Elena Gomez
ToastAbout Elena Gomez
Elena Gomez is President and Chief Financial Officer of Toast, Inc.; she has served as CFO since May 2021 and was appointed President in February 2025, with no additional compensation for the President role . She is 55 and holds a B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business . Under her finance leadership, Toast achieved GAAP profitability in 2024 with $19 million net income and delivered Adjusted EBITDA of $373 million alongside 34% growth in non-GAAP subscription and fintech gross profit (“RGP”) to $1,417 million . Company TSR based on a $100 initial investment improved to $58 in 2024 vs peer group $170, after declines in 2022–2023, contextualizing incentives tied to enterprise value creation .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk, Inc. | Chief Financial Officer | 2016–2021 | Led finance during a scale phase for global customer service software |
| Salesforce | SVP Finance & Strategy; SVP Go-to-Market Distribution | 2010–2016 | Drove finance strategy and GTM analytics for a major SaaS platform |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smartsheet Inc. | Director | 2017–Jun 2024 | Governance and oversight at a SaaS collaboration platform |
| PagerDuty, Inc. | Director | Since Oct 2018 | Board leadership at a SaaS incident response platform |
Fixed Compensation
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary Rate ($) | $438,000 | Increased effective Apr 1, 2024 to $454,425 (proxy CD&A) / footnote shows $452,425 | Filing lists $454,425 in CD&A and $452,425 in Summary Compensation footnote |
| Target Bonus % of Salary | 75% | 75% | No change |
| Salary Paid ($) | $432,808 | $450,341 | Summary Compensation Table |
| Actual Bonus Paid ($) | $239,082 | $413,413 | Approved under Incentive Plan |
Performance Compensation
| Component | Metric | Weighting | Threshold | Target | Max | 2024 Funding | Individual MBO | 2024 Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Bonus | RGP (Non-GAAP) | 70% | 50% funding | 100% | 160% | Achieved between target and max; 140% for RGP portion → 98% weighted | 90% | $413,413; 122% of target (funding 136% × 90% MBO) |
| Annual Bonus | Adjusted EBITDA | 30% | 75% funding | 100% | 125% | Exceeded target; 125% for EBITDA portion → 38% weighted | 90% | Included above |
Key plan features:
- Company bonus funding set in February 2024; funding metrics removed acquisition impacts; funding interpolates between thresholds and targets .
- Average blended MBO used as multiplier; no bonus if company funding goals are unmet .
- 2024 funded bonus for executives: 136% before MBO multipliers .
Equity Awards (Grants and Vesting)
| Year | Grant Date | Instrument | Units | Exercise Price | Grant Value ($) | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3/11/2024 | Options | 185,695 | $24.65 | $2,707,489 | 16 equal quarterly installments over 4 years (vesting commencement 4/1/2024) |
| 2024 | 3/11/2024 | RSUs | 101,058 | — | $2,491,080 | 16 equal quarterly installments over 4 years (vesting commencement 4/1/2024) |
| 2023 | 3/10/2023 | Options | 304,321 | $17.33 | $2,999,235 | 16 equal quarterly installments over 4 years |
| 2023 | 3/10/2023 | RSUs | 101,288 | — | $1,755,321 | 16 equal quarterly installments over 4 years |
Additional practices:
- RSU unit calculation moved to trailing 10 trading days (from 90) effective Aug 1, 2024; options priced at grant date close .
- No equity grants timed around material nonpublic information; blackout windows observed .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beneficial Ownership (as of 3/31/2025) | 2,550,653 Class A shares (<1%); includes 160,498 Class A owned, 2,350,156 options exercisable within 60 days, and 39,999 RSUs releasable within 60 days |
| Ownership Guidelines | By 12/31/2027, executive officers (other than CEO/founders) must hold the lesser of 15,000 shares or shares equal to 2× base salary; only directly/beneficially owned and vested deferred stock units count |
| Anti-Hedging/Pledging | Hedging and pledging of Toast securities prohibited; margin collateral use prohibited |
| Trading Controls | 10b5-1 plans required for executive stock sales; stock trading policy governs insider trading compliance |
| RSUs Vested in 2024 | 147,353 shares vested; value realized $3,618,622 |
| Options Exercised in 2024 | None for Gomez |
Outstanding awards (12/31/2024 snapshot):
- Options: 1,875,000 exercisable at $15.26 (3/22/2031); 234,023 exercisable / 106,375 unexercisable at $17.38 (3/15/2032); 114,120 exercisable / 190,201 unexercisable at $17.33 (3/10/2033); 23,211 exercisable / 162,484 unexercisable at $24.65 (3/11/2034) .
- Unvested RSUs: 46,875; 19,562; 63,305; 88,426 across 2019–2024 grants, with disclosed market values per grant (totaling multiple millions) .
Employment Terms
| Provision | Terms |
|---|---|
| Severance (outside Change-in-Control “CIC” period) | 12 months base salary; prorated target bonus for year of termination; 12 months COBRA-equivalent contributions; 12-month acceleration for time-based equity that would vest within 12 months; subject to release and covenants |
| Severance (within CIC or Good Reason within 12 months post-CIC) | 1.5×(12 months base salary + target bonus); prorated target bonus; COBRA-equivalent contributions up to 18 months; full acceleration of unvested time-based equity; performance awards per grant terms; subject to release and covenants |
| Change-in-Control Trigger | Double-trigger vesting; no single-trigger equity vesting |
| Clawback | Dodd-Frank-compliant compensation recovery for incentive-based compensation over 3-year lookback upon required financial restatement |
| Perquisites | Executives receive standard employee benefits; no special perquisites; 401(k) match 50% up to 6% of comp; ESPP available |
| President Appointment (2025) | Gomez appointed President; no additional compensation for President role; later served as Interim CAO without additional compensation |
Compensation Peer Group and Governance Inputs
- Peer group used for 2024/2025 compensation decisions includes: Affirm, AppLovin, BILL, Datadog, DoorDash, Dynatrace, Etsy, HubSpot, MongoDB, Paycom, Paylocity, Procore, PTC, Shift4 Payments, The Trade Desk, Twilio, Unity, ZoomInfo .
- 2024 Say-on-Pay support ~97%; no changes made due to vote outcome .
- Compensation committee retains independent consultants; pay practices emphasize at-risk equity and multi-year vesting .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: High proportion of equity with 4-year quarterly vest and double-trigger CIC terms tie realized pay to stock performance and enterprise value; anti-hedging/anti-pledging and ownership guidelines strengthen alignment .
- Performance linkage: 2024 bonus funding tied to RGP and Adjusted EBITDA created direct linkage to growth and profitability; payout above target reflects strong 2024 execution (GAAP profitability, $373M Adjusted EBITDA) .
- Retention risk: Significant unvested RSUs and options provide retention hooks; absence of tax gross-ups and double-trigger vesting reduce windfall risk while competitive severance ensures continuity through strategic events .
- Trading pressure: 2024 RSU vesting (147k shares) and large option holdings could create periodic supply; mitigated by 10b5-1 plan requirements and anti-pledging policy .
- Governance quality: Strong say-on-pay support, independent compensation oversight, and clawback policy lower governance risk; pay-versus-performance disclosure shows directional alignment with Adjusted EBITDA and TSR .