Juho Sarvikas
INSEEGOAbout Juho Sarvikas
Juho Sarvikas, age 43, has served as Inseego’s Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board since January 2025. He previously served as President, North America at Qualcomm (Apr 2021–Dec 2024), Chief Product Officer at HMD Global (Dec 2016–Apr 2021) and President, North America at HMD Global (May 2020–Apr 2021); prior roles include leadership positions at Nokia and Microsoft’s feature phone business. He holds an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland) . The 2025 proxy does not disclose TSR, revenue or EBITDA performance for his tenure to date; the company provides pay-versus-performance disclosure for 2024 (pre-dating his appointment) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualcomm | President, North America | 2021–2024 | Led North America for a leading connected computing technologies provider . |
| HMD Global | Chief Product Officer; President, North America | 2016–2021; 2020–2021 | Drove product roadmap and NA expansion for Nokia-branded devices . |
| Nokia / Microsoft (feature phones) | Various leadership roles | Prior to 2016 | Led feature phone business under Microsoft; multiple leadership roles at Nokia . |
External Roles
No additional public-company directorships or committee roles for Mr. Sarvikas are disclosed in the 2025 proxy . A director who is also an employee does not receive additional compensation for serving as a director .
Fixed Compensation
The company states named executive officers generally receive offer letters specifying initial salary and target bonus; the 2025 proxy does not disclose Mr. Sarvikas’ base salary or target bonus for 2025 . He participates in the 401(k), with company match at $0.50 per $1.00 up to 6% of eligible compensation, like other full-time employees .
Performance Compensation
The 2025 proxy describes the compensation program and pay-for-performance philosophy but does not disclose Mr. Sarvikas’ specific annual incentive metrics, weightings, targets or outcomes for 2025 (he was appointed in Jan 2025 and is not included in the 2024 Summary Compensation Table). Company-wide governance features include an Executive Officer Clawback Policy adopted Oct 24, 2023 (recoupment upon accounting restatements, regardless of misconduct) and a long-standing prohibition on hedging/pledging under the Insider Trading Policy .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not disclosed for Mr. Sarvikas in 2025 proxy | — | — | — | — | — |
Supporting program provisions:
- Clawback: Recovery of erroneously awarded incentive compensation after restatement; applies irrespective of misconduct or timing of restatement filing .
- Hedging/pledging: Prohibited for executives and directors (e.g., short sales, puts/calls, zero-cost collars, pledges) .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership | 10,000 shares owned directly; less than 1% of shares outstanding . |
| Rights to acquire within 60 days | None disclosed for Mr. Sarvikas as of June 30, 2025 . |
| Ownership guidelines | None established for executives or directors (Board “encouraged” ownership historically) . |
| Hedging/pledging | Prohibited by policy . |
Quantitative detail as disclosed:
- Shares owned: 10,000; Right to acquire within 60 days: none; Beneficial ownership less than 1% .
Company equity design (context for vesting expectations):
- Options typically vest over 3–4 years (e.g., one-fourth or one-third on first anniversary, remainder monthly thereafter); RSUs typically vest over four years (25% on first anniversary, then monthly) .
Employment Terms
| Provision | Non‑CIC Termination | CIC Termination (double trigger) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash severance | 18 months of then‑current base salary . | 18 months of then‑current base salary . | Termination by company without Cause or by executive for Good Reason . |
| Bonus | Pro‑rated portion of target bonus for year of termination; if termination occurs before prior-year bonus is paid, pays prior-year bonus based on actual performance . | Additional 12 months of target annual bonus . | |
| Equity | Additional 6 months of time-based vesting; performance-based awards subject to additional requirements . | 100% vesting of options; 100% vesting of unvested time-based awards; 100% vesting of performance-based awards subject to achieving performance thresholds based on CIC transaction value . | |
| Health benefits | Up to 9 months . | Up to 18 months . | |
| Definitions | Cause/Good Reason/Change-in-Control defined; CIC period is 30 days before to 12 months after CIC . | — |
Interpretation:
- Structure is double-trigger on CIC (requires qualifying termination “in connection with” a CIC), with full accelerations—material event-driven upside .
Board Governance
- Board service: CEO and director since January 2025 .
