Himanshu Gulati

About Himanshu Gulati

Himanshu Gulati is Chairman of SLAM Corp’s Board of Directors and Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer of Antara Capital LP. He has over two decades of distressed credit and special situations experience, previously leading U.S. distressed at Man GLG and senior roles at Perry Capital, Rockview Capital, Merrill Lynch (leveraged finance), and Goldman Sachs; he holds a B.S. in Finance from Binghamton University . Gulati signed recent SLAM proxy materials in his capacity as Chairman .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Role and independence: Gulati serves as Chairman; SLAM’s independent directors are Alexandre Zyngier, Lisa Harrington, Reggie Hudlin, and Julian Nemirovsky, indicating Gulati is not classified as independent .
• Committee structure: Audit Committee (Zyngier—Chair; Harrington; Nemirovsky), Nominating Committee (Hudlin—Chair; Nemirovsky), Compensation Committee (Harrington—Chair; Hudlin). Gulati is not listed as a member of these committees .
• Control dynamics: Initial shareholders (including sponsor and insiders) held ~89.1% of outstanding ordinary shares as of May 27, 2025 record date; the sponsor had ~93% of voting control via its holdings—reflecting highly concentrated control and limited need for public votes to approve proposals .
• Chair engagement: Gulati signed extension/adjournment proxies and notices for SLAM’s extraordinary meetings in 2024 and 2025 .

Fixed Compensation

• Not disclosed in available filings for director cash retainer or committee fees. SLAM pays $10,000/month to sponsor or an affiliate for office space and administrative support (company-level), not director-specific pay .

Performance Compensation

• Not disclosed: no details on director equity grants (RSUs/PSUs), option awards, metrics, vesting schedules, clawbacks, or ownership guidelines available in current filings .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

• Other public company boards for Gulati are not disclosed; however, Antara Capital LP has a backstop agreement directly tied to SLAM’s business combination, creating a potential interlock via Antara’s role and Gulati’s leadership at Antara .

Expertise & Qualifications

• Distressed credit, special situations, and event-driven investing; senior leadership across hedge funds and investment banking; founder/operator at Antara; finance degree from Binghamton University .

Equity Ownership

• Direct SLAM share ownership for Gulati is not listed in the beneficial ownership table; note indicates indirect interests via partnership interests in the sponsor or affiliates may exist but are not quantified (notes (6)) .
• Sponsor holdings: Slam Sponsor, LLC held 14,210,000 Class A shares, 1,000 Class B shares, and 11,333,333 private placement warrants, representing 93.0% voting control; initial shareholders collectively controlled ~89.1% of outstanding shares at the June 2025 meeting record date .

Governance Assessment

• Potential conflicts and related-party exposure:
  • Antara Capital LP (where Gulati is Managing Partner & CIO) agreed to a backstop of up to $25 million (2,500,000 Topco Series A shares) to offset redemptions; Sponsor to forfeit 5,000,000 founder shares with 5,000,000 Topco Series A shares issued to Antara at closing—direct alignment of the transaction economics with Antara and, by extension, Gulati’s external firm .
  • Antara advanced ~$1,259,772 to pay SLAM’s legal fees and D&O insurance, recorded as advances from related party—further entangling governance with a related party .
  • Sponsor Letter Agreement bound insiders (including Gulati) to vote in favor of the business combination and warrant conversion, waive anti-dilution protections, and not redeem shares—limiting true independence of governance outcomes .
• Board effectiveness and independence:
  • Key committees are chaired and populated by independent directors, but the high sponsor/insider control reduces public shareholder influence on outcomes .
• Risk indicators & RED FLAGS:
  • Nasdaq delisting in August 2024 and migration to OTCQX; reduced liquidity and institutional participation .
  • Going concern warning with minimal operating cash ($500) and working capital deficit ($3.8 million) as of Dec 31, 2024; heavy reliance on sponsor and related-party loans .
  • Concentrated voting control (sponsor/insiders ~89–93%) can override public sentiment in votes .
  • SEC SPAC rules risk; trust assets moved to cash deposits to mitigate investment company classification, reducing redemption growth potential .

Additional Context

• Stock/market: SLAMF traded at $11.75 on OTCQX on June 5, 2025; redemption price per share was ~$12.29 as of June 5, 2025, indicating arbitrage incentives and governance pressure around extensions and redemptions .
• Meeting mechanics: Gulati signed as Chairman on extraordinary meeting notices, reflecting active board leadership in extension processes .

Summary Signals

• Committee assignments: Gulati is Chairman; not listed on Audit/Nominating/Compensation committees. Independents chair and staff all three committees .
• Independence: Not independent; high sponsor/insider voting control, with Sponsor Letter commitments limiting outcome flexibility .
• Ownership alignment: Direct holdings for Gulati not disclosed; sponsor holds majority voting control; Antara is economically linked to the deal via backstop and share issuance .
• Conflicts/related party: Material exposure via Antara backstop and advances; governance decisions (votes/waivers) pre-committed by insiders .

RED FLAGS: Concentrated control (~89–93%), related-party financing/backstop via Antara, going concern risks, OTCQX listing post-Nasdaq delisting, insider vote commitments to approve combination and warrant changes .