Figma Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dylan Field forfeited about $46 million ($A65 million) in company stock awards, a move to revive investor confidence in the face of AI disruption fears.
The forfeiture was voluntary, and no replacement awards were issued, Figma wrote in a filing on Wednesday.
Field was set to receive about 2.4 million shares of Class B stock on July 1. The Class B stock, which gives Field greater control over the company, can be converted at any time into Class A stock, which trades on the market and closed at $19.49 on July 1.
Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.
Application software companies such as Figma have quickly lost the faith of investors over concerns about new competition in the artificial intelligence era.
The San Francisco-based company’s stock price has declined about 77 per cent from its high of $122 just after Figma’s initial public offering more than a year ago.
Larger peers like Adobe Inc. and Salesforce Inc. have seen their shares drop more than 20 per cent during that time.
Some software companies have tried novel strategies to boost Wall Street’s spirits. For example, many of ServiceNow Inc.’s top executives said they would cancel their regularly scheduled stock sales, with Chief Executive Officer Bill McDermott pledging to personally buy $3 million in shares.
Even without the grant, Field owns a massive amount of Figma stock – more than 76 million Class B shares, which if converted would be worth more than $2.1 billion as of Wednesday’s closing price of $28.15.
Separately Wednesday, Figma reported second-quarter sales and profit that exceeded analysts’ average estimates. Still, the company’s shares declined about 15% in extended trading.
