UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SCHEDULE 14A

 

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 ☐ Preliminary Proxy Statement

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Twilio Inc.

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Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders

Dear Stockholders of Twilio Inc.:

We cordially invite you to attend the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of Twilio Inc., a Delaware corporation, which will be held virtually on June 6, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time via live audio webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/TWLO2024, for the following purposes, as more fully described in the accompanying proxy statement:

The Annual Meeting will be a virtual meeting held via live audio webcast. You will be able to attend the meeting, vote your shares and submit your questions during the meeting at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/TWLO2024. As always, we encourage you to vote your shares prior to the Annual Meeting either via the Internet, by telephone or by mail to help make this meeting format as efficient as possible.

Our board of directors has fixed the close of business on April 15, 2024 as the record date for the Annual Meeting. Only stockholders of record on April 15, 2024 are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting. Further information regarding voting rights and the matters to be voted upon are presented in the accompanying proxy statement.

This proxy statement and our annual report can be accessed directly at www.proxyvote.com. You will be asked to enter the 16-digit control number located on your proxy card.

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to submit your vote as soon as possible to ensure that your shares are represented. For additional instructions on how to vote your shares, please refer to your proxy card. Voting your shares by proxy prior to the Annual Meeting does not deprive you of your right to attend the Annual Meeting and to vote your shares at the Annual Meeting.

Table of Contents

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Proxy Statement Summary

This proxy statement and the enclosed form of proxy are furnished in connection with the solicitation of proxies by our board of directors for use at the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders of Twilio Inc., a Delaware corporation (referred to in this proxy statement as “Twilio,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), and any postponements, adjournments or continuations thereof (the “Annual Meeting”).

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this proxy statement. This summary does not contain all of the information you should consider, and you should read the entire proxy statement carefully before voting. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not intended to be incorporated by reference into this proxy statement and references to our website address in this proxy statement are inactive textual references only.

Information About Our 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

The Annual Meeting will be held virtually on June 6, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time via live audio webcast. We encourage you to access the Annual Meeting before it begins. Online check-in will start at approximately 8:15 a.m. Pacific Time. You will be able to attend the virtual Annual Meeting, vote your shares electronically and submit your questions during the live audio webcast of the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/TWLO2024 and entering your 16-digit control number located on your proxy card. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Notice”) containing instructions on how to access this proxy statement and our annual report is first being mailed on or about April 26, 2024 to all stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.

Additional information about these proxy materials and the Annual Meeting is provided in “question and answer” format commencing on page 83 of this proxy statement.

How to Vote

Voting Matters and Vote Recommendation

Financial and Business Highlights

Business Overview

We enable businesses of all sizes to revolutionize how they engage with their customers by delivering seamless, trusted and personalized customer experiences at scale. Our leading customer engagement platform comprises communications application programming interfaces (“APIs”) that enable developers to embed numerous forms of messaging, voice, and email interactions into their customer-facing applications, as well as software products that target specific use cases, including customer data platforms, digital engagement centers, marketing campaigns, and advanced account security solutions. This combination of flexible APIs and software solutions helps businesses of all sizes and across numerous industries to benefit from smarter and more streamlined engagement at every step of the customer journey, driving reduced customer acquisition costs, lasting loyalty, and increased customer value. Our platform, which combines our highly customizable communications APIs with customer data management capabilities and software solutions, allows businesses to break down data silos and build a comprehensive single source for their customer data that is organized into unique profiles that are easily accessible by all their business teams. Empowered with this information and the insights it enables, businesses using our platform can provide robust, personalized and effective communications to their customers at every stage of their customer relationships. The value proposition of our offerings has become stronger and our products have become more strategic to our customers as more businesses have prioritized building increasingly personalized and differentiated customer engagement experiences through digital channels.

Business Update

Over the past year and a half, amid an evolving operating environment, we took robust proactive action to better position our business to achieve durable, profitable growth. Some of the key actions we have taken include:

Leadership Transitions

In January 2024, we appointed Khozema Shipchandler as our Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Jeff Lawson, our co-founder, who stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our board of directors (the “CEO Transition”). Mr. Shipchandler had most recently served as President, Twilio Communications, where he successfully pivoted the business to optimize for profitable growth. Prior to serving in this role, Mr. Shipchandler served as Twilio’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and previously spent over two decades at General Electric Company (“General Electric”).

