Hydrogen Co., and senior product/technology strategy roles at Micron Technology and First Solar. The 2025 proxy emphasizes salary, cash bonuses, and stock awards to align incentives with long-term shareholder interests; no TSR or revenue/EBITDA performance metrics are disclosed for his compensation framework.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric Hydrogen Co. | SVP, Operations & Global Supply Chain | Apr 2021 – Aug 2025 | Led operations and global supply chain; manufacturing scale-up in clean energy hardware |
| Micron Technology | Senior Director, Technology & Product Strategy | May 2020 – Apr 2021 | Product technology and strategy leadership; process development initiatives |
| Micron Technology | Senior leadership positions (product technology, strategy, process development) | Not disclosed | Advanced manufacturing, product strategy, process development |
| First Solar, Inc. | Senior leadership positions (manufacturing and supply chain) | Not disclosed | Manufacturing and supply chain leadership in solar technology |
External Roles
No public-company board positions or external directorships are disclosed for Mr. Trivedi in the 2025 proxy’s executive officer section.
Fixed Compensation
| Item | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | $375,000 | Initial annual base salary per Employment Agreement (Aug 12, 2025) |
| Target Annual Bonus | 75% of base salary | 2025 bonus prorated based on days employed in 2025 |
| Role Effective Date | Aug 18, 2025 | Appointed COO and principal operating officer |
Performance Compensation
| Metric/Instrument | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout Mechanics | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSUs under 2021 Plan | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Grant of 275,000 RSUs | 25% on first anniversary of grant; thereafter equal quarterly installments over the three-year period starting with the first anniversary (i.e., remaining 75% vests quarterly over years 2–4) |
| Annual Cash Bonus | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Eligible for annual bonus (75% target; prorated in 2025) | N/A |
Note: Company states executive compensation consists primarily of salary, cash bonuses and stock awards to align with long-term shareholder interests; specific bonus performance metrics for Mr. Trivedi’s 2025 plan are not disclosed.
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Initial Equity Grant | 275,000 RSUs; vesting 25% at first anniversary of grant, then quarterly over the subsequent three years |
| Beneficial Ownership (shares) | Not individually disclosed for Mr. Trivedi in the 2025 proxy’s security ownership table (table lists other executives/directors as of August 31, 2025) |
| Pledging/Hedging Policy | Prohibited: short sales, publicly-traded options, hedging instruments, pledging, and margin accounts under Insider Trading Policy |
| Clawback Policy | Non-discretionary recovery of excess incentive-based compensation from current/former executive officers upon any accounting restatement (adopted Nov 2023, per SEC/NYSE rules) |
| Options Policy | Company generally does not grant stock options and has no specific option grant timing policy (current practice is RSUs) |
| Reverse Split Context | All share-based amounts reflect the 1-for-15 reverse stock split effective Aug 23, 2024 |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Agreement Date | Employment Agreement dated Aug 12, 2025; commencement Aug 18, 2025 |
| Severance (without “cause”) | 100% of then-current base salary paid over six months following termination |
| Equity Acceleration (without “cause”) | Accelerated vesting of the portion of RSUs that would have vested during the 12 months following termination |
| Indemnification | Will enter standard form of indemnification agreement for officers/directors |
| Change-in-Control Terms | Not disclosed in Mr. Trivedi’s Employment Agreement; plan-level CIC provisions disclosed primarily for non-employee directors elsewhere |
Investment Implications
- Alignment: RSU-heavy structure with a one-year cliff and subsequent quarterly vesting indicates retention-minded equity design; prohibition on hedging/pledging strengthens alignment and reduces leverage-related forced selling risks.
- Pay-for-performance transparency: Target bonus (75% of salary) is material, but specific performance metrics and weighting for 2025 are not disclosed—opacity that may limit direct pay-to-performance assessment near term.
- Retention and termination economics: Six months’ salary severance and 12-month forward vesting acceleration upon a no-cause termination provide downside protection while keeping long-dated equity at risk—balanced retention signal without outsized cash severance.
- Option risk profile: Company’s practice to grant RSUs (and generally not options) reduces binary option-related risk and emphasizes absolute share price/retention; however, time-based RSUs can still create periodic supply from vesting events.
- Data gaps: Individual beneficial ownership, stock ownership guideline requirements, bonus metric details, and change-in-control specifics for Mr. Trivedi are not disclosed—monitor future filings (10‑Q/10‑K, Form 4s, and next proxy) for updates.