Brian Billingsley
About Brian Billingsley
Brian Billingsley is an executive at PSQ Holdings (PublicSquare). As of the 2025 proxy record date he served as President of Financial Technology (appointed March 2024) and by September 2025 he was presented publicly as Chief Revenue Officer during PSQ’s Analyst & Investor Day . He has 15+ years in payments/fintech, including co-founding Basis Theory (COO), launching Klarna in the U.S. as North America CEO, senior roles at Alliance Data (Bread Financial) and FIS; he currently sits on Basis Theory’s board . Company operating performance in his tenure window shows Q3 2025 revenue increased by $1.2M year over year and net loss improved by $1.1M (company-wide; not attributable to any one executive) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis Theory | Co-founder; Chief Operating Officer; Director | Dec 2020 – Apr 2023 (board seat ongoing) | Built a programmable vault for payment data; remains on the board |
| Klarna | North America CEO | Mar 2014 – Mar 2017 | Led Klarna’s U.S. launch and expansion |
| ModoPayments | Chief Revenue Officer | Dec 2017 – Dec 2020 | Led revenue for payments orchestration platform with Fortune 100 customers |
| Alliance Data (Bread Financial) | Director, Strategic Business Development | Jul 2011 – Mar 2014 | Private label/co‑brand credit programs; strategic partnerships |
| FIS | Enterprise Strategy team member | Apr 2010 – Jul 2011 | Strategy at the world’s largest fintech company |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis Theory | Board of Directors | 2023 – Present | Independent data vault company |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Not disclosed for Billingsley | Billingsley was not a 2024 “named executive officer” (NEO); PSQ’s 2025 proxy only discloses NEO pay (Seifert, Searle, Weisbecker) . |
| Bonus (target/actual) | Not disclosed for Billingsley | Not a 2024 NEO; no individual disclosure . |
Context (company NEOs, 2024): CEO base $418,750; CFO $381,250; President of Marketplace $364,583; no equity disclosed in 2024 for CEO/CFO; President of Marketplace received $58,105 stock awards .
Performance Compensation
| Plan/Instrument | Structure | Metrics/Terms | Vesting | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSUs (company-wide) | Time-based RSUs under 2023 Stock Incentive Plan | Fair value at grant; expensed over vest period | Typically multi-year; example NEO grants vest 1/3 annually on 9/25/2024, 9/25/2025, 9/25/2026 | Billingsley’s individual grants (if any) were not disclosed. Company had 3.85M unvested RSUs at 9/30/2025 . |
| Earnout equity (select execs/directors) | Market-condition awards (ASC 718) | Expense recognized for market condition; $0.9M in Q3’25; $2.7M YTD’25; ~$9.5M unrecognized at 9/30/2025 | Triggered by market conditions | Disclosed beneficiaries exclude Billingsley (includes Seifert, Searle, Hebert, Weisbecker, Ayers, Masters) . |
Performance metrics specific to Billingsley’s incentives were not disclosed in filings. Company-level strategy under his remit (FinTech/payments) emphasized building a “cancel‑proof” payments stack, adding BNPL (Credova), private-label credit, ACH, and crypto rails, as presented in September 2025 Investor Day .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership: Billingsley is not listed among directors/NEOs or >5% holders in the 2025 proxy’s ownership table; individual share count was not disclosed .
- Hedging/pledging policy: PSQ prohibits derivatives/hedging (collars/forwards), prohibits margin purchases and pledging as collateral, with limited exceptions for non‑margin loans in extraordinary circumstances .
- 10b5‑1 plans: Executives are authorized to adopt 10b5‑1 trading plans; as of the 2025 proxy record date, none of the directors had a plan in effect (no disclosure for executives) .
- Sell‑to‑cover practice: Upon RSU vesting, PSQ historically facilitates “sell‑to‑cover” to satisfy tax withholding, which can create episodic selling pressure; 838,393 RSUs were vested but unsettled at 9/30/2025 (company-wide) .
