Eric Singer

About Eric B. Singer

Eric B. Singer, age 51, has served as an independent Class II director of Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) since 2023. He is President, CEO, and Chairman of Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ: IMMR) since 2023, and previously served as Immersion’s Executive Chairman from 2020 to 2023. Singer founded VIEX Capital Advisors (2014–2022) and holds a B.A. from Brandeis University . He was re-elected at the 2024 Annual Meeting to serve until the 2026 Annual Meeting and is currently a member of UEI’s Compensation Committee .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Independence status: The Board determined Singer is independent under UEI’s Director Independence Standards and NASDAQ rules, and all committees are composed solely of independent directors .
• Committee assignments: Compensation Committee member; the Compensation Committee met 7 times in 2024 .
• Attendance: In 2024, no director attended less than 75% of aggregate Board and committee meetings (Board met 9 times; two executive sessions with outside directors only) .
• Board structure: Following the CEO transition, UEI separated the CEO and Chairman roles, maintains a Lead Independent Director (Mulligan) and holds executive sessions at the end of every regular board meeting without management present .
• Term/Classification: Class II directors (including Singer) serve two-year terms, next expiring at the 2026 Annual Meeting .

Fixed Compensation

UEI’s 2024 independent director cash framework: $50,000 board retainer; committee membership fees: Audit $10,000, Compensation $10,000, Corporate Governance $5,000, Product Strategy & Innovations $10,000; chair fees: Audit $11,250, Compensation $10,000, Corporate Governance $6,000, Product Strategy & Innovations $10,000 .

Performance Compensation

• Equity retainer policy: As of December 2024, UEI modified the annual equity retainer to a $125,000 grant-date value with one-year cliff vesting for independent directors . The Compensation Committee approved a December 2024 “true-up” RSU grant to align 2024 equity to the new policy; the proxy references both a $56,100 (6,004 RSUs) one-time grant and, in another section, an additional award equal to $68,900 to approximate a total $125,000 for 2024 with cliff vesting to the earlier of the next annual meeting or June 30, 2025 .
• Pro-rata grant: Upon his late-2023 appointment, Singer received 2,653 RSUs on January 1, 2024 as a pro-rata award under the prior program period ending June 30, 2024 .

Compensation Committee governance: Members (Hamilton—Chair, Chahil, Singer, Zinser) are independent; there were no Compensation Committee interlocks or related-party relationships requiring Item 404 disclosure. The Committee retains an independent consultant (Pay Governance LLC) and periodically reviews independent director compensation vs. a peer group study .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

• Board tally: “Other Public Company Boards” for Singer shown as 2 in UEI’s director summary .
• Interlocks/conflicts: UEI discloses that Compensation Committee members (incl. Singer) had no Item 404 related-person transactions, and no executive officer of UEI serves on boards/committees with reciprocal relationships that would trigger interlocks . UEI outlines a process for reviewing related-person transactions; only material transactions must be disclosed .

Expertise & Qualifications

• Operating/board experience in technology: leadership roles at Immersion; broad prior public board service across semiconductors, communications, storage, advertising tech, and consumer electronics .
• Governance and value-creation orientation: background in activist investing (VIEX) and strategic oversight; currently serves as lead independent director at A10 Networks .
• Education: B.A., Brandeis University .

Equity Ownership

• Director stock ownership guideline: Minimum $250,000 of UEI common stock; new directors have five years to comply. As of 12/31/2024, all independent directors satisfied the guideline or were on track; Singer has five years from joining to meet the requirement. Time-based RSUs count; options and unvested PSUs do not .
• Anti-pledging/hedging: Pledging is prohibited; hedging is generally permitted within trading windows and per the Insider Trading Policy .

Governance Assessment

• Strengths
  • Independence and committee composition: Singer is independent; all UEI board committees are comprised solely of independent directors; the Compensation Committee has robust responsibilities and uses an independent consultant .
  • Engagement: Board met 9 times in 2024; Compensation Committee met 7 times; no director fell below the 75% attendance threshold .
  • Ownership alignment: Director stock ownership guidelines at $250,000 with full compliance or progress; one-year cliff-vested equity retainer increases alignment .
  • Shareholder support: Say-on-pay received approximately 86% support at the 2024 Annual Meeting, signaling constructive investor sentiment toward compensation governance .
• Watch items / potential red flags
  • Hedging permitted: Company permits hedging within windows (though pledging is prohibited). Some investors view hedging allowances as a misalignment risk for directors .
  • Multiple outside commitments: Singer is an operating CEO/Chair at IMMR and lead independent director at ATEN. UEI discloses no related-party transactions or compensation interlocks, but investors should monitor workload and potential conflicts as a matter of routine governance diligence .

Overall, Singer brings deep technology and capital allocation experience to UEI with active committee engagement and clear independence. Compensation design features (equity retainer with cliff vesting, stock ownership guidelines, anti-pledging) support alignment, while hedging permissibility remains an investor preference consideration .