Document

DEF 14A 1 izeadef14-aproxy2021.htm DEF 14A Document

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

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☐ Preliminary Proxy Statement

☐ Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))

þ Definitive Proxy Statement

☐ Definitive Additional Materials

☐ Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12

IZEA Worldwide, Inc.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.

1317 Edgewater Drive, #1880

Orlando, Florida 32804

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 15, 2021

Dear Stockholder:

We cordially invite you to attend the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (“IZEA,” “we,” “us” or “our”), which will be held on December 15, 2021 at 4:00 p.m., local time, at Homewood Suites Maitland, 290 Southhall Lane, Maitland, FL 32751. We have scheduled the Annual Meeting to:

•elect the eight nominees to the Board of Directors nominated by the Board of Directors;

•approve, on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation paid to IZEA’s named executive officers (commonly known as “say-on-pay”);

•ratify the appointment of BDO USA, LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021; and

•transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting and any adjournments or postponements thereof.

The accompanying proxy statement sets forth additional information regarding the Annual Meeting, and provides you with detailed information regarding the business to be considered at the Annual Meeting. We encourage you to read the proxy statement carefully and in its entirety.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on October 19, 2021, the record date fixed by the Board of Directors, are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting and any adjournments or postponements thereof.

YOUR VOTE IS VERY IMPORTANT. Regardless of whether you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we ask that you promptly cast your vote via telephone or the internet following the instructions provided in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials. We encourage you to vote via the internet, because we believe doing so provides the most convenient option for our stockholders, lowers the cost of our annual meeting and conserves natural resources.


			By order of the Board of Directors:


			Edward H. (Ted) Murphy
October 22, 2021			Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting

Our proxy statement follows, and our Annual Report on Form 10-K contains financial and other information regarding IZEA. You may find the proxy statement and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 at https://izea.com.


			Page
Questions and Answers About These Proxy Materials and Voting			1

Proposals to be Submitted for Voting
Proposal 1: Election of Directors			6
Proposal 2 : Approval of an Advisory Proposal on Executive Compensation			9
Proposal 3 : Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm			10

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management			11

Corporate Governance
Director Independence			13
Board and Committee Meetings			13
Board Committees			13
Board Leadership Structure			14
Board Role in Risk Oversight			14
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics			14
Stockholder Recommendations for Board Candidates			15
Stockholder Communications with the Board			15

Audit Committee Report			16

Executive Compensation
Summary Compensation Table			17
Employment Agreements			17
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End			19
Equity Incentive Plans			22
Director Compensation			23
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions			24

Householding of Proxy Materials			24

Stockholder Proposals			25

Section 16(A) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance			25

Other Business			25


Name	Age	Year First Elected	Position
Edward H. (Ted) Murphy	45	2006	Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Ryan S. Schram	41	2012	President, Chief Operating Officer and Director
Brian W. Brady	63	2012	Director, Nominating Committee Chair
John H. Caron	64	2015	Director
Lindsay A. Gardner	61	2013	Director
Jill M. Golder	59	2015	Director, Audit Committee Chair
Daniel R. Rua	52	2012	Director, Compensation Committee Chair
Patrick J. Venetucci	53	2018	Director


	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Fee Category	2020		2019
Audit Fees (1)	$	294,803	$	255,589
Audit-Related Fees	—		—
Tax Fees (2)	—		28,534
All Other Fees	—		—
Total	$	294,803	$	284,123


Name of Beneficial Owner	Shares Beneficially Owned	Percentage of Common Stock Beneficially Owned (1)
Executive Officers and Directors:
Edward H. (Ted) Murphy (2)	1,522,789	2.4	%
Ryan S. Schram (3)	229,487	*
LeAnn C. Hitchcock (4)	12,557	*
Brian W. Brady (5)	1,532,807	2.5	%
John H. Caron (6)	141,286	*
Lindsay A. Gardner (7)	180,317	*
Jill M. Golder (8)	20,143	*
Daniel R. Rua (9)	76,953	*
Patrick J. Venetucci (10)	103,137	*
Peter J. Biere (11)	551	*
All executive officers and directors as a group (9 persons) (11)	3,807,470	6.0	%


Name and Principal Position	Year	Salary		Stock Awards		Option Awards (1)		Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation (2)		All Other Compensation (3)		Total
Edward H. (Ted) Murphy(4)	2020	$	269,424	$	61,790	$	227,010	$	66,572	$	814	$	625,610
President and Chief Executive Officer	2019	$	243,547	$	195,597	$	183,299	$	118,604	$	814	$	741,861
Ryan S. Schram (5)	2020	$	259,075	$	65,721	$	2,161	$	170,392	$	305	$	497,654
Chief Operating Officer	2019	$	259,784	$	6,124	$	8,758	$	128,415	$	305	$	403,386
LeAnn C. Hitchcock (6)	2020	$	267,639	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	267,639
Interim Chief Financial Officer	2019	$	70,624	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	70,624