This transition was part of our long-term leadership development and succession planning strategy, which is overseen by our compensation and talent management committee (“compensation committee”). Our succession planning process is further discussed in “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Executive Talent Management and Succession Planning”.

Contemporaneous with our CEO Transition, our board of directors separated the roles of Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer and appointed Jeff Epstein, an independent director and formerly our lead independent director, to fill the newly created role of Independent Board Chair. Our board structure is further discussed in “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Board Leadership Structure”.

Financial Performance and Capital Allocation

Our top priority is creating long-term value for our stockholders by driving Twilio towards durable, profitable growth. Our 2023 financial highlights include the following:

Additionally, as announced in connection with the conclusion of the operational review of Segment in March 2024, we accelerated our target timeline to achieve GAAP operating profitability on a consolidated basis to the fourth quarter of 2025 and we are targeting break-even non-GAAP income from operations for our Segment business by the second quarter of 2025.

Given the strength of our balance sheet and the improving free cash flow generation in our business, in February 2023, our board of directors authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program, and in March 2024, our board of directors announced an additional $2 billion share repurchase program. As of March 31, 2024, we have completed over $1.05 billion of repurchases and we are targeting to complete the remaining authorization by the end of 2024. We believe that these capital return programs create value for stockholders while reducing dilution from stock-based compensation.

Corporate Governance Highlights

Our corporate governance practices are described in the section titled “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance” below, including the following highlights:

Evolution of Corporate Governance

Twilio is committed to strong corporate governance. We believe that robust corporate governance policies and practices are critical to the effective management of our business, helping ensure that our business functions at its best and serves the long-term interests of our stockholders.

Since becoming a public company in 2016, our board and governance practices have evolved to reflect our strategic priorities, the changing needs of our businesses, practices of our peers and stockholder feedback.

As part of this evolution, we have regularly refreshed our board, with seven of nine independent directors added subsequent to the IPO and four of those added since the beginning of 2021, including most recently appointing Andrew Stafman to provide additional stockholder perspective. Our thoughtful and deliberate board refreshment process has focused on adding critical skills and qualifications to our board to help Twilio navigate strategic opportunities and challenges. Moreover, as part of this refreshment process, we have sought highly-qualified directors representing a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives, leading to a board that is comprised of one-third gender diverse directors and one-third racially or ethnically diverse directors, as well as directors that have a wide range of skills and experiences relevant to Twilio.

In January 2024, Khozema Shipchandler was appointed Chief Executive Officer, an appointment which reflected the board's thoughtful and long-term approach to succession planning. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Shipchandler had been elevated to a series of senior executive roles with increasing responsibilities, including Chief Financial Officer in 2018, Chief Operating Officer in 2021, and as President of the Communications business unit in 2023. In January 2024 our board of directors also made the decision to separate the roles of board chair and Chief Executive Officer and appointed Jeff Epstein to the role of independent board chair. Mr. Epstein had previously served as our lead independent director since December 2017.

In 2023, our dual class common stock structure was sunset, providing all stockholders with identical voting rights.

We are also seeking stockholder approval at the Annual Meeting to declassify our board of directors. If approved, directors would be elected to one-year terms beginning with our 2025 annual meeting of stockholders.

An important consideration in all of our corporate governance decisions is stockholder feedback. In 2022 and 2023, we enhanced our stockholder engagement program and carefully considered what we heard from our stockholders. Many of the changes to both our corporate governance and executive compensation practices reflect the board’s incorporation of this important feedback. Our stockholder engagement program is discussed in further detail below under the heading “Stockholder Engagement”.

We are committed to ensuring that our corporate governance practices, as part of our broader strategy and maturation process, best position Twilio for future success. We will continue to evaluate and evolve our corporate governance profile, taking into account the best interests of the company and feedback we receive from our stockholders.

Stockholder Engagement

We have a robust, board-led stockholder engagement program that we use to ensure the perspectives of our stockholders are understood and incorporated into Twilio’s decision-making. Throughout the year, our board of directors and management regularly review and consider feedback received from our stockholders, including through meetings with stockholders, voting results, and other routine communications.

