Tarek Robbiati
Pure StorageAbout Tarek Robbiati
Tarek Robbiati (age 60) was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Pure Storage (PSTG) on June 24, 2025; he brings 25+ years of leadership across technology, telecom, and finance, including CEO of RingCentral, CFO of HPE (led margin and FCF expansion and pivot to as-a-service), and CFO of Sprint’s turnaround. He holds an MBA (London Business School), MS in Business Administration (IAE Caen), MS in Nuclear Physics and Electronics (ENSI Caen), and a Baccalauréat C (Lycée Chateaubriand) . Pure Storage delivered FY 2025 revenue of $3.17B and continued multi‑year growth in revenue and EBITDA; Q2 FY 2026 showed 13% YoY revenue growth with improved full‑year guidance .
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues ($USD) | $2,753,434,000* | $2,830,621,000* | $3,168,164,000* |
| EBITDA ($USD) | $183,945,000* | $211,579,000* | $227,813,000* |
*Values retrieved from S&P Global.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| RingCentral, Inc. | Chief Executive Officer; Director | CEO: Aug 2023–Dec 2023; Director: Dec 2022–Dec 2023 | Led transition period; executive leadership at UCaaS provider . |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) | EVP, CFO & Head of Strategy | Sep 2018–Aug 2023 | Increased gross/operating margins and free cash flow; pivoted HPE towards everything‑as‑a‑service . |
| Sprint Corporation | Chief Financial Officer | Aug 2015–Feb 2018 | Led turnaround efforts; financial restructuring and operational discipline . |
| FlexiGroup (Australia) | Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director | Jan 2013–Aug 2015 | Grew consumer/SME finance platform; regional leadership . |
| Telstra / Hong Kong CSL | Group Managing Director & President, Telstra International; Executive Chairman & CEO, CSL | Dec 2009–Dec 2012 (GMD & President); Jul 2007–May 2010 (CEO) | Ran international expansion; mobile ops leadership in Hong Kong . |
| Orange Plc, Atradius, Lehman Brothers, Andersen Consulting | Senior roles (earlier career) | Not dated | Financial and consulting experience foundational to CFO skill set . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RingCentral, Inc. | Director | Dec 2022–Dec 2023 | Board tenure concluded prior to PSTG appointment . |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Terms |
|---|---|
| Base Salary | $650,000 annually . |
| Target Bonus % | 100% of base salary; eligibility began in 2H FY 2026 per corporate bonus plan timing . |
Performance Compensation
| Metric | Weighting | FY 2025 Target | FY 2025 Actual | Corporate Funding Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 60% | $3.128B | $3.168B | 112% funding for revenue component . |
| Non-GAAP Operating Profit | 25% | $532M | $559M | 115% funding for profit component . |
| Net Promoter Score (NPS) | 15% | Range 80–82 | 81.0 | 100% funding for NPS component . |
| Company-wide Exec Bonus Factor (FY 2025) | — | — | — | Committee applied 96% corporate factor for executives (context) . |
On-Hire Equity Awards (Robbiati)
| Award Type | Shares (Target/Granted) | Performance Condition | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time-based RSU | 223,921 shares | None (time-based) | 25% on Sept 20, 2026; remaining 75% vests in equal quarterly installments over the subsequent 12 quarters . |
| FY 2026 PSU (Revenue + Storage-as-a-Service TCV) | 74,640 shares (target) | Earned based on corporate performance against growth in annual revenue and TCV sales of storage-as-a-service in FY 2026 | 1/3 of earned shares vests on Mar 20, 2026; remaining earned shares vest in equal quarterly installments over 8 quarters . |
| Long-term Market Cap PSU | 233,410 shares (target) | Pure market capitalization ≥ $40B over ~5 years | Any earned shares vest on Mar 20, 2030; 1-year post-vest holding requirement . |
Context: Pure’s FY 2025 PSUs for NEOs vested at 73% of target as revenue met but storage‑as‑a‑service TCV missed; vesting continues over three years from Mar 2025 .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Stock Ownership Guidelines: 2x base salary for executive officers; compliance required within 5 years of becoming subject to policy .
- Hedging/Pledging: Prohibited; no derivatives trading, short sales, options, hedging transactions, margin accounts, or pledging company securities .
- Clawback: NYSE/SEC compliant recoupment of excess incentive compensation upon financial restatement, regardless of misconduct .
- Upcoming Vesting and Potential Selling Pressure:
- Time-based RSU initial cliff on Sept 20, 2026; quarterly thereafter for 12 quarters .
- FY 2026 PSU first vesting event on Mar 20, 2026 (earned shares tranche) .
- Market cap award vests Mar 20, 2030 with mandatory hold to Mar 20, 2031, reducing near-term sale pressure .
Employment Terms
| Term | Details |
|---|---|
| Start Date | June 24, 2025 (CFO appointment) . |
| Severance Plan Eligibility | Eligible under Pure’s Change in Control and Severance Benefit Plan . |
| Severance (Non‑CIC) | Lump-sum cash equal to 6 months of base salary; up to 6 months of company-paid health insurance coverage . |
| Severance (CIC + Involuntary Termination/Good Reason, 3 months pre–12 months post CIC) | Lump-sum cash equal to 12 months base salary + 12 months target bonus; up to 12 months company-paid health insurance; 100% acceleration of time-based awards; performance-based awards accelerate at 100% of target unless governed otherwise by award agreement . |
| Indemnification | Executes company’s standard officer indemnity agreement . |
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Predominant at-risk pay: Executive compensation emphasizes performance-based cash and equity; FY 2025 equity for NEOs largely 100% performance-based with multi-year vesting .
- No single-trigger CIC; no tax gross-ups; clawback present—shareholder-friendly features .
- Performance Metric Evolution: PSUs combine revenue and storage‑as‑a‑service TCV; FY 2025 payout at 73% reflects rigor (revenue met, TCV missed) .
- Long-term alignment: Market‑cap PSU for Robbiati requires ≥$40B market cap, vesting in 2030 with a post-vest holding period (strong retention and shareholder alignment) .
Compensation Peer Group (Benchmarking)
Akamai, Arista Networks, Box, Dropbox, Elastic, F5, Guidewire, Juniper Networks, Logitech, NetApp, New Relic, Nutanix, Palo Alto Networks, Splunk (selected peers used for FY 2025 program design) .
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
- FY 2024 Say-on-Pay: “Slightly more than 40%” support; committee engaged extensively and normalized FY 2025 equity back to past practice, clarifying long‑term PSU status .
- Practices: Independent consultant (Meridian), annual program review, caps on performance payouts, multi-year vesting .
Investment Implications
- Retention and alignment: Robbiati’s package defers significant realization—major time-based RSU cliff in Sept 2026 and a long-dated market-cap PSU vesting in 2030 with a hold—reducing near-term sell pressure and aligning incentives with sustained value creation .
- Payout sensitivity to SaaS TCV: Company missed FY 2025 TCV target (73% PSU payout), highlighting execution risk in subscription growth; Robbiati’s FY 2026 PSUs embed this metric, tightening pay-for-performance linkage .
- Trading signals: Watch 10b5‑1 adoptions and vest events around Mar 20, 2026 (PSU) and Sept 20, 2026 (RSU), which can drive discretionary sales for tax withholding/portfolio reasons; pledging/hedging bans limit leverage risks .
- Financial trajectory: Multi‑year revenue and EBITDA growth and Q2 FY 2026 outperformance support equity upside if execution on hyperscaler and enterprise data cloud continues; market‑cap PSU at $40B sets an ambitious long‑term hurdle .