Jose Luis Crespo
PLUG POWERAbout Jose Luis Crespo
Jose Luis Crespo, age 55, is Plug’s President (effective Oct 10, 2025) and incoming CEO (effective around Mar 2, 2026 upon the FY2025 10-K filing). He has served as Chief Revenue Officer since Nov 2024 and joined Plug in 2014 after senior roles at Smiths Power. He holds an MBA (University of Phoenix) and a Telecommunications Engineering degree (Engineering University of Madrid), and serves on the board of AccionaPlug S.L. . Company performance context under his commercial leadership shows revenue declining from FY2023 to FY2024 and deeply negative EBITDA, while Plug’s TSR fell from $142 (cumulative value of a $100 investment) in 2023 to $67 in 2024, highlighting execution and profitability challenges he has publicly committed to address . See financials table below for multi-year revenue/EBITDA/Net Income (S&P Global).
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plug Power Inc. | President; Incoming CEO | 2025–2026 | Transition to CEO with mandate for execution, profitability, customer success |
| Plug Power Inc. | Chief Revenue Officer | 2024–2025 | Led global sales strategy; architected >$8B sales funnel; strengthened Amazon/Walmart/Home Depot relationships |
| Plug Power Inc. | GM Applications & EVP | 2023–2024 | Oversaw applications business; advanced commercialization |
| Plug Power Inc. | GM Material Handling & EVP | 2021–2023 | Grew material handling customers; operational leadership |
| Plug Power Inc. | GM Hypulsion (Europe) | 2016–2021 | Ran wholly-owned European subsidiary; regional expansion |
| Plug Power Inc. | VP Global Sales | 2015–2016 | Built global sales infrastructure |
| Plug Power Inc. | VP Business & International Sales | 2014–2015 | Established international sales channels |
| Smiths Power | VP International Value Stream | 2009–2013 | Led global value stream for power distribution/conditioning solutions |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| AccionaPlug S.L. (JV) | Director | Ongoing | Governance/oversight for Iberian clean hydrogen projects |
Fixed Compensation
Multi-year compensation (as disclosed when Crespo was a Named Executive Officer):
| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary ($) | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Bonus ($) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Option Awards ($) | $16,510,000 | $0 | $3,242,500 |
| Stock Awards ($) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Non-Equity Incentive ($) | $364,000 (plan earning in 2021) | $0 | $0 |
| All Other ($) | $15,805 | $16,555 | $17,805 |
| Total ($) | $17,289,805 | $416,555 | $3,660,305 |
Notes:
- 2023 annual bonus plan paid 0% based on company performance; Crespo’s target bonus was $400,000 .
Performance Compensation
2023 Annual Incentive Plan outcomes (company-wide metrics used for NEOs; Crespo was an NEO in 2023):
| Metric | Weight | Threshold | Target | Stretch | Actual | Payout Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 33% | $1.0B | $1.4B | $1.8B | $891M | 0% |
| EBITDAS | 27% | ($50M) | $0 | $20M | ($531M) | 0% |
| Gross Margin | 20% | $0M | $140M | $225M | ($508M) | 0% |
| Inventory (yr-end + write-downs) | 20% | $600M | $500M | $400M | $961M | 0% |
| Total Payout | — | — | — | — | — | 0% of target |
2023 PSO grant details (Crespo):
- Grant: 750,000 performance stock options (PSOs) on May 18, 2023; exercise price $7.87; three tranches with stock-price hurdles at 125%, 150%, 175% of grant price (VWAP over any 30 consecutive trading days) .
- Tranche achievement: Tranches 1 & 2 earned on hurdle achievement; vest subject to time-based schedule (three equal annual installments from grant date). As of Dec 31, 2023, the entire PSO award remained underwater .
- 2023 plan grant record: PSOs numbers and valuation confirmed in Grants table .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
Outstanding equity (as of Dec 31, 2023) – options breakdown:
| Category | Count | Exercise Price | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Options – Exercisable | 66,668 @ $1.96 (2018); 66,667 @ $2.23 (2019); 66,667 @ $2.62 (2019); 175,000 @ $13.20 (2020); 274,445 @ $26.92 (2021) | ||
| Options – Unexercisable (time-based) | 137,222 @ $26.92 (2021); 500,000 @ $7.87 (2023) | ||
| PSOs – Unearned (performance-based) | 250,000 @ $7.87 (2023) |
Alignment policies and compliance:
- Stock ownership guidelines: 3x base salary for other NEOs; compliance assessed using 200-day average price across specified holdings. As of Dec 31, 2024, officers subject to the guidelines, other than Mr. Shrestha, were in compliance (implies Crespo compliant) .