Annual Stockholder Engagement Cycle

In 2023, we enhanced our stockholder engagement program, shifting to a more regular outreach and feedback process in the spring and fall. This expanded dialogue facilitates transparency, helps us better understand the perspectives of our stockholders and allows our board of directors to make better-informed decisions throughout the year.

Stockholder Outreach in 2023

Response to Stockholder Feedback

In the course of our discussions with stockholders, we have received valuable feedback on our business strategy and performance, compensation and corporate governance practices, and other matters, as summarized in the chart below. This feedback was conveyed to our full board of directors and relevant committees for consideration in their decision-making. Our consideration of the feedback from stockholders regarding our compensation of our named executive officers is further discussed in “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Stockholder Engagement and Our Say-on-Pay Vote”.

Our Commitment to Environmental, Social, and

Governance Matters

As a company, we recognize the impact that a business can have on its surrounding community and environment, and we are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen. We also value our employees and recognize the critical roles that they play in the achievement of our long-term goals and overall success. The following is intended as a summary of some of the steps we are taking to create a safe and inclusive workplace for our employees and to foster positive impact in our communities and for our stakeholders. More information about our environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) efforts can be found in our most recent Impact and DEI Report, available on the Governance section of our website at https://investors.twilio.com. Information referenced on our website does not constitute part of this proxy statement.

Board Oversight of ESG

We are committed to sound governance and oversight of our impact on the communities where we operate and the environment. Our board of directors has delegated formal oversight of our ESG activities, programs and disclosure to our nominating and corporate governance committee. Members of our nominating and corporate governance committee receive updates from management and consider policy initiatives and actions related to our ESG activities. Our audit committee and compensation committee also play key roles in ESG-related risk oversight.

Board of Directors and Corporate Governance

Board of Directors

Our business and affairs are managed under the direction of a highly independent, experienced, qualified and diverse board of directors. Our board of directors, through our nominating and corporate governance committee, proactively evaluates its composition in the context of our company’s evolving business needs and has taken a thoughtful approach to board composition. Our board of directors and the nominating and corporate governance committee believe the skills, qualities, attributes, experience and diversity of backgrounds (including diversity of gender and race/ethnicity) of our directors provide us with the right range of perspectives to effectively address our evolving needs and represent the best interests of our stockholders. Our board of directors also oversees our stockholder engagement program and reviews investor feedback, which allows us to better understand the perspectives of our stockholders and to take this feedback into account as we shape the composition of our board of directors.

Our board of directors currently consists of ten directors. Our board of directors will be reduced to nine directors, effective as of immediately prior to the Annual Meeting. All of our board members, other than Mr. Shipchandler (and, during his time on our board of directors, Mr. Lawson), qualify as “independent” under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange. Our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors. At each annual meeting of stockholders, a class of directors will be elected for a three-year term to succeed the class whose term is then expiring. The effect that the management proposal to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (our “certificate of incorporation”) to declassify the board of directors will have on the three director classes and their respective terms of office is described below under the heading “Proposal 5—Management Proposal to Amend Our Certificate of Incorporation to Declassify the Board of Directors.”

The following table sets forth the names, ages as of March 31, 2024, and certain other information for each of the members of our board of directors with terms expiring at the Annual Meeting (who are also nominees for election as a director at the Annual Meeting) and for each of the continuing and non-continuing members of our board of directors. Mr. Deeter is not standing for re-election at the Annual Meeting. His term as a member of our board of directors will end immediately prior to the Annual Meeting.

Board Skills and Experience Matrix

Our nominating and corporate governance committee periodically evaluates the composition of our board of directors in the context of our company’s evolving business needs, to ensure that our directors have the skillsets, experiences and backgrounds that collectively add value to the strategic decisions made by our company, that enable them to provide oversight of management, risk, business operations, and corporate strategy, and that allow our board of directors to best fulfill its responsibilities to the long-term interests of our stockholders. This has resulted in the addition of four new independent directors to our board of directors since the beginning of 2021. Summarized below are the skills and experience that we consider important for our directors in light of our business strategy, structure, and market dynamics. Our board of directors and the nominating and corporate governance committee believe the skills, qualities, attributes, experience and diversity of backgrounds (including gender and racial/ethnic diversity) of our directors provide us with a diverse range of perspectives to effectively address our evolving needs and represent the best interests of our stockholders. The matrix below excludes Mr. Deeter, who is not standing for re-election at the Annual Meeting.

