Adam Peterson
About Adam Peterson
Adam K. Peterson, 43, has served as a director of Old Market Capital Corporation since July 2017. He is President, Chairperson, and CEO of Boston Omaha Corporation, and since June 2014 has managed The Magnolia Group, LLC, general partner of Magnolia Capital Fund, LP. He holds a BSBA in Finance from Creighton University. He is not identified as an independent director by the Board; only Hutchins, Keating, and Zhu are designated independent.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnolia Capital Partners, LLC and related entities (family office) | Chief Investment Officer | Nov 2005–Jun 2014 | Led public company investment analysis and capital allocation |
| Peter Kiewit Sons, Inc. | Financial Analyst | May 2004–Jun 2006 | Corporate finance/analysis at large engineering and construction firm |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Notes/Interlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Omaha Corporation (NYSE) | President, Chairperson, and CEO | Current | OMCC Chair/CEO Jeffrey Royal serves as a director at BOC, creating a board interlock |
| Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE) | Director | Since Mar 2022 | Public company directorship |
| The Magnolia Group, LLC / Magnolia Capital Fund, LP | Managing Member / Manager (GP) | Since Jun 2014 | Entity shares beneficial ownership of OMCC with Peterson |
Board Governance
- Board service: Director since July 2017; standing for re-election at the 2025 Annual Meeting.
- Independence: Not identified as independent (Board designated Hutchins, Keating, and Zhu as independent; Peterson not listed).
- Committee assignments: Not disclosed as a member of the Audit, Compensation, or Nominating/Corporate Governance Committees, whose members are Hutchins/Keating/Zhu.
- Meeting attendance: Each incumbent director attended at least 75% of Board and committee meetings in FY2025; all Board members attended the 2024 Annual Meeting.
- Anti-hedging: Company policy prohibits hedging transactions in Company securities.
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Policy/Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual retainer (non-employee directors) | $45,000 | Committee chairs receive an additional $10,000 |
| Meeting fees | $1,000 per non-ordinary course meeting ($750 telephonic) | No per-meeting fee for ordinary course meetings |
| Director (FY2025) | Cash Fees ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adam K. Peterson | 27,500 | FY2025 fees earned or paid in cash |
Performance Compensation
| Instrument | Grant Date | Shares | Grant Date Fair Value ($) | Vesting | Performance Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted Stock (Director) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 47,500 | Not disclosed | None disclosed; director equity described as restricted stock (no performance metrics) |
No options or performance share units for directors were disclosed for FY2025.
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Person | External Company | Role | Interlock Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam K. Peterson | Boston Omaha Corporation | President, Chairperson, CEO | OMCC’s Chair/CEO Jeffrey Royal serves as a director at BOC (cross-board interlock) |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Public company CEO and board leadership (Boston Omaha Corporation); board member at Nelnet.
- Investment management and capital allocation through Magnolia entities; extensive public-company scrutiny experience.
- Corporate finance background (Kiewit).
- Education: BSBA, Finance, Creighton University.
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Beneficially Owned Shares | % of Outstanding | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam K. Peterson (Director) | 2,538,442 | 37.5% | Includes 2,515,902 shares held by Magnolia Capital Fund, LP; Peterson is managing member of The Magnolia Group, LLC (GP) sharing beneficial ownership |
| Shares pledged | Not disclosed | — | No pledging disclosed in proxy |
| Options (exercisable/unexercisable) | Not disclosed | — | None disclosed for Peterson |
Governance Assessment
- Strengths:
- Significant “skin in the game” with 37.5% beneficial ownership, aligning incentives with shareholders.
- Public company CEO experience and long tenure provide financial and strategic oversight capabilities.
- Attendance met Board’s 75% threshold; prior annual meeting attendance was universal among directors.
- Company maintains anti-hedging policy; clawback policy in place for incentive-based compensation (broader governance hygiene).
- Concerns / RED FLAGS:
- Not independent; combined with 37.5% ownership, represents a controlling shareholder-director dynamic that can concentrate influence.
- Board interlock: OMCC Chair/CEO (Royal) sits on Boston Omaha’s board where Peterson is CEO, potentially complicating independence and oversight perceptions.
- No committee assignments for Peterson; key oversight committees (Audit, Compensation, Nominating/Governance) are composed of independent directors, limiting his formal governance levers (could be positive for independence safeguards but reduces transparency into his committee-level engagement).
- Proxy does not disclose stock ownership guidelines or pledging status for directors; absence of explicit pledging disclosure can be an information gap.
- Other notes:
- Section 16(a) compliance: Proxy lists late filings for several insiders in FY2025, but none were attributed to Peterson.
- No related-party transactions disclosed involving Peterson; related-party items in FY2024–FY2025 primarily involved Amplex/Red Bug (Radabaugh).
Overall: Peterson brings deep investment acumen and substantial ownership alignment but is a non-independent, controlling shareholder with a notable interlock to OMCC’s Chair/CEO via Boston Omaha. Investors may view this as both a commitment signal and a concentration-of-power risk; independent committee structures and anti-hedging/clawback policies partially mitigate governance concerns.