Company: ACTG
Filing Date: 2025-04-09
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000934549-25-000014
Chunk: 21

Company: ACACIA RESEARCH CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-09
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 21
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 2010 to September 2017, and acted as a senior advisor to Cadence until his retirement in March 2018. Previously, he served as Chief Financial Officer for a number of semiconductor companies, including Telegent Systems, Inc., SiRF Technology, Inc., Asyst Technology, Inc., Matrix Semiconductor, Inc. and nVidia Corporation. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

We believe that Mr. Ribar’s significant financial and accounting expertise gained from his experience as a chief financial officer, as well as his extensive public company board experience make him well qualified to serve on the Board.

Ajay Sundar has served as a director since February 2024. Mr. Sundar is a Managing Director at Starboard Value. Prior to joining Starboard Value in August 2015, Mr. Sundar was an Investment Banking Analyst in Consumer & Retail Group at Citigroup in New York. Mr. Sundar received a B.S. in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

We believe that Mr. Sundar’s extensive financial background and investment experience makes him well qualified to serve on the Board.

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#### Director Independence
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market and, therefore, we are subject to the listing requirements of that market. The Board, with the assistance of outside counsel, reviews the professional relationships of potential and current directors, and has determined that Messrs. Kohlberg and Ribar and Mses. Felman and O’Connell, constituting the majority of our current directors, are “independent” as defined in the Listing Rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market (the “Nasdaq Listing Rules”).

#### Board Leadership Structure
Our Bylaws provide the Board with flexibility to combine or separate the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in accordance with its determination that utilizing one or the other structure is in the best interests of our Company. Currently, the positions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer are separate, with Mr. Molinelli serving as our Chairman and Mr. McNulty serving as our Chief Executive Officer. Our Board believes separating these roles promotes effective corporate governance and leadership, allowing our Chief Executive Officer to focus on the management of our day-to-day business, while allowing our Chairman to focus on matters involving our Board and corporate governance.

Ms. O’Connell serves as Lead Independent Director. The Board has determined that this structure is the most