Nominees for Director

Continuing Directors

Director Independence

Our Class A common stock (“common stock”) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). Under the listing standards of the NYSE (the “NYSE Listing Standards”), independent directors must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors. In addition, the NYSE Listing Standards require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees be independent. Under the NYSE Listing Standards, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of that listed company’s board of directors, that director does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director.

Audit committee members must also satisfy the additional independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and the NYSE Listing Standards. Compensation committee members must also satisfy the additional independence criteria set forth in Rule 10C-1 under the Exchange Act and the NYSE Listing Standards.

Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of each director. Based on information provided by each director concerning his or her background, employment and affiliations, our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Bell, Deeter, Epstein, Immelt, Patrick and Stafman (and Mr. Dalzell during his board service), and Mses. Dubinsky, Rottenberg and Suzuki do not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors is “independent” as that term is defined under the NYSE Listing Standards. In making these determinations, our board of directors considered the current and prior relationships that each non-employee director has with our Company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining their independence, including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director, and the transactions involving them described in the section titled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.” None of our non-employee directors have been employed by our company over the last five years.

Board Leadership Structure

Our board of directors periodically reviews its leadership structure. In January 2024, our board of directors decided that it would be in the best interests of our Company and our stockholders to separate the positions of board chair and Chief Executive Officer. As a result, the roles are currently separated, and Mr. Epstein, an independent director and formerly our lead independent director, is now serving as board chair. We believe that the structure of our board of directors, with Mr. Shipchandler acting as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Epstein acting as board chair, and all-independent committees overseeing the company’s operations, risks, performance and strategy, provides the most effective governance framework at this time and allows us to benefit from Mr. Epstein’s independent oversight, while enabling Mr. Shipchandler to focus his attention on our business operations and strategy. We believe that an independent board chair will help further facilitate relations between our board of directors, our Chief Executive Officer and other senior management, assist our board of directors in reaching consensus on particular strategies and policies, foster robust evaluation processes, and efficiently allocate oversight responsibilities between the independent directors and management.

In accordance with our corporate governance guidelines, if our board chair were not an independent director, our board of directors would appoint an independent director to serve as lead independent director.

Independent Board Chair

As board chair, Mr. Epstein presides over meetings of our board of directors, works with senior management to prepare agendas for such meetings, serves as a liaison to facilitate and promote communication between senior management and the board of directors, leads engagement with stockholders on behalf of the board, assists in the board’s oversight of key governance matters, and undertakes such additional duties as the board of directors determines.

Mr. Epstein is an experienced director who has served as an empowered, independent voice on our board of directors since 2017. Having served as our lead independent director and chair of our audit committee, he possesses an in-depth knowledge of our Company’s strategy, operations and risks, as well as the demonstrated leadership and relationships to render him an effective liaison with senior management and a respected, expert leader on our board of directors. We believe our Company and our stockholders also benefit from Mr. Epstein’s extensive outside expertise and perspective, having served for many years in senior management and board leadership roles at numerous other public companies.

Independent Directors and Committees

Our board of directors believes that Mr. Epstein is a strong and effective board chair, serving as an independent voice at the forefront of our leadership structure.

Our independent directors regularly meet in executive sessions led by the board chair after meetings of the board of directors and committees, as needed. These executive sessions allow our independent directors to discuss, without management present, our strategy, the performance and compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and other senior management, effectiveness of our board of directors, and other matters.

Only independent directors serve on the audit committee, the nominating and corporate governance committee and the compensation committee, which we believe provides strong independent leadership and oversight for each of these committees. As a result of the board of directors’ committee system, the independence of our board chair and the existence of a significant majority of independent directors, our board of directors believes it maintains effective oversight of our business operations, including independent oversight of our financial statements, executive compensation, selection of director candidates, stockholder outreach efforts, and corporate governance programs.

Board and Committee Meetings

Our board of directors may establish the authorized number of directors from time to time by resolution. Our board of directors currently consists of ten members. Our board of directors will be reduced to nine directors, effective as of immediately prior to the Annual Meeting.

