Dick van Ham
Senior Vice President, Global Technology Sales at IT
Executive
About Dick van Ham
Dick van Ham is Senior Vice President, Global Technology Sales (GTS) at Gartner (NYSE: IT), appointed in January 2025. He is 57, has been with Gartner for more than 26 years, and previously led GBS Sales across EMEA & APAC, reflecting deep sales leadership across both GTS and GBS and sustained execution in building Gartner’s go-to-market footprint . Company performance context during the latest cycle: 2024 Contract Value (CV) grew 7.8% (FX-neutral) to $5,262m, revenue reached $6,331m (FX-neutral), and adjusted EBITDA was $1,586m, while five-year TSR turned a hypothetical $100 into $314, underscoring a multi-year value creation backdrop for sales leadership alignment .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gartner, Inc. | SVP, Global Technology Sales (GTS) | Jan 2025 – Present | Oversees global technology buyer sales execution and growth . |
| Gartner, Inc. | SVP, Sales – GBS Sales EMEA & APAC | Apr 2024 – Jan 2025 | Built GBS Salesforce in EMEA/APAC over seven years, scaling international go-to-market . |
| Gartner, Inc. | Global Vice President, Sales | Jan 2021 – Apr 2024 | Advanced global sales performance and best practices across buyer segments . |
| Gartner, Inc. | Managing Vice President, Sales | Jul 2011 – Jan 2021 | Led sales teams through multi-year growth cycles; embedded Gartner sales methodology . |
External Roles
- Not disclosed in company filings reviewed .
Fixed Compensation
- Specific base salary and target bonus for van Ham are not disclosed (he is not an NEO in the proxy). Gartner sets executive base salaries based on role responsibilities, experience, and market benchmarking; all executive officers (other than the CEO) are at-will employees without individual employment agreements .
Performance Compensation
Gartner’s executive incentive programs are highly performance-based and uniform across executive officers:
- Annual bonus: All executive officers participate in the Executive Performance Bonus Plan; 2024 metrics and weightings were EBITDA (50%, FX-neutral) and Revenue (50%, FX-neutral) .
- Long-term incentives (LTIs): Executives receive PSUs (70% weight) tied to one-year CV performance and stock-settled SARs (30% weight) with a seven-year term; both PSUs and SARs vest 25% per year over four years, with PSUs requiring performance certification plus time vesting .
2024 company-level results used for executive payouts:
| Plan Element | Metric | Weight | Target | Actual | Payout/Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Bonus (exec officers) | EBITDA (FX-neutral) | 50% | $1,497m | $1,586m | 196.7% factor for this component |
| Annual Bonus (exec officers) | Revenue (FX-neutral) | 50% | $6,274m | $6,331m | 128.5% factor for this component |
| PSU (LTI) | Contract Value (FX-neutral) | 100% | $5,222m | $5,262m | 120.8% of target PSUs earned |
Additional design details:
- SARs only create value above the grant price; seven-year exercise term aligns with long-term value creation .
- PSUs earned on one-year CV are then time-vested 25% per year over four years to reinforce retention and multi-year alignment .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Stock ownership guidelines: CEO 6x salary; other executive officers 3x salary. If not in compliance, must hold at least 50% of net-after-tax shares from all releases until compliant .
- Hedging/pledging: Prohibited for directors, executive officers, and employees under Gartner’s Insider Trading Policy .
- Group beneficial ownership: As of April 4, 2025, all current directors and executive officers as a group (23 persons) beneficially owned 1,775,355 shares (2.3%); “to the Company’s knowledge, none of these shares has been pledged” .
- Equity grant practices: Annual grants typically in February; no grants to NEOs during the four business days prior to or one business day after filing material reports, and grants are not timed around MNPI; off-cycle awards follow policy controls .
Employment Terms
- Severance (other executive officers): If terminated without cause (no CIC), 12 months’ continued base salary and up to 12 months’ COBRA reimbursement; unvested equity forfeited (except death, disability, retirement treatment) .
- Change in Control (double-trigger within 12 months): Upon termination without cause (or qualifying termination) within 12 months post-CIC, all unvested outstanding equity vests in full; for PSUs with undetermined performance, vests at target; SARs/options become fully exercisable for 12 months post-termination; 12 months’ base salary and up to 12 months’ COBRA reimbursement .
- Death/Disability/Retirement vesting: Death/disability → 100% vesting of unvested equity; Retirement eligibility defined as age ≥55 and ≥10 years of service, with continued vesting of eligible unvested awards per terms (2024 PSU payout based on certified performance) .
- Clawback: Dodd-Frank/NYSE-compliant clawback policy requires recovery of excess incentive-based compensation for restatements for the prior three fiscal years .
- General conditions: Severance requires a separation agreement reaffirming confidentiality, non-compete, and non-solicit; executives are prohibited from hedging/pledging under the Insider Trading Policy .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance alignment: Van Ham’s incentives should be driven by company EBITDA, revenue, and especially CV (PSUs 70%), directly linking his upside to recurring revenue growth and multi-year contract expansion—key for Gartner’s sales-led model .
- Vesting and selling pressure: Four-year, 25% annual vesting of PSUs/SARs and 50% post-release holding requirements (until guideline compliance) temper near-term selling pressure; hedging/pledging prohibition further mitigates misalignment risks .
- Retention/transition risk: Standard non-CEO severance (one-year salary + COBRA) and double-trigger CIC acceleration are moderate; retirement vesting criteria (≥55 years, ≥10 years’ service) can reduce forfeiture risk for long-tenured executives, potentially lowering retention leverage versus younger peers, though individual eligibility for van Ham is not disclosed in filings .
- Governance support: Strong say-on-pay (92% approval), independent comp consultant, clawback, no single-trigger CIC vesting, and disciplined grant timing indicate shareholder-friendly structure that supports sustainable execution by sales leadership .
Note: Specific cash/equity grant amounts, ownership by van Ham individually, and Form 4 trading activity were not disclosed in reviewed documents (he is not an NEO). Analysis reflects company-wide executive policies and 2024 incentive results applicable to executive officers, including SVPs .