Company: EQS
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001712543-25-000025
Chunk: 13

Company: EQUUS TOTAL RETURN, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 13
---
 and the appropriate levels of incentive opportunities, the Compensation Committee or our Chief Executive Officer, as appropriate,
considers whether the policies reward reasonable risk-taking and whether the incentive opportunities achieve the proper balance between
the need to reward employees and the need to protect shareholder returns. We believe that the focus on total compensation provides incentives
to create long-term value for shareholders while taking thoughtful and prudent risks to grow the Company.

In addition, at the Company’s Annual Meeting
of Stockholders held on June 20, 2024, the Company held a non-binding stockholder vote to approve the compensation paid to its named executive
officers in 2023, commonly referred to as a “say-on-pay” vote. The Company’s shareholders approved such compensation
by a non-binding, advisory vote with approximately 88.5% of the votes submitted on the proposal voting in favor of the resolution. The
Compensation Committee considered the results of this vote and views this vote as confirmation that the Company’s shareholders support
the Company’s executive compensation policies and decisions.

| 10 |

Summary Compensation Table

The following table summarizes the total compensation
that the Company paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022 to the NEOs, who are the Chief Executive Officer,
the Chief Financial Officer, and our other most highly compensated executive officers who received more than $100,000 in annual compensation
from the Company.

| Name and Principal Position | Year | Salary    | Cash Bonus | Stock Awards | All Other Compensation(1) | Total     |
| John A. Hardy—              
 Chief Executive Officer     | 2024 
 2023 
 2022 | $ 534,667 
 508,255   
 481,478   | $ ―        
 298,796    
 472,500    | $ ―          
 ―            
 ―            | $ ―                       
 165,235                   
 ―                         | $ 534,667 
 972,286   
 953,978   |
| L’Sheryl D. Hudson—         
 Chief Financial Officer     | 2024 
 2023 
 2022 | $ 295,969 
 281,875   
 242,308   | $ 24,500   
 21,250     
 65,000     | $ ―          
 ―            
 ―            | $ 19,228                  
 18,188                    
 18,438                    | $ 339,697 
 321,313   
 325,