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First Foundation Executive Compensation (FY24)

FFWM · Executive and director compensation, fiscal 2022 to 2024
Median of the other named officers
$815,100
6 officers, excluding the chief executive
Latest say-on-pay support
=
May 30, 2025
Chief executive pay ratio
◇
To the median employee
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Data as of October 18, 2026Latest filing (8-K): May 30, 2025
8 filings cited on this page
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172 figures on this page: 167 cited to the filing that reported them, 5 calculated from figures it prints. See the citations
What changed from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2024
The figures that moved, and by how much. Analysis of these figures is part of the Velarion platform.
Chief executive of record: Scott Kavanaugh → Thomas Shafer
CEO pay ratio: 14:1 → 55:1 (292.9% higher)

Frequently asked questions

Answers drawn from the data on this page.
What was First Foundation's say-on-pay result?
Shareholders supported the say-on-pay proposal with 90.0% of votes cast including abstentions in favor at the meeting held May 30, 2025 for fiscal 2024.
Which companies are in First Foundation's peer group?
Companies named in the disclosed peer group include BancFirst Corporation, Bank of Hawaii Corporation, Banner Corporation, Business First Bancshares, Inc. and Cathay General Bancorp, among others.
What is First Foundation's chief executive pay ratio?
The disclosed chief executive pay ratio for fiscal 2024 is 55:1, against median employee compensation of $90,000.

Executive compensation

Every element reported for each named executive officer, by fiscal year.
Fiscal 2022
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Scott Kavanaugh
Chief Executive Officer of FFI and FFB, Vice Chairman of FFI, President and Chairman of FFB
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Ulrich Keller
Executive Chairman of FFI and FFA
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Christopher Naghibi
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of FFB
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
John Hakopian
President of FFA
◇—◇—◇—◇◇
Amy Djou
Executive Vice President, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of FFI and Chief Accounting Officer of FFB
◇◇◇———◇◇
Fiscal 2023
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Scott Kavanaugh
Former Chief Executive Officer of FFI and FFB and Former President and Chairman of FFB
◇—◇———◇◇
Ulrich Keller
Former Executive Chairman of FFI and FFA
◇—◇———◇◇
John Hakopian
President of FFA
◇—◇———◇◇
Christopher Naghibi
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of FFB
◇—◇———◇◇
Amy Djou
Executive Vice President, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of FFI and Chief Accounting Officer of FFB
◇—————◇◇
James Britton
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of FFI and FFB
◇◇◇———◇◇
Fiscal 2024
OfficerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Thomas Shafer
Chief Executive Officer of FFI and FFB
◇—◇———◇◇
Scott Kavanaugh
Former Chief Executive Officer of FFI and FFB and Former President and Chairman of FFB
Departed during or after this year
◇—◇———◇◇
John Hakopian
President of FFA
◇—◇———◇◇
Ulrich Keller
Former Executive Chairman of FFI and FFA
Departed during or after this year
◇——————◇
Christopher Naghibi
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of FFB
◇—◇———◇◇
James Britton
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of FFI and FFB
◇—◇———◇◇
Simone Lagomarsino
President of FFI and FFB
◇—————◇◇
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. A negative change in pension value is shown but, as the company reports it, not included in the total.

Equity awards granted

Individual awards as disclosed: type, date, unit counts at each level, and grant date value.
Fiscal 2024
OfficerAwardGrant dateThreshold unitsTarget unitsUnits grantedMaximum unitsExercise priceGrant date fair value
Christopher NaghibiRSU◇——◇——◇
James BrittonRSU◇——◇——◇
John A. HakopianRSU◇——◇——◇
Scott F. KavanaughRSU◇——◇——◇
Thomas C. ShaferRSU◇——◇——◇
Fiscal 2023 are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero. Threshold, target and maximum apply only to performance awards and are never shown for time-based or option awards.

Outstanding awards

Awards still held at fiscal year end.
As disclosed at fiscal 2024 year end
OfficerAwardUnvested unitsMarket value of unvested unitsExercise priceExpires
John HakopianRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Christopher NaghibiRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
Ulrich KellerRSU◇◇——
Thomas ShaferRSU◇◇——
James BrittonRSU◇◇——
RSU◇◇——
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Severance and change in control

The terms as written in the agreements.
Christopher Naghibi
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of FFB · Terms as described in the company’s compensation discussion · citing a 2025 filing
Severance multiple◇
Severance base◇
Severance cash amount◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Equity acceleration on change in control◇
James Britton
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of FFI and FFB · Employment agreement · citing a 2026 filing
Severance multiple◇
Severance base◇
Change-in-control trigger◇
Equity acceleration on change in control◇
Excise tax treatment◇
Non-solicit period◇
John Hakopian
President of FFA · Terms as described in the company’s compensation discussion · citing a 2025 filing
Equity acceleration on change in control◇
Benefits continuation on change in control◇
Benefits continuation◇
Thomas Shafer
Chief Executive Officer of FFI and FFB · Terms as described in the company’s compensation discussion · citing a 2025 filing
Change-in-control base◇
Equity acceleration on change in control◇
Ulrich Keller
Former Executive Chairman of FFI and FFA · Terms as described in the company’s compensation discussion · citing a 2025 filing
Severance multiple◇
Severance base◇
Severance cash amount◇
Change-in-control multiple◇
Change-in-control base◇
Equity acceleration on change in control◇

Director compensation

What each non-employee director was paid.
Fiscal 2024
DirectorFees earned in cashStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension and deferred earningsAll other compensationTotal
Max A. Briggs
Board chair
◇◇————◇
Jacob P. Sonenshine
◇◇————◇
Mitchell M. Rosenberg
◇◇————◇
Elizabeth A. Pagliarini
◇◇————◇
Benjamin Mackovak
◇—————◇
Sam Edelson
◇—————◇
C. Allen Parker
◇—————◇
Thomas C. Shafer, Simone Lagomarsino and Henchy R. Enden served on the board in fiscal 2024 and received no compensation for board service. Executive directors are typically paid through their executive roles, shown above.
Earlier years are included in the PDF.
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. $0 is shown only where the filing prints a zero.