- Board leadership: Independent Chair (Jeffrey Tuder); roles of Chair and CEO evaluated based on needs; Chair independent in 2025 .
- Committee independence: Audit and Compensation Committees comprised of directors the Board deems “independent” per Nasdaq/SEC rules .
- Employee-director pay: Employee directors do not receive additional director compensation .
- Anti-hedging/pledging and Insider Trading Policy are in effect; full policy filed as Exhibit 19 to 2024 10-K .
Director Compensation (context; not paid to CEO-director)
- Non-management director retainers (2024 schedule): Board Chair $80,000; Member $40,000; Audit Chair $20,000/Member $10,000; Compensation Chair $14,000/Member $6,000; Nominating Chair $10,000/Member $5,000 .
- Employee directors (e.g., CEO) do not receive additional board pay .
Say‑on‑Pay & Shareholder Feedback
| Year | Approval |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 95.8% approval . |
| 2023 | 90.6% approval . |
| 2022 | 89.4% approval . |
Additional compensation governance:
- Clawback Policy adopted Oct 24, 2023; administered by Compensation Committee .
- No executive/board stock ownership guidelines .
Compensation Peer Group (Benchmarking)
- The Compensation Committee considers market data and may engage an independent consultant; it has not adopted a specific benchmark peer group as a guideline for compensation decisions .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Hedging/pledging prohibition reduces misalignment risk .
- Double‑trigger CIC with full acceleration of options, RSUs, and PSUs can create significant event-driven payouts—watch for M&A optionality and potential shareholder optics .
- No stock ownership guidelines—alignment relies on unvested equity and policies rather than mandated ownership multiples .
- High Say‑on‑Pay support (≥89% last three years) suggests low near-term investor pushback on compensation program structure .
Expertise & Qualifications
- M.Sc. Industrial Engineering; extensive wireless industry operating experience at Qualcomm, HMD Global, Nokia/Microsoft .
- Executive/board role at Inseego since Jan 2025 .
Equity Ownership & Alignment (detail table)
| Holder | Shares Owned (#) | Right to Acquire within 60 days (#) | Beneficial Ownership (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juho Sarvikas | 10,000 | 0 | <1% |
Employment Terms (detail table)
| Scenario | Cash Severance | Bonus | Equity Vesting | Health Benefits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non‑CIC termination (without Cause / for Good Reason) | 18 months base salary | Pro‑rated target bonus for year of termination; if before prior‑year bonus payment, pays prior‑year bonus based on actuals | Additional 6 months vesting; PB awards subject to additional requirements | Up to 9 months | Requires release of claims . |
| CIC termination (double trigger) | 18 months base salary | 12 months target bonus | 100% immediate vesting of options and time‑based awards; PB awards vest 100% subject to CIC value-based thresholds | Up to 18 months | Qualifying termination “in connection with” CIC . |
Board Service History and Dual-Role Implications
- Board service: Director since January 2025 .
- Committee roles: None disclosed for Mr. Sarvikas; Audit and Compensation Committees are independent .
- Dual-role implications: CEO serves on the Board; however, the Chair is independent (separation of roles), which mitigates CEO/Chair concentration and independence concerns .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Anti-hedging/pledging and a robust clawback support alignment; however, lack of ownership guidelines and currently modest disclosed ownership (10,000 shares; <1%) suggest alignment will hinge on new-hire equity grants and performance-vested awards as they are disclosed in future filings .
- Retention and event risk: Generous severance (18 months salary) and double‑trigger CIC with full acceleration create strong retention during normal operations but also meaningful event-driven payouts; this can be supportive for M&A flexibility yet pose optics risks if transactions occur near grant dates .
- Governance quality: Independent Chair and independent committees reduce dual-role risk; consistently strong Say‑on‑Pay support (89–96%) lowers near-term governance pressure, implying room to use equity-heavy packages to attract/retain talent through a turnaround .
- Trading signals: Watch for upcoming proxy/8‑K disclosures of Mr. Sarvikas’ initial equity grants (share counts, vesting, performance conditions) and any Form 4 activity; the company’s typical 3–4 year vesting cadence implies limited near-term selling pressure from CEO awards once granted, with schedule-driven vesting beginning ~12 months post‑grant .