Employment Terms
| Topic | What’s disclosed |
|---|---|
| Employment start/date in role | President of Financial Technology since March 2024; presented as Chief Revenue Officer in Sept 2025 Investor Day . |
| Contract/severance | No individual employment agreement for Billingsley was filed. Company precedent for executive agreements (e.g., CFO 2025) includes at‑will employment, base salary + target bonus, multi‑year RSUs, non‑competition/non‑solicitation covenants, severance and change‑in‑control (CIC) protections with cash multiples and time‑based equity acceleration (context only) . |
| Non‑compete / non‑solicit | Company precedent includes non‑competition and non‑solicitation covenants in executive agreements (context only; not specific to Billingsley) . |
| Clawback/ownership guidelines | PSQ states it has no formal executive stock ownership guidelines; insider policy prohibits hedging/pledging as above . |
Performance & Track Record
- Responsibilities and scope: Leads PSQ’s fintech/payments go‑to‑market and platform. Investor Day remarks describe a unified payments stack (cards, ACH), BNPL via Credova, planned private‑label credit, and addition of crypto to the payment stack, focused on “cancel‑proof” rails and developer‑friendly APIs .
- Company results context during tenure: Q3 2025 revenue increased by $1.2M YoY; net loss improved by $1.1M YoY. For the nine months ended 9/30/2025, net loss improved by $12.1M YoY, driven by higher revenue and lower expenses/discontinued ops, among other factors (company‑wide) .
- Organization repositioning: In Aug 2025, PSQ announced a strategic shift to accelerate FinTech growth, monetizing Brands and pursuing strategic options for Marketplace—aligning with a fintech‑centric focus .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Trading policies mitigate risk of misalignment (ban on hedging/pledging; optional 10b5‑1 plans) .
- Company uses sell‑to‑cover for RSU vesting—monitor periods around vesting for potential incremental selling pressure (company‑wide practice) .
- No Billingsley‑specific Form 4 ownership/sales detail was available in filings reviewed; monitor future Section 16 filings for transactions and vesting‑related sales (no data found in proxy/10‑Q excerpts above) .
Compensation Committee & Governance (context)
- Compensation Committee: Independent directors Blake Masters (Chair), James Rinn, and Willie Langston oversee executive pay and equity plans .
- Company is a controlled company under NYSE rules (CEO holds Class C with majority voting power); it does not maintain executive ownership guidelines but enforces insider trading/hedging restrictions .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Absent specific disclosures on Billingsley’s pay mix, alignment hinges on company‑wide equity practices (RSUs/time‑based vesting) and strict anti‑hedging/pledging policies, which support long‑term alignment but lack performance‑conditioned equity detail for him individually .
- Retention/pressure: Time‑based RSUs create predictable vesting; PSQ’s sell‑to‑cover approach can add episodic supply—monitor vesting calendars and any future individual grants once disclosed .
- Execution: His background (Klarna U.S. buildout; Basis Theory; payments orchestration) matches PSQ’s pivot to a unified, “cancel‑proof” payment stack and expansion into BNPL/private‑label/crypto rails—key value creation levers if adoption scales across PSQ’s merchant base .
- Data gaps: No individual base/bonus/equity, no severance/CIC terms, and no ownership/pledging data are disclosed for Billingsley. Investors should monitor: (i) future proxies for NEO status and compensation detail, (ii) 8‑Ks for any employment agreement, and (iii) Form 4s for ownership/transactions.
Sources
- Executive bio/role and management roster: PSQ 2025 DEF 14A (executive officers table; Billingsley biography)
- Investor Day remarks (role presented as CRO; platform strategy): PSQ 2025 Analyst & Investor Day transcripts
- Ownership/insider policy (hedging/pledging; 10b5‑1; no exec ownership guidelines): PSQ 2025 DEF 14A
- Beneficial ownership table (not listing Billingsley): PSQ 2025 DEF 14A
- RSU plan mechanics and company sell‑to‑cover practice; RSU inventory: PSQ Q3 2025 Form 10‑Q
- Earnout equity and share‑based comp (market condition awards): PSQ Q3 2025 Form 10‑Q
- Company operating performance and strategic repositioning to FinTech: PSQ Q3 2025 Form 10‑Q MD&A
- Executive agreement precedent (CFO 2025): PSQ 8‑K dated May 23, 2025