	Option Awards
Name	Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options: Exercisable	Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options: Unexercisable		Option Exercise Price (1)		Option Expiration Date
Edward H. (Ted) Murphy	25,000	—		$	5.00	3/1/2023
President and Chief Executive Officer	9,384	—		$	5.00	3/1/2023
	219,949	—		$	5.00	8/15/2023
	40,000	—		$	5.20	12/26/2024
	7,300	—		$	7.80	4/1/2025
	3,108	—		$	8.40	7/1/2025
	3,307	—		$	8.00	10/1/2025
	37,388	—		$	7.80	11/30/2025
	8,297	—		$	6.91	3/30/2026
	5,539	—		$	5.75	5/16/2026
	8,058	—		$	7.22	8/16/2026
	6,299	—		$	4.72	11/17/2026
	40,000	—		$	4.75	11/30/2026
	13,359	890	(4)	$	4.20	3/31/2027
	10,649	1,238	(4)	$	2.75	5/12/2027
	586	27,527	(2)	$	1.95	8/14/2027
	30,833	9,167	(3)	$	4.65	11/30/2027
	8,150	4,470	(2)	$	1.34	6/5/2028
	10,954	7,825	(2)	$	1.10	8/16/2028
	4,480	4,121	(2)	$	1.46	11/16/2028
	20,833	19,167	(3)	$	1.33	11/30/2028
	87,500	112,500	(3)	$	1.06	4/23/2029
	16,225	14,518	(5)	$	0.65	5/14/2029
	25,517	31,897	(5)	$	0.42	8/14/2029
	70,834	129,166	(3)	$	0.31	8/27/2029
	50,000	150,000	(5)	$	0.17	4/1/2030
	19,479	167,521	(3)	$	1.26	8/27/2030

Ryan S. Schram	5,000	—		$	5.00	3/1/2023
Chief Operating Officer	3,750	—		$	5.00	3/1/2023
	6,667	—		$	5.60	1/2/2025
	1,217	—		$	7.80	4/1/2025
	511	—		$	8.40	7/1/2025
	560	—		$	8.00	10/1/2025
	6,355	—		$	7.60	1/1/2026
	1,383	—		$	6.91	3/30/2026
	923	—		$	5.75	5/16/2026
	1,343	—		$	7.22	8/16/2026
	1,050	—		$	4.72	11/17/2026
	6,667	—		$	4.51	1/1/2027
	2,227	148	(2)	$	4.20	3/31/2027
	2,211	201	(2)	$	2.75	5/12/2027
	89	4,166	(2)	$	1.95	8/14/2027


	5,000	1,667	(3)	$	4.52	1/1/2028
	1,810	992	(2)	$	1.34	6/5/2028
	1,891	1,350	(2)	$	1.10	8/16/2028
	325	299	(2)	$	1.46	11/16/2028
	3,334	3,333	(3)	$	0.98	1/1/2029
	2,576	3,933	(2)	$	0.65	5/14/2029
	3,190	6,379	(2)	$	0.42	8/14/2029
	1,667	5,000	(3)	$	0.24	1/1/2030
	1,250	5,417	(2)	$	0.17	4/1/2030

LeAnn C. Hitchcock	125	—		$	5.00	3/1/2023
Interim Chief Financial Officer


		Stock Awards
Name		Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested	Equity Incentive Plan Awards: Market Value or Payout Value of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights That Have Not Vested
Edward H. (Ted) Murphy	(1)	469	$	854
President and Chief Executive Officer	(1)	1,729	$	3,147
	(1)	7,209	$	13,120
	(2)	58,327	$	106,155
	(2)	166,827	$	303,625
	(2)	49,140	$	89,435
	(2)	11,592	$	21,097
	(2)	13,826	$	25,163
	(2)	25,228	$	45,915

Ryan S. Schram	(3)	110	$	200
Chief Operating Officer	(3)	288	$	524
	(3)	1,290	$	2,348
	(3)	2,571	$	4,679
	(4)	63,756	$	116,036
	(4)	100,000	$	182,000
	(4)	25,389	$	46,208
	(4)	2,800	$	5,096
	(4)	2,451	$	4,461
	(4)	4,278	$	7,786

LeAnn C. Hitchcock		—	$	—
Interim Chief Financial Officer


Plan Category	Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights	Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights		Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a))
	(a)	(b)		(c) (1)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders	2,683,155	$	2.56	4,212,916
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders	—	—		—
Total	2,683,155	$	2.56	4,212,916


Name	Fees Earned or Paid in Cash		Stock Awards		Option Awards		Total
Brian W. Brady (1)	$	24,950	$	25,000	$	—	$	49,950
John H. Caron (2)	$	28,950	$	25,000	$	—	$	53,950
Lindsay A. Gardner (3)	$	24,950	$	25,000	$	—	$	49,950
Jill M. Golder (4)	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—
Daniel R. Rua (5)	$	28,950	$	25,000	$	—	$	53,950
Patrick J. Venetucci (6)	$	28,950	$	25,000	$	—	$	53,950

SEC Form DEF 14A filed by IZEA Worldwide, Inc.