Jeff Huber
About Jeff Huber
Jeff Huber (age 56) has served as an independent director of Summit Therapeutics since June 2024; he is Audit Committee Chair and designated the Audit Committee financial expert. He is co-founder and Managing Director of Triatomic Capital (since 2022), previously Vice Chairman and Founding CEO of GRAIL (2016–2021; Founding CEO 2016–2017), and held senior roles at Alphabet/Google (SVP, 2003–2016), eBay (VP Architecture & Systems, 2001–2003), and Excite@Home; he holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering (University of Illinois) and an MBA (Harvard). The Board has determined Huber is independent under Nasdaq rules.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triatomic Capital Private LP | Co-founder & Managing Director | Since 2022 | Private investing firm leadership |
| GRAIL, Inc. | Vice Chairman; Founding CEO | 2016–2021; 2016–2017 | Led early cancer detection platform |
| Alphabet Inc. (Google) | Senior Vice President | 2003–2016 | Executive leadership in technology scale-up |
| eBay Inc. | VP, Architecture & Systems Development | 2001–2003 | Platform architecture |
| Excite@Home | SVP, Engineering | Not disclosed | Senior engineering leadership |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Arts Inc. (public) | Director | Current | Board oversight |
| Upstart Holdings Inc. (public) | Director | Current | Board oversight |
| Mammoth Bio; d‑Matrix; Manifold Bio; Openwater; Genalyte; Weta Digital (private) | Board member | Not disclosed | Tech/biotech innovation networks |
| Aldevron (private) | Director | 2019–2021 | Biotech manufacturing governance |
| Zapata Computing Holdings Inc. (public) | Director | 2021–2024 | AI/quantum software oversight |
Board Governance
- Independence: Board determined Huber is independent under Nasdaq rules.
- Committee assignments: Audit Committee Chair; Audit members are Huber (Chair), Booth, Ronaghi; Huber qualifies as Audit Committee financial expert.
- Attendance: In 2024, the Board held 2 meetings; each director attended at least 75% of board and applicable committee meetings; all current Board members attended the 2024 annual meeting.
- Committee activity: 2024 meetings—Audit: 6; Compensation: 1; Nominating & Corporate Governance: 0.
- Lead Independent Director: Kenneth A. Clark is appointed Lead Independent Director.
- Controlled company status: Summit is a “controlled company” under Nasdaq due to majority voting power held by Robert W. Duggan; while not currently using all exemptions, the company has relied on some and may do so in the future.
- Insider trading policy: Prohibits short sales, derivatives (puts/calls), and direct hedging transactions in company securities.
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Amount/Terms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Board retainer (cash) | $49,900 | Paid quarterly |
| Committee membership fee (each committee) | $6,500 | Annual, per committee |
| Committee Chair fees | Audit: $36,700; Compensation: $13,000; Nominating: $13,000 | Annual |
| 2024 cash fees actually earned (Huber) | $39,055 | Reported in 2024 Director Compensation |
Performance Compensation
| Equity Component | Grant detail | Vesting/Terms | 2024 Value/Counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual director option grant | 35,000 options | Vests in four equal quarterly installments; strike = FMV at grant | Program terms |
| New director grant (Huber, 2024) | 200,000 options | Vests in four equal annual installments; first tranche at 1-year anniversary; strike = FMV at grant | Program terms |
| Retainer Option Election | Cash-to-option conversion at 2.0x multiplier; annual award | Vests quarterly; 10-year term | Program terms |
| 2024 option award (Huber) | — | — | Option Awards fair value: $1,507,113 |
| Options outstanding (Huber, 12/31/2024) | 217,883 | — | Exercisable: 17,883 |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Entity | Type | Relationship | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Arts Inc. | Public | Director | Current role |
| Upstart Holdings Inc. | Public | Director | Current role |
| GRAIL, Inc. | Private (historical) | Huber: Founding CEO/Vice Chair; Ronaghi: Co-founder | Historical overlap with fellow SMMT director Mostafa Ronaghi (interlock signal) |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Audit Committee financial expert designation; financial literacy confirmed by the Board.
- Deep technology and healthcare leadership background spanning large-scale platforms and life sciences innovation.
- Education: B.S. in Computer Engineering (University of Illinois); MBA (Harvard Business School).
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Shares Owned | Options exercisable within 60 days | Total Beneficial Ownership | % of Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Huber (as of April 15, 2025) | 50,052 | 26,633 | 76,685 | <1% |
| Jeff Huber (as of Dec 31, 2024) | — | — | Options outstanding: 217,883; Exercisable: 17,883 | — |
Governance Assessment
- Strengths: Independent audit chair with financial expert status; Audit Committee met six times in 2024 indicating robust oversight; clear prohibitions on hedging/derivatives in Insider Trading Policy; Lead Independent Director structure in place.
- Alignment: Director pay is heavily equity-oriented for Huber in 2024 (cash $39,055 versus option award fair value $1,507,113), and program allows conversion of cash retainers into options (2.0x multiplier), increasing ownership alignment.
- Attendance & engagement: Board convened 2 times in 2024; all directors met at least 75% attendance, and Audit Committee met 6 times under Huber’s chairmanship—solid engagement for audit oversight.
- Potential conflicts/related-party exposure: No related-party transactions involving Huber are disclosed; related-party items center on Duggan, Zanganeh (bridge notes, warrants, office subleases), Xia/Akeso (license & payments), Soni (share purchases), and Clark/WSGR (legal services).
- Risk indicators and red flags:
- Controlled company status may reduce certain Nasdaq governance protections; the company may rely on exemptions in the future (investor vigilance warranted).
- Pending derivative litigation related to December 2022 bridge financing notes (fiduciary duty claims) creates governance overhang; Huber is part of the Board’s oversight environment as Audit Chair. Defendants plan to move to dismiss.
- Personal ownership remains small (<1%), which is typical for outside directors but provides limited “skin-in-the-game” relative to controlling shareholders.
- Shareholder signals: Strong say-on-pay support (≈97% approval in 2024) provides a positive governance sentiment backdrop, though not director-specific.