Director fee schedule

The standing retainers and premiums the board pays, as published.
Board cash retainer◇
Board equity retainer◇
Total board retainer◇
Board chair premium◇
Equity is delivered as restricted stock units.
Stock ownership guideline: 5x cash retainer

Disclosed peer group

The companies this board named as its compensation comparison group. The list is disclosure; the comparison is analysis.
Fiscal 2024
  • BancFirst Corporation BANF
  • Bank of Hawaii Corporation BOH
  • Banner Corporation BANR
  • Business First Bancshares, Inc. BFST
  • Cathay General Bancorp CATY
  • Central Pacific Financial Corp. CPF
  • CVB Financial Corp. CVBF
  • First Financial Bankshares, Inc. FFIN
  • Hanmi Financial Corporation HAFC
  • Heritage Financial Corporation HFWA
  • Home Bancshares, Inc. HOMB
  • Hope Bancorp, Inc. HOPE
  • National Bank Holdings Corporation NBHC
  • Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. PPBI
  • Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida SBCF
  • ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. SFBS
  • Southside Bancshares, Inc. SBSI
  • Stellar Bancorp, Inc. STEL
  • TriCo Bancshares TCBK
  • Veritex Holdings, Inc. VBTX

Say-on-pay history

Shareholder support for the compensation program, by year.
YearMeetingSupportVotes forVotes againstAbstentions
2024May 30, 2025=◇◇◇
2022June 27, 2023=◇◇◇
2021June 7, 2022=◇◇◇
2019May 26, 2020=◇◇◇
2018May 28, 2019=◇◇◇

Chief executive pay ratio

As calculated and reported by the company.
Ratio
◇
Median employee compensation
◇
Chief executive total compensation
◇

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Sample answer — “What is the CEO’s total compensation?”
- Thomas Shafer (Chief Executive Officer of FFI and FFB), FY2024 total compensation $4,013,755 (base salary $132,755) [exec_comp, SEC accession 0001104659-25-036041, filed 2025-04-17]

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What this page does not include

Everything above is a fact First Foundation disclosed, and it is free. Everything below is our analysis of those facts, and it is not.
Peer benchmarking
Where First Foundation sits against its disclosed peers — percentile position by role and by pay element, and the ranking behind it. The disclosed peer group is free; comparisons across it are part of the Velarion platform.
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Committee composition, independence, director pay positioning, and the governance provisions read together rather than listed.
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Realizable pay
What the awards above are actually worth today against what they were valued at on grant, and what the gap says about the pay-for-performance link.
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Citations

Every figure on this page is cited to the document that reported it. Select any figure to see its citation.
172 figures on this page: 167 cited to the filing that reported them, 5 calculated from figures it prints.
167 cited to the filing
5 calculated from the filing

Documents cited

  1. 0001104659-25-054844
    Proposal No. 4 - Advisory Vote on the Compensation of the Company’s Named Executive Officers Votes For Votes Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes
  2. 0001104659-25-036041
    Compensation Discussion and Analysis · Director Compensation · Grants of Plan-Based Awards · Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End · and 2 more sections
  3. 0001104659-24-048756
    Summary Compensation Table
  4. 0001104659-23-077166
  5. 0001558370-22-009916
  6. 0001564590-20-027073
  7. 0001564590-19-021310
  8. 0001104659-26-037217
    EX-10.2
Cite this data
This page is free to cite. Attribution we ask for:
Velarion, “First Foundation executive compensation, FY2022–FY2024.” https://intel.velarion.ai/comp/FFWM (accessed 2026).
Short form: data: Velarion

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Positioning against its disclosed peers, the governance read, incentive design, and the CD&A alignment analysis; the full peer table; a committee-ready PDF.
From $499 for the board report; $2,400 for both.
Get the executive briefGet the board briefNo account needed.
8 filings cited on this page
Method: intel.velarion.ai/methodology
A report that fails to generate is refunded in full
Published by Velarion Company Intelligence
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Peers First Foundation discloses

The companies named in FFWM's own disclosed peer group.

BancFirst CorporationBank of Hawaii CorporationBanner CorporationBusiness First Bancshares, Inc.Cathay General BancorpCentral Pacific Financial Corp.CVB Financial Corp.First Financial Bankshares, Inc.Hanmi Financial CorporationHeritage Financial CorporationHome Bancshares, Inc.Hope Bancorp, Inc.National Bank Holdings CorporationPacific Premier Bancorp, Inc.Seacoast Banking Corporation of FloridaServisFirst Bancshares, Inc.Southside Bancshares, Inc.Stellar Bancorp, Inc.TriCo BancsharesVeritex Holdings, Inc.

Terms on this page

Say-on-Pay VoteCEO Pay RatioMedian Employee CompensationAll companies

Free to read and cite. Redistribution or bulk use of the dataset requires a data license. Talk to us about the data license.

Cite this data
APA
Velarion Company Intelligence. (2026). Velarion database: executive and board compensation data (Version 2026Q3) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854
BibTeX
@misc{velarionData2026,
  author = {{Velarion Company Intelligence}},
  title = {Velarion database: executive and board compensation data},
  year = {2026},
  version = {2026Q3},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22283854},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22283854}
}
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