Company: LIDRW
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form Type: DEFC14A
Source: 0001140361-25-012590
Chunk: 51

Company: AEye, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-07
Form: DEFC14A
Chunk 51
---
holders’ best interests to maintain the classified board structure with three separate classes of directors, with staggered elections and three-year terms.

30

TABLE OF CONTENTS We believe that the three-year staggered terms of directors provide stability and continuity in our leadership. Staggered terms are designed to ensure that at any given time, the Board has a majority of members who, by serving for several years, have developed a deeper understanding of the breadth and nature of our business. Directors who have considerable experience with and knowledge of our business are better equipped to provide the oversight and make the decisions required by a board of directors, and are, correspondingly, more capable of engaging in the long-term strategic planning that is critical to the success of a quickly evolving business like ours. We believe that our directors are no less accountable to stockholders than they would be if elected annually. All directors are required by Delaware law to uphold their fiduciary duties to the Company and its stockholders, regardless of the length of their term of office. It is the manner in which directors fulfill their duties and responsibilities, not the frequency of their election, which drives effective corporate governance. Our directors are no less attentive to stockholder concerns as a result of having been elected to three-year staggered terms than they would be if elected to one-year terms. A shorter term does not necessarily mean enhanced corporate governance or fulfillment of duties by the Board. A classified board strengthens the Company's ability to recruit high quality directors who are willing to make a significant commitment to the Company and our stockholders for the long-term. The Board believes it is important that directors have the commitment to serve for an appropriate term given the initial and ongoing time investment required to properly understand our operations. Experienced directors who are knowledgeable about our business are better positioned to make decisions in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. Additionally, a classified board structure is widely used to protect against unsolicited attempts to quickly gain control of a company without paying fair value for the company and its assets. It encourages a person seeking to obtain control of a company to negotiate directly with the Board. If our Board were not classified, a potential acquirer whose nominees receive a plurality of the votes cast at an annual meeting of the stockholders could replace all or a majority of the directors with its own nominees, who could then approve the takeover proposal from that acquirer even if the price did not adequately value the Company. A classified Board gives the incumbent directors the time and leverage necessary to review any takeover proposal, negotiate more favorable terms for stock