During 2023, our board of directors held eight meetings (including regularly scheduled and special meetings), and each director attended at least 75% of the aggregate of (i) the total number of meetings of our board of directors held during the period for which he or she had been a director and (ii) the total number of meetings held by all committees of our board of directors on which he or she served during the periods that he or she served.

Although our corporate governance guidelines do not have a formal policy regarding attendance by members of our board of directors at annual meetings of stockholders, we encourage, but do not require, our directors to attend. All members of our board of directors then serving in such capacity attended our 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.

Board Committees and Responsibilities

Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation and talent management committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. The composition and responsibilities of each of the committees of our board of directors is described below. Members serve on these committees until their resignation or until as otherwise determined by our board of directors. Mr. Deeter is not standing for re-election at the Annual Meeting. His term as a member of our board of directors will end immediately prior to the Annual Meeting.

Director Selection and Board Evaluation

Identifying and Evaluating Director Nominees

The board of directors has delegated to the nominating and corporate governance committee the responsibility of identifying suitable candidates for nomination to the board of directors (including candidates to fill any vacancies that may occur) and assessing their qualifications in light of the policies and principles in our corporate governance guidelines and the committee’s charter. The nominating and corporate governance committee uses a variety of methods for identifying and evaluating director nominees, including retaining a third-party search firm from time to time to identify and review candidates for membership on our board of directors. The nominating and corporate governance committee may gather information about the candidates through interviews, detailed questionnaires, comprehensive background checks or any other means that the nominating and corporate governance committee deems to be appropriate in the evaluation process. The nominating and corporate governance committee then meets as a group to discuss and evaluate the qualities and skills of each candidate, both on an individual basis and taking into account the overall composition and needs of the board of directors. Based on the results of the evaluation process, the nominating and corporate governance committee recommends candidates for the board of directors’ approval as director nominees for election to the board of directors.

Minimum Qualifications and Membership on other Boards

We have a highly effective and engaged board of directors, and members of our board of directors are expected to prepare for, attend, and participate in all board of directors and applicable committee meetings and are encouraged to attend our annual meetings of stockholders. The board of directors does not believe that explicit limits on the number of other boards of directors on which the directors may serve, or on other activities the directors may pursue, are appropriate. Rather, we believe that our directors’ service on other companies’ boards enables them to contribute valuable knowledge and perspective to our board of directors. Nonetheless, the board of directors recognizes that carrying out the duties of a director requires a significant commitment of time and attention, and excessive time commitments—whether other board service or otherwise—may interfere with the ability to fulfill our board of director responsibilities. Our corporate governance guidelines require directors to notify the chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee in connection with joining another board and proposed changes to committee memberships on other public company boards. Directors must also regularly update the company regarding other directorships and significant other commitments or positions, so that the potential for conflicts or other factors that may compromise a director’s ability to perform their duties may be fully assessed.

Our board of directors has delegated to our nominating and corporate governance committee the responsibility of identifying suitable candidates for nomination to our board of directors (including candidates to fill any vacancies that may occur) and assessing their qualifications in light of the policies and principles in our corporate governance guidelines and the nominating and corporate governance committee’s charter. Our nominating and corporate governance committee uses a variety of methods for identifying and evaluating director nominees, which may include consultation with a third-party search firm, and considers all facts and circumstances that it deems appropriate or advisable. In its identification and evaluation of director candidates, our nominating and corporate governance committee considers the current size and composition of our board of directors and the needs of our board of directors and the respective committees of our board of directors. We do not utilize term or age limits, as our board of directors does not believe that arbitrary limits on the number of consecutive terms a director may serve or on a director’s age are appropriate in light of the substantial benefits resulting from a sustained focus on the Company’s business, strategy and industry over a significant period of time. Some of the qualifications that our nominating and corporate governance committee considers include:

In addition to the above criteria, and although there are no further stated minimum criteria for director nominees, our nominating and corporate governance committee may also consider such other factors as it may deem, from time to time, to be in our and our stockholders’ best interests.

Our nominating and corporate governance committee reviews the totality of the circumstances of each nominee and each board member to assess the ability of such individuals to devote the requisite time to fulfilling the responsibilities of service on our board of directors and applicable committees. Our nominating and corporate governance committee evaluates many factors when assessing the effectiveness and active involvement of each director, including the director’s attendance at board and committee meetings, participation and level of engagement during these meetings, the role played by the director on our board of directors, as well as on the other boards, including committee membership and chair designation, and the experience and expertise of the director, including both relevant industry experience and service on other public company boards, which enable the director to serve on multiple boards effectively.

