Upon the stepping down of Check Point's longest-standing CEO, Gil Shwed is cashing in on some of his options. Shwed has exercised options for 1.3 million shares, valued at $201.4 million, which were granted to him in 2017 and have now expired.
The deal is expected to yield him a 50 million dollar profit, after the price of the Check Point stock rose from 114 dollars in 2017 to 152 dollars in 2024.
Shwed has only received compensation with shares and options from Check Point for many years after relinquishing his salary. Typically, he exercises expiring options without setting a specific date for sale.
Shwed remains the largest shareholder in the company, owning 29.7 million shares as of the end of December 2023, representing a 25.3% stake in Check Point. At the company's current valuation, his holdings are valued at $4.3 billion—an unusually substantial holding for a technology company and relative to typical holdings in Wall Street firms.
Shwed, one of the founders of the cybersecurity company alongside Shlomo Kramer and Marius Nacht, has led it from its establishment and is the last remaining founder at the company. His record-setting tenure, dating back to Check Point's establishment in 1993, has made Shwed, 55, the longest-serving CEO of a Nasdaq-traded company.
As Check Point is searching for its next CEO, Shwed is expected to transition to the Executive Chairman role, aiming to distance himself from day-to-day management and focus on strategic initiatives.
Check Point recently released its first-quarter 2024 reports, slightly surpassing Wall Street's forecasts. The company reported revenues of $599 million for the first quarter of 2024 compared to $566 million in the same period in 2023, marking a 6% increase, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations of $595 million. Earnings per share stood at $2.04, a 13% increase from the corresponding quarter, surpassing expectations of $2.01.