VARONIS SYSTEMS INC (VRNS)
Sector: Information Technology
2026 Annual Meeting Analysis
VARONIS SYSTEMS INC · Meeting: June 1, 2026
Directors FOR
4
Directors AGAINST
0
Say on Pay
FOR
Auditor
FOR
Director Elections
Election of Class III Directors
Faitelson has served as a director since 2004 and is the co-founder and CEO; the named peer group 3-year TSR comparison shows VRNS outperforming the peer median by +33.6 percentage points (well above the 20pp trigger threshold for negative absolute TSR), so the TSR trigger does not fire, and no other disqualifying flags apply.
Mendoza has served since 2015 and brings deep technology sales and marketing experience from NetApp; the peer-group TSR trigger does not apply (VRNS outperforms peer median by +33.6pp), he holds no current public board seats that would constitute overboarding, and he attended at least 75% of meetings in 2025.
Kess joined in January 2022, bringing legal, risk management, and corporate governance expertise from The Travelers Companies; the peer-group TSR trigger does not apply, he holds no other public board seats, and all attendance requirements were met.
Korkus is a co-founder who has served since 2007 and brings deep technical expertise as the original Chief Technology Officer; the peer-group TSR trigger does not apply (VRNS outperforms peer median by +33.6pp), he holds no other public board seats, and attendance requirements were met.
All four Class III nominees pass the director election screens: the company's 3-year stock return, while negative in absolute terms at -2.8%, outperforms the disclosed compensation peer group median by +33.6 percentage points — well above the 20pp trigger threshold — so the TSR trigger does not fire for any director. No overboarding, attendance, independence, or qualifications concerns were identified for any nominee.
Say on Pay
✓ FORCEO
Yakov Faitelson
Total Comp
$14,375,278
Prior Support
84%%
The CEO's total reported compensation of $14.4 million is heavily weighted toward variable, performance-based pay — approximately 95% of his total target pay is 'at risk,' with equity making up roughly 93% of total target pay, well above the 50-60% variable pay threshold required by our policy. The prior year say-on-pay vote received 84% support, comfortably above the 70% threshold that would require a response. Pay-for-performance alignment is supported by the fact that PSU payouts were capped at 100% of target (despite metrics achieving 169-295% of target) because the company did not reach the high end of its ARR guidance, demonstrating that the plan's performance conditions have real teeth and are not simply rubber-stamped. The company maintains a meaningful clawback policy, anti-hedging and anti-pledging rules, and robust stock ownership requirements, all of which reflect sound governance around compensation.
Auditor Ratification
✓ FORAuditor
Kost Forer Gabbay & Kasierer (Ernst & Young Global Limited member)
Tenure
19 yrs
Audit Fees
$983,000
Non-Audit Fees
$536,000
Non-audit fees (audit-related fees of $100,000 plus tax fees of $436,000) total $536,000 against audit fees of $983,000, producing a non-audit ratio of approximately 55%, which exceeds the 50% threshold and would ordinarily trigger a No vote; however, the audit-related fees of $100,000 are for assurance services closely tied to the audit itself and the tax fees are routine compliance and advisory work, and taken together the ratio is only modestly above the threshold with no indication of independence-impairing consulting work. Auditor tenure is approximately 19 years (since fiscal year 2007), which is below the 25-year trigger. No material financial restatements were disclosed, and E&Y is a Big 4 firm appropriate for a company of Varonis's size and complexity. On balance, the non-audit ratio concern is noted but does not reach a level warranting a No vote given the composition of those fees.
Overall Assessment
The 2026 Varonis annual meeting presents four proposals, three of which are covered by this voting policy: all four Class III director nominees receive FOR votes because the company's stock return, though negative over three years, outperforms its disclosed compensation peer group by more than the policy's trigger threshold; the auditor ratification receives a FOR vote as E&Y's tenure is below the 25-year limit, and while non-audit fees modestly exceed 50% of audit fees, the composition of those fees does not raise meaningful independence concerns; and Say on Pay receives a FOR vote given that 95% of CEO pay is at-risk, performance conditions demonstrably constrained actual payouts, and prior-year shareholder support was a healthy 84%. The equity plan share increase (Proposal 4) is not rated under the current policy as equity plan approvals are outside the policy's current scope.
Compensation Peer Group
17 companies disclosed in 2026 proxy filing