Company: CERO
Filing Date: 2025-05-07
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001213900-25-040263
Chunk: 44

Company: CERO THERAPEUTICS HOLDINGS, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-05-07
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 44
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 over the next year to provide adequate long -termequity incentives to the Company’s key employees. Approval of the Amended Plan will enable the Company to continue making equity compensation grants that serve as incentives to recruit and retain key employees and to continue aligning the interests of its employees with stockholders. This Proposal No. 4 does not assume any implementation of a reverse stock split. If a reverse stock split is implemented, all of the foregoing numbers would be proportionally adjusted based on the split ratio determined by the Board. Refer to the chart in Proposal No. 1 for more information. Additionally, if a reverse stock split is implemented, outstanding awards under the Amended Plan would be proportionally adjusted, including the stock options reflected in the section titled “ New Plan Benefits and Historical Equity Awards”, in this Proposal No. 4. Plan Development In determining the number of shares to add to the authorized share pool for the Plan, the compensation committee considered a number of factors, including key data relating to outstanding equity awards and shares available for grant, historical share usage, and future share needs. The compensation committee also considered the fact that the Company’s compensation program will be heavily weighted to equity compensation, and that the Company’s equity compensation will be heavily weighted to performance -basedincentives, including: •Anticipated equity awards to be granted in connection with the engagement of a new permanent CEO and growth anticipated as CER -1236advances to clinical development; •The fact that, in light of the status of the Company’s development and need to fund clinical trials following acceptance of the IND, it expects to conduct additional financing transactions throughout 2025, which can be expected to increase the number of fully diluted shares outstanding and reduce the percentage of the fully diluted shares outstanding constituted by the pool. In order to have sufficient shares available for grants that are competitive in attracting new talent, the Company will need a pool sufficiently large to constitute a significant percentage of the fully diluted shares outstanding after completing such financing; •Certain equity awards granted to executives in 2024 and 2025 are subject to acceleration for the achievement of goals relating to the Company’s clinical development; and •Executive equity is heavily weighted to instruments that require strong performance thereby incentivizing the delivery of value. The Company expects that the shares requested under the Amended Plan will provide for grants to Company personnel for the remainder of 2025 and will be augmented by the annual evergreen provision in January 1, 2026 as described in the 2024 Plan. 22