Anthony W. Parker

About Anthony W. Parker

Anthony W. Parker (age 79) is an independent director of Gladstone Land Corporation (LAND) and has served on the board since January 2013; he is recognized by the board as an audit committee financial expert and currently chairs the Audit Committee . Parker founded Parker Tide Corp., a government contracting firm, and brings deep corporate taxation expertise informed by a 15+ year legal career; he holds a J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from Georgetown Law and an undergraduate degree from Harvard College .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Independence: The board affirmatively determined Parker is independent under Nasdaq standards; he is one of five independent directors at LAND .
• Committee assignments (2024 activity; current structure):
  • Audit Committee: Chair; 8 meetings in 2024; designated “audit committee financial expert” .
  • Executive Committee: Member (with CEO David Gladstone) .
  • Offering Committee: Member; alternates include other independent directors .
  • Valuation Committee: Member; 4 meetings in 2024 .
  • Alternate: Compensation Committee; Ethics, Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee .
• Board/committee attendance: The board met 5 times in 2024; each director attended at least 75% of board and committee meetings for which they served .
• Executive sessions: Independent directors met 4 times in 2024 in executive session; the Lead Independent Director is Walter H. Wilkinson, Jr. .
• Annual meeting attendance: None of the directors attended the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (management “encourages” attendance) .

Fixed Compensation

• Structure: Independent directors receive (i) $25,000 annual cash retainer; (ii) $1,000 per board meeting; (iii) $1,000 per committee meeting if held on a separate day; chair retainers: Audit $7,500; Compensation $3,000; Valuation $3,000; Ethics $1,000; expenses reimbursed .
• Parker’s 2024 cash fees: $48,500 (no equity) .
• Parker’s 2023 cash fees: $48,500 (no equity) .

Performance Compensation

• No performance-based compensation is disclosed for directors; LAND does not maintain an employee equity incentive plan and does not provide stock-based awards to employees of the external Adviser/Administrator; director pay is cash-based per fee schedule above .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

• Interlocks across Gladstone entities: Parker serves on audit committees (or alternates) of GLAD, GAIN, and GOOD in addition to LAND; the board determined simultaneous service does not impair independence or effectiveness .
• Executive Committee membership at LAND places Parker on a two-person committee with CEO David Gladstone (delegated board powers except those reserved to independent directors or full board) .

Expertise & Qualifications

• Audit and financial oversight: Designated “audit committee financial expert”; financially literate under Nasdaq standards .
• Legal/tax: J.D. and LL.M. (Tax) from Georgetown Law; corporate tax expertise noted as rationale for Audit Committee chair role .
• Government/operational experience: Former executive assistant to SBA Administrator; founder/operator of federal contractor .

Equity Ownership

• No pledging disclosed for Parker; a separate footnote indicates 845 pledged shares for another director (English), not Parker .
• Insider trading policy: Prohibits short sales, options/derivatives, and requires pre-clearance of transactions in company securities .

Governance Assessment

Key positives

• Independent, long-tenured director with deep audit and tax expertise; designated audit committee financial expert and Audit Chair, which is appropriate for an externally managed REIT reliant on strong fee oversight and controls .
• Active committee engagement (Audit, Valuation, Executive, Offering; alternates on Compensation and Ethics) with 75%+ attendance; independent directors held four executive sessions, and the board maintains a Lead Independent Director structure .

Alignment and risk considerations

• RED FLAG: Externally managed structure with material related-party arrangements (Advisory and Administration Agreements) including incentive fees, a 3x termination fee, and dealer-manager/financing roles for an affiliate (Gladstone Securities); while reviewed by independent directors, these are structural conflicts requiring continuous, rigorous oversight by the Audit and Compensation Committees .
• RED FLAG: Director compensation is entirely cash-based with no disclosed annual equity grants; Parker’s personal ownership is modest (6,601 shares, <1%), which may limit direct economic alignment with common stockholders .
• RED FLAG: Executive Committee comprises CEO Gladstone and Parker; concentration of delegated authority should be balanced with robust independent director processes at the full board level .
• Engagement watch item: None of the directors attended the 2024 annual meeting; management states attendance is encouraged—investors may scrutinize director-shareholder engagement .
• Structural mitigants: Independent directors meet in executive session; Ethics Committee oversees independence/conflict risks; Audit Committee oversees ERM/internal controls; Compensation Committee conducts annual reviews of Adviser/Administrator fees and performance .

Related-party detail (context)

• 2024 accrued fees: ~$8.4–8.5 million to Adviser; ~$2.5 million to Administrator; Adviser waived ~$109,023 of fees in 2024; Series E Preferred dealer-manager fees paid to affiliate were ~$41,000 in 2024 (vs. ~$0.6 million in 2023) .
• Advisory incentives: Hurdle-based FFO incentive fee; capital gains-based incentive fee; termination fee equal to 3x average base + incentive fees from prior 24 months .

Overall implication

• Parker’s audit/tax credentials and committee leadership are well-suited to LAND’s externally managed model. However, alignment concerns (low personal ownership/no equity grants) and inherent related-party complexity place a premium on his continued independence, meeting participation, and assertive oversight of affiliate fee structures and capital markets activities .