Shutterstock CFO Jarrod Yahes will be departing from his role effective Nov. 1 in order to pursue another opportunity, the digital content and stock image provider said in a securities filing.
The New York-based company appointed Rik Powell, its SVP, finance and investor relations to serve as finance chief, also effective Nov. 1, according to the filing.
The company also announced results for its Q3, reporting record revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of $250.6 million — a 7% increase year-over-year, according to its earnings report.
Yahes has served as Shutterstock’s finance chief for three years, and will stay on as an advisor for Shutterstock through Dec. 31, according to the filing. During that period, Yahes will continue to earn his base salary and will also be eligible to receive an annual cash bonus for the full year 2024, the company said.
For the full year 2023, Yahes received total compensation of approximately $4.9 million, comprised of a $550,000 annual base salary, $471,700 in non-incentive compensation and $3.8 million in stock awards, according to the company’s latest proxy statement filed in April. According to his employment agreement, Yahes will be eligible to receive benefits associated with a voluntary resignation, including cash severance equaling 12 months of his base salary, according to the SEC filing. Yahes will forfeit any unvested equity awards, Shutterstock said.
Throughout his tenure at the digital media company, Yahes has “taken the business from $96 million in EBITDA in 2020 to $250 million this year, nearly doubled our EBITDA margins and led 11 acquisitions, which have all been constructive in driving overall revenue and EBITDA growth,” CEO Paul Hennessy said during the company’s Q3 earnings call.
In addition to record Q3 revenue, Shutterstock also reported record adjusted EBITDA of $70 million, according to its earnings report. Much of this boost was due to the company’s acquisition of digital asset company Envato, which was officially closed this July.
Shutterstock announced its intent to acquire the company in May for $245 million in cash, with financing via a $375 credit facility, the company announced at the time. The acquisition brought 650,000 new subscribers to Shutterstock, “more than doubling” its subscriber base to 1.15 million, and also enabled the company to branch out to new types of content, including code and web themes and product markups. The total aggregate consideration paid by Shutterstock was $250 million, the company said.
Q3 was the first quarter Envato products contributed to its consolidated results, CEO Hennessy said, with Shutterstock seeing a 14% jump in its content revenue segment for the quarter to reach $203.7 million — primarily driven by revenues from Envato, according to its Q3 results. Its content products represent 81% of the quarter’s total revenue.
However, Hennessy also noted that barring Envato’s contribution, content revenues for the quarter declined 7% YoY, which does represent an improvement over the 9% YoY decline Shutterstock reported for its Q2.
“We remain focused on improving performance in this area and are working extremely hard to drive the desired results,” Hennessy said. “Changes we have made to simplify pricing, streamline the product offering and eliminate the use of the free trial promotion are slowly resulting in the improved performance that we are experiencing across our Content business.”
Yahes’ successor Powell will take Shutterstock’s financial reins as it looks to continue to improve its content revenues and offerings. Powell most recently served as SVP, finance and investor relations for Shake Shack, before joining Shutterstock in his current role this June, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to Shake Shack, he served a 16-year span at fellow digital media and image provider Getty Images, including a three-year term as its finance chief.
As Shutterstock’s CFO, Powell will receive an annual base salary of $450,000 and will also be eligible for an annual bonus opportunity comprising 80% of that base, according to the company filing.
He will also receive a grant of restricted stock units on Nov. 1 upon taking the seat, with the number of units to be granted calculated “by dividing $350,000 by the average of the Company’s closing price for a share of Common Stock on each trading day during the 30 trading days period ending on the date immediately prior to the Grant Date,” according to the filing.