Our corporate governance guidelines require that the nominating and corporate governance committee include, and request that any search firm that it engages include, in each initial director search pool qualified candidates who reflect diverse backgrounds, including diversity of gender and race/ethnicity. As such, while our board of directors does not maintain a specific policy with respect to the number of diverse individuals on our board of directors, our nominating and corporate governance committee considers prospective candidates who represent a mix of backgrounds including breadth and quality of experience, personal and professional experience, expertise, race, ethnicity and gender. Our nominating and corporate governance committee values, and takes into account when making determinations regarding nominations of directors, the benefits of diverse viewpoints. Our nominating and corporate governance committee also considers these and other factors as it oversees the annual board of directors and committee evaluations. After completing its review and evaluation of director candidates, our nominating and corporate governance committee recommends to our full board of directors the director nominees for selection.

Board Evaluation

Annually, our nominating and corporate governance committee works with an outside advisor to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of our board of directors, its committees and its individual members. The evaluation aims (i) to find opportunities where our board of directors and committees can improve their performance and effectiveness, (ii) to assess any need to evolve the composition and expertise of our board of directors and (iii) to assure that our board of directors and committees are operating in accordance with our corporate governance guidelines and committee charters. The collection of information is facilitated by an outside advisor to preserve integrity and anonymity of the members of our board of directors and the company’s senior executives.

The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for designing the evaluation process and establishing the evaluation criteria. During the evaluation process, the outside advisor collects feedback from each director and members of our senior management team, and then the results of the evaluation and any recommendations for improvement are provided to our nominating and corporate governance committee and our board of directors. The board of directors and senior executives of the company review and discuss the evaluation results and any actions to be taken as a result of the discussion. Our board of directors, including our nominating and corporate governance committee, uses the results to inform board and committee composition, including considering the attributes and experience that are criteria for membership on our board of directors, and to address the evolving needs of our company.

Board’s Role in Risk Oversight

Risk is inherent with every business, and we face a number of risks, including strategic, financial, business and operational, cybersecurity, legal and compliance, and reputational. We have designed and implemented processes to manage risk in our operations as part of our enterprise risk management (“ERM”) approach. Management is responsible for the day-to-day oversight and management of risks we face, while our board of directors, as a whole and assisted by its committees, has responsibility for the oversight of risk management. In addition, every employee is required to complete data privacy, cybersecurity and code of conduct training upon joining the company and each year thereafter. In its risk oversight role, our board of directors has the responsibility to satisfy itself that the risk management processes designed and implemented by management are appropriate and functioning as designed. As part of this approach, our board considers both the materiality of a risk and its immediacy in making strategic decisions and helping management to prioritize resources.

Cybersecurity and Information Security Risk Oversight

Our board of directors recognizes the critical importance of maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers, clients, business partners and employees. Our board of directors is actively involved in oversight of our risk management program, and cybersecurity represents an important component of our overall approach to ERM. Our board of directors’ oversight of cybersecurity risk is supported by our audit committee, which regularly interacts with our ERM function, our Chief Digital Officer, our Chief Information Security Officer, other members of management, and relevant committees and working groups in its oversight of cybersecurity-related risks.

Our board of directors, in coordination with our audit committee, is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure. Our audit committee receives regular presentations and reports on cybersecurity risks, which address a wide range of topics including recent developments, evolving standards, vulnerability assessments, third-party and independent reviews, the threat environment, technological trends and information security considerations arising with respect to our peers and third parties, and risks relating to cybersecurity incidents.

Executive Talent Management and Succession Planning

Our board of directors values senior management development and views succession planning as critical to creating long-term stockholder value. In coordination with our Chief Executive Officer and other appropriate members of management, our compensation committee evaluates the performance of, and succession planning for, our management team, and reports its findings to our board of directors, works with the board of directors in evaluating potential successors to management successors, and confers with the Chief Executive Officer to encourage our management team’s employee development programs. Our compensation committee also periodically reviews a succession plan for the Chief Executive Officer position, using formal criteria to evaluate potential successors, and reporting such information to the board of directