Udaychandra Devasper
About Udaychandra Devasper
Udaychandra Devasper is Chief Financial Officer of Stardust Power (SDST) and has served since December 2023, leading finance and accounting and supporting strategy, operations, key hires, and financing functions . He is a licensed CPA (inactive) in California and a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Mumbai University . Prior roles include founding partner at Effectus Group (2014–2022) where he led technology and clean energy accounting advisory, Director of Technical Accounting at Echelon (2012–2014), Senior Manager at Synopsys (2011–2012), and earlier at KPMG LLP progressing to Senior Manager, Assurance . As an executive officer, he is 43 years old .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effectus Group, LLC | Founding partner; led nationwide Technology practice (incl. clean energy) | Oct 2014–Sep 2022 | Built teams; led de-SPAC/IPO projects; domain expertise in cleantech/renewables |
| Echelon Corporation | Director, Technical Accounting | Jul 2012–Aug 2014 | Led technical accounting; project leadership |
| Synopsys, Inc. | Senior Manager, Technical Accounting | Mar 2011–Jul 2012 | Technical accounting leadership |
| KPMG LLP | Assurance (progressed to Senior Manager) | Pre-2011 | Public accounting; audit/advisory for large multinationals |
External Roles
- No public company directorships disclosed in the DEF 14A for Devasper .
Fixed Compensation
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Salary ($) | $5,742 | $301,099 |
| Target Short-Term Incentive Bonus (%) | — | 70% of annual base salary |
| Actual Short-Term Incentive Bonus ($) | — | $227,500 (paid in Company common stock at issuance-date value) |
- Current annual base salary (per Oct 23, 2024 addendum): $325,000 .
Performance Compensation
Short-Term Annual Incentive (STIP) – 2024
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive KPI achievement (timely SEC filings and compliance; led finance/accounts) | Committee discretion | 70% of annual base salary | Determined achieved by Board | $227,500; paid in common stock | Paid on award; employment required at payment date |
Equity Awards and Vesting
| Award Type | Grant Date | Units/Value | Performance Metric | Vesting Schedule | Outstanding at 12/31/2024 | Market/Payout Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSUs (Stardust 2023/2024 Plans) | Apr 24, 2024 | 989,481 RSUs; grant-date fair value $8.41 | Time-based | Quarterly over 3 years | 767,650 unvested RSUs | $2,748,187 |
| RSUs (additional) | Sep 16, 2024 | Approved and granted by Board | Time-based | Quarterly over 3 years | Included in RSU total above | Included above |
| PSUs | Sep 16, 2024 | Included in PSU line below | Stock price: $12.00 VWAP for 20 of 30 trading days within 3 years | Cliff vest on 3rd anniversary (subject to performance) | 117,813 unearned PSUs | $421,771 |
- Change-in-control: all unvested RSUs and PSUs accelerate and become vested; as of Dec 31, 2024, acceleration value estimate for Devasper was $3,169,958 (based on $3.58 share price) .
Summary Compensation Mix
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Awards (grant-date fair value, Topic 718) ($) | — | $10,483,687 |
| Total Compensation ($) | $5,742 | $11,012,727 |
| All Other Compensation ($) | — | $442 (health and life premiums) |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Beneficial Ownership (shares) | 243,969 |
| Ownership as % of outstanding | 0.41% (based on 60,160,824 shares) |
| Unvested RSUs (units; market value) | 767,650; $2,748,187 |
| Unearned PSUs (units; market/payout value) | 117,813; $421,771 |
| Options (exercisable/unexercisable) | None disclosed; equity grants are RSUs/PSUs |
| Hedging Policy | Hedging/monetization transactions prohibited for officers/directors/employees |
| Pledging | CEO pledged shares for loans in Dec 2024; no pledging disclosures for Devasper |
| Ownership Guidelines | Not disclosed for executives in DEF 14A |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role and start date | CFO since December 2023 |
| Employment agreement | At-Will Employment, Confidential Information, Invention Assignment and Arbitration Agreement; addendum Oct 23, 2024 |
| Base salary | $325,000 annual (per Oct 23, 2024 addendum) |
| Benefits | Eligible for retirement and welfare benefit plans customarily available to senior executives |
| 401(k) plan | Company sponsors 401(k); currently no matching contributions |
| Non-compete / Non-solicit | Customary non-compete; one-year post-termination non-solicitation |
| Severance | No cash severance; no potential payments upon termination |
| Change-in-control | Single-trigger acceleration of all unvested RSUs/PSUs |
| Clawback | Policy to recover erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation upon restatement, regardless of misconduct |
| Insider trading | Hedging/monetization prohibited; policy applies to officers and controlled entities |
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance alignment: 2024 compensation is heavily equity-based ($10.48M stock awards vs. $301k salary and $227.5k bonus), with PSUs tied to a $12.00 VWAP hurdle; this strengthens alignment to shareholder returns but concentrates realized pay on share performance .
- Vesting cadence and supply: Quarterly RSU vesting over three years can create ongoing sell-to-cover activity; monitor Form 4 filings for potential near-term insider selling pressure as tranches vest .
- Deal-trigger sensitivity: Single-trigger acceleration on change-in-control (no cash severance) makes unvested equity immediately realizable; this could heighten sensitivity to strategic transactions and introduces event-driven payout risk ($3.17M acceleration value at 12/31/2024) .
- Alignment and governance: Beneficial ownership is modest at 0.41%, but large unvested RSUs/PSUs provide retention hooks; anti-hedging and clawback policies mitigate risk, while the CEO’s prior pledging is a governance overhang for the company even though no pledging is disclosed for Devasper .