Morning, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Lifetime Brands Incorporated. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. During the meeting, there will be a general question and answer session, which will take place after the formal matters are addressed. Stockholders who participate in the meeting by entering a 15-digit control number may submit a question regarding the proposals at any time by clicking the Q&A icon. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Jeffrey Siegel, Chairman of the Board of Lifetime Brands, Inc. Mr. Siegel, the floor is yours. Thank you. Good morning. It's time to convene the annual meeting of stockholders of Lifetime Brands, Inc. I am Jeff Siegel, Chairman of the Board of the company. I hereby call the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to order. I would like to start by extending a warm welcome to you, our stockholders and guests, and thank you for your attendance today. Today's meeting is being held via a live audio webcast. We hope that this virtual meeting will maximize the participation of stockholders regardless of their location. I call your attention to the rules of conduct set forth for this meeting. They're being made available to each stockholder in the documents section in the upper right corner of the meeting center screen. I would like to introduce the other directors of the company. They are Robert B. Kay. Robert B. Kay is the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Jeffrey H. Evans. Jeffrey H. Evans is the Chief Commercial Officer for the Reebok brand at Galaxy Employee Corporation. Rachael A. Jarosh. Rachael A. Jarosh is past President and CEO of Enactus, a nonprofit organization. Cherrie Nanninga. Cherrie Nanninga is a consultant for RESGroup and was the Chief Operating Officer of the New York Tri-State region of CB Richard Ellis, Inc, a commercial real estate firm. Craig Phillips. Craig Phillips was Senior Vice President, Distribution of the company. Veronique Gabai-Pinsky. Veronique Gabai-Pinsky leads her own brand of luxury perfumes and was Global President of the Vera Wang Group. Bruce G. Pollack. Bruce G. Pollack is a Managing Partner of Centre Partners Management LLC. Michael J. Regan. Michael J. Regan was a Partner of KPMG LLP. Michael Schnabel. Michael Schnabel is a Senior Partner of Centre Partners Management LLC. I would like now to introduce you to our officers, starting with Daniel Siegel, President of the company. Larry Winoker. Larry is Executive Vice President and Treasurer of the company and our Chief Financial Officer. Sarah Schindel. Sarah is Executive Vice President and the company's General Counsel and Secretary. Finally, I would like to introduce Mike Moran, a Partner with Ernst & Young LLP, the company's independent registered public accounting firm. I have before me an affidavit of Computershare, our transfer agent, stating that a copy of the notice of Internet availability of proxy materials was mailed on or about May 6, 2026, to each stockholder of record as of the close of business on April 21st, 2026, the record date for this meeting. The affidavit to which are attached copies of the notice and proxy statement will be appended to the minutes of the meeting. Christopher Perkins, a relationship manager with Computershare, has been appointed to act as Inspector of Election for this meeting. He is neither an officer nor director of the company. His subscribed oath to faithfully execute his duties as Inspector of Election has been submitted and will be appended to the minutes. The Inspector of Election has polled the stockholders present and has examined the proxies. His report has been submitted and indicates that holders of shares of common stock in excess of the number necessary to constitute a quorum are present or represented by proxy. His report will be appended to the minutes. We will now vote on the four items set forth in this notice of annual meeting of stockholders and proxy statement. One, to elect nine directors to the board of directors of the company, each to serve until the 2027 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified. Two, to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. Three, to approve on a non-binding advisory basis the 2025 compensation of the company's named executive officers. Four, to approve an amended and restatement of the company's amended and restated 2000 long-term incentive plan. If you have not voted or wish to change your vote, you may do so now by clicking on the vote icon in the upper right corner of this meeting center screen. Any stockholder who has already voted and does not wish to change their vote need not take any further action. Please reserve any questions until the appropriate question period. There will be a general Q&A portion of the meeting, which will take place after the formal matters are addressed. The first item of business to properly come before the meeting is the election as directors of the nine nominees named in the company's proxy statement to hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier resignation or removal. The board of directors unanimously recommends the following nine nominees for election as directors: Jeffrey Siegel, Robert B. Kay, Jeffrey H. Evans, Rachael A. Jarosh, Cherrie Nanninga, Bruce G. Pollack, Michael J. Regan, Michael Schnabel, and Daniel Siegel. The names that each of the aforementioned nominees shall be deemed duly placed into nomination. These nine individuals are the only nominees for election as directors. The second item of business to properly come before the meeting is the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. The board of directors unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. The third item of business to properly come before the meeting is the approval on a non-binding advisory basis of the 2025 compensation of the named executive officers. The board of directors unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. The fourth item of business to properly come before the meeting is the approval of an amendment and restatement of the company's amended and restated 2000 long-term incentive plan. The board of directors unanimously recommends a vote for this proposal. All agenda items are deemed to be placed before the meeting. We will now give the inspector of elections a moment to record the votes. Now that all of the ballots have been collected, I declare that the polls are now closed. While we are waiting for the report of the inspector of elections, we will move to the informal question and answer portion of the meeting. Stockholders who participate in the meeting by entering a control number may submit questions regarding the proposals by clicking on the Q&A icon in the upper right corner of the meeting center screen. Questions should relate to the official business of the meeting. Please refer to the rules of conduct for additional information regarding questions posed during the meeting. I have before me a report of the inspector of elections. The report shows that votes representing a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast for the election of each, Jeffrey Siegel, Robert B. Kay, Jeffrey H. Evans, Rachael A. Jarosh, Cherrie Nanninga, Bruce G. Pollack, Michael J. Regan, Michael Schnabel, and Daniel Siegel as directors. Two, a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast in favor of the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. Three, a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast in favor of approving the 2025 compensation of the named executive officers. Four, a majority of the shares of common stock present or represented by proxy at the meeting were cast in favor of approving the amendment and restatement of the company's amended and restated 2000 long-term incentive plan. Accordingly, I hereby declare that, one, the nominees of the board of directors have been duly elected as directors of the company to hold office until the 2027 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier resignation or removal. Two, the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent auditors of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026, has been ratified. Three, the 2025 compensation of the company's named executive officers has been approved on a non-binding advisory basis. Four, the amendment and restatement of the company's amended and restated 2000 long-term incentive plan has been approved. Pursuant to SEC rules, the official results from our meeting will be published by the company within four business days of this meeting. There being no further business to come before the meeting, I declare the meeting adjourned. This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.
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