Samantha Jacobson
Trade DeskAbout Samantha Jacobson
Samantha Jacobson is Chief Strategy Officer (since February 2022) and a director (since January 2024) at The Trade Desk. She is 40 years old as of April 9, 2025, and holds a B.S.E. in Finance and Management from Wharton and an MBA from Harvard Business School . She joined The Trade Desk in 2021, previously serving as Vice President, Strategic Partnerships; prior roles include VP Strategy & Business Development at Oracle (2019–2021) and Senior Director of Strategy & Business Development at Oracle Data Cloud (2015–2019) . 2024 executive cash incentives were tied 100% to company revenue, which reached $2,445 million, yielding her annual cash incentive of $1,298,829 paid quarterly .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Trade Desk | Chief Strategy Officer | Feb 2022–present | Leads strategy, investments, partnerships; advanced initiatives incl. Unified ID 2.0 |
| The Trade Desk | Vice President, Strategic Partnerships | 2021–Feb 2022 | Built strategic partner ecosystem prior to CSO appointment |
| The Trade Desk | Director | Jan 2024–present | Executive (non-independent) director service since appointment |
| Oracle | VP, Strategy & Business Development | Mar 2019–Mar 2021 | Led strategy and BD for Oracle’s advertising/data businesses |
| Oracle Data Cloud | Sr. Director, Strategy & Business Development | Apr 2015–Mar 2019 | Drove growth and partner alliances in data-driven advertising |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Datalogix | Director of Strategic Partnerships | Not disclosed | Built alliances with Twitter, Pinterest, Microsoft, Google, Apple |
Fixed Compensation
| Year | Base Salary ($) | Target Bonus (%) | Target Bonus ($) | Actual Bonus Paid ($) | All Other Compensation ($) | Total Compensation ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 600,000 | 100% of salary | 600,000 | 1,298,829 (paid quarterly) | 23,667 (401(k) match, allowances, executive health) | 11,662,963 |
Performance Compensation
2024 Cash Incentive Plan
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Payout Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company Revenue | 100% | $2,335 million | $2,445 million | $1,298,829 | Quarterly within 60 days post-quarter |
2024 Equity Awards (Granted April 23, 2024)
| Grant Date | Type | Shares/Options (#) | Exercise Price ($) | Grant-Date Fair Value ($) | Vesting Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/23/2024 | RSA (time-based) | 60,074 | N/A | 4,870,199 | 1/16th quarterly starting Aug 15, 2024; then each quarterly anniversary (4-year total) |
| 4/23/2024 | Stock Options (ISO intended) | 121,684 | 81.07 | 4,870,268 | 1/48th monthly over 4 years |
Equity Program Design
- Target long-term equity for Jacobson was $10 million in 2024, split evenly between RSAs and options; committee targets ~75th percentile TDC for executive group relative to peer data (Compensia-supported) .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
Beneficial Ownership (as of Feb 28, 2025)
| Holder | Class A Shares | Options Exercisable within 60 days (#) |
|---|---|---|
| Samantha Jacobson | 56,949 | 12,894 |
Outstanding Equity at FY-End (Dec 31, 2024)
| Grant Date | Vesting Commencement | Options Exercisable (#) | Options Unexercisable (#) | Exercise Price ($) | Expiration | Unvested Stock Awards (#) | Market Value ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/17/2021 | 3/8/2021 | — | 620 | 77.151 | 3/17/2031 | 1,600 | 188,048 |
| 3/2/2022 | 3/2/2022 | — | — | — | — | 6,498 | 763,710 |
| 4/26/2022 | 4/26/2022 | — | 5,894 | 59.570 | 4/26/2032 | 4,106 | 482,578 |
| 4/24/2023 | 4/24/2023 | — | 36,237 | 61.460 | 4/24/2033 | 23,973 | 2,817,547 |
| 4/23/2024 | 4/23/2024 | — | 101,404 | 81.070 | 4/23/2034 | 52,565 | 6,177,964 |
- Stock Ownership Guidelines: CEO 6x salary; other executive officers 1x salary; all covered executives either comply or have time remaining to meet guidelines .
- Hedging/Pledging: Prohibited for executive officers and directors .
Employment Terms
| Provision | Base Case (Termination without Cause / Resignation for Good Reason) | Change-in-Control (Double Trigger: within 3 months prior or 24 months after) |
|---|---|---|
| Cash Severance | 1× base salary + 1× target annual cash incentive | 2× (base salary + target annual cash incentive) (lump sum) |
| Bonus | Pro-rata annual cash incentive based on actual Company performance | Pro-rata annual cash incentive based on actual Company performance |
| Equity | Acceleration of time-based equity equal to 12 months of vesting | Full acceleration of all time-based equity |
| Health Benefits | Monthly cash to offset COBRA up to 12 months | Lump sum cash equal to 24 months of Company health insurance contributions |
| Clawback | SEC- and Nasdaq-compliant clawback on incentive comp tied to financial reporting measures for restatements (3-year lookback) | Same policy applies |
| Tax Gross-ups | No post-employment tax reimbursement/gross-ups on severance/CIC payments | No gross-ups |
| Retirement Plans | No executive-only pension/SERP programs | N/A |
Board Service & Governance
- Appointment: Appointed to Board as Class II director effective Jan 17, 2024; initially not appointed to any committee; indemnification agreement standard for officers/directors .
- Independence: Board determined Samantha Jacobson (an executive officer) is not independent under Nasdaq rules; all other directors except the CEO and Jacobson are independent .
- Non-Employee Director Ownership Guideline: ≥3× annual cash retainer ($150,000 for 2024) within five years; applies to non-employee directors; executives have separate guidelines .
- Board Committees: Compensation Committee composed solely of independent directors; retains independent advisor (Compensia); executive directors do not serve on independent-only committees .
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Mix and Market Positioning: 2024 awards emphasized time-based RSAs and options; target equity for Jacobson set at $10 million (even split), with executive group targeted around the 75th percentile vs peer market; Compensia supported peer group development .
- Pay-for-Performance: Short-term incentives tied solely to revenue with formulaic bonus factors; above-target revenue ($2,445m vs $2,335m target) translated into Jacobson’s bonus of $1,298,829 .
- Governance Safeguards: No option repricing, no post-employment tax gross-ups, hedging/pledging prohibited, clawback in place; limited perquisites .
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
- Prior Say-on-Pay (2022 meeting on 2021 program): Majority support; committee considered feedback and plans future votes, including 2025 advisory vote .
Investment Implications
- Incentive alignment: Revenue-only cash bonus structure and significant multi-year equity with quarterly/monthly vesting create clear linkage to growth and stock performance, with frequent vesting events that can appear in Form 4 activity over time .
- Retention: Material unvested equity across RSAs and options (88,742 shares unvested; 144,155 options unexercisable at FY-end) supports retention; CIC protections include 2× cash and full acceleration of time-based equity (double trigger), balancing retention with change-in-control flexibility .
- Governance risk: Dual role (executive + director) renders her non-independent; independent-only committees (e.g., Compensation) mitigate conflicts; ownership and clawback policies further strengthen alignment and risk controls .
- Ownership: Beneficial holdings (56,949 shares; 12,894 options exercisable within 60 days as of 2/28/2025) plus compliance with executive ownership guidelines indicate skin-in-the-game without hedging/pledging risks .
Note: Attempted to fetch Form 4 insider transactions for Samantha Jacobson using the insider-trades skill to assess recent selling pressure and tax-withholding patterns, but the endpoint returned an authorization error (401). Analysis above relies on proxy/8-K disclosures for vesting schedules and ownership details [ReadFile('/public/skills/insider-trades/SKILL.md')] and [tool error].