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A new United States Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. SEC) filing by Sonos for issuance of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) for Microsoft’s Panos Panay suggests that the home audio device manufacturer could be adding Panay to its Board of Directors. The filing is dated August 14, with the transaction having been issued on August 12.
The entries on SEC's website list two forms submitted by Sonos, “Form 3 - Initial statement of beneficial ownership of securities” and “Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities”. The document also states that the RSUs will “vest in full on the earlier of February 27, 2021 or the next annual meeting of stockholders”. It is likely that Panay will be inducted into the board sometime during the company’s annual stakeholders’ meeting, after which the said shares will be transferred – which will amount to 10% ownership.
Though interesting, the filings may not necessarily mean that Redmond giant’s Chief Device Officer is leaving the company to serve on Sonos’ board. It is not uncommon for top executives to hold such positions in other companies. For example, Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is part of Starbucks’ Board of Directors. Sonos also holds former Microsoft employee, Robert Bach on its Board of Directors, in addition to other executives from Quibi, Publicis Sapient, and more.
Panay’s team expanded recently as part of a re-organization which brought more Windows teams under his leadership. Therefore, it seems unlikely that any major change could occur in Panay’s role at the company. Regardless, we have reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update the story with a response if we receive one.
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