- Hedging/pledging prohibited: Company insider trading policy bans short sales, derivatives, hedging, margin purchases, and pledging of Company securities .
- Clawback: Nasdaq-compliant clawback policy applies to cash and equity incentive compensation for current/former executive officers (3-year lookback on restatements; no-fault recovery) .
- Section 16 compliance: Crespo filed a late Form 4 on Aug 9, 2024 related to tax withholding on RSU vesting (administrative lapse) .
Employment Terms
- Employment agreements: Plug’s NEO agreements provide severance on qualifying terminations and double-trigger change-in-control protection; PSO awards include potential accelerated vesting upon a “Sale Event” (company-wide policy in effect for NEOs; Crespo-specific severance multiples not disclosed) . 2025 proxy quantifies severance only for specific NEOs (Marsh, Shrestha, Middleton, Fullerton, Conway), not Crespo .
Performance & Track Record
- Commercial execution: Crespo emphasized disciplined revenue recognition and electrolyzer pipeline progress (Europe/UK projects moving toward FID in 2025–2026); cited multi-GW quotes in Spain and anchor projects (25MW bp/Iberdrola; 100MW Galp) .
- Customer impact: Under his revenue leadership, Georgia plant performance used to strengthen electrolyzer value proposition; “producing and delivering hydrogen with our own technology strengthens customer value, improves margins” .
- Strategic posture: Incoming CEO statement focuses on “execution, profitability, and customer success” during leadership transition .
- Capital discipline: Broader company guidance from management highlights inventory reduction and cash discipline, providing backdrop for commercial priorities .
Company Financials (Context)
| Metric | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($) | $698,591,000* | $880,503,000* | $618,228,000* |
| EBITDA ($) | ($606,267,000)* | ($982,622,000)* | ($1,031,967,000)* |
| Net Income ($) | ($724,008,000)* | ($1,368,833,000)* | ($2,104,701,000)* |
Values retrieved from S&P Global.*
Total Shareholder Return (cumulative value of $100 investment): $391 (2022), $142 (2023), $67 (2024) .
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Shift toward PSOs: 2023 grants for Crespo were 100% PSOs with rigorous price hurdles, aligning pay with market performance; however, awards remained underwater, weakening motivational power absent price recovery .
- 2023 annual bonus: 0% payout despite targets, reflecting strict pay-for-performance design; Crespo’s target $400,000 (no payout) .
- Governance safeguards: No hedging/pledging, Nasdaq-aligned clawback, independent consultant FW Cook advising compensation practices .
Related-Party Transactions and Red Flags
- Related party transactions: None involving Crespo disclosed in his appointment 8-K and proxy policy notes no material related-party transactions over $120,000 beyond those disclosed .
- Risk indicators: Late Form 4 in Aug 2024 (tax withholding event) ; otherwise, no pledging/hedging and strong policy framework .
Compensation Peer Group (Program Benchmarking)
- The committee references renewable/tech comparators and survey data for market levels; FW Cook engaged as independent consultant (peer group used for 2022–2023 cash comp reference; PSOs tailored to Plug’s circumstances) .
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
- Say-on-pay approval ~78.3% at 2024 meeting; investor feedback noted retention risk from underwater equity and repeated zero bonuses—board applied targeted retention actions for other executives and adjusted equity hurdles for some awards (Crespo not among those with waived hurdles) .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Crespo’s pay structure (PSOs with price hurdles; no hedging/pledging; ownership guideline compliance) aligns incentives with shareholder outcomes and reduces pledge-related risk .
- Retention and selling pressure: Underwater PSOs and time-based vesting on earned tranches limit near-term selling pressure; however, as awards move in-the-money, vesting over three years may introduce periodic supply—monitor Form 4s around vest dates .
- Execution upside vs. profitability drag: TSR deterioration and negative EBITDA underscore the need for margin and cash flow improvement; Crespo’s pipeline/FID commentary suggests potential order conversion cadence, but financial inflection is the key lever for equity value .
- Governance quality: Clawback, insider trading controls, and consultant-led comp design are positives; minor Section 16 lapse noted . Transition to a commercially-focused CEO could catalyze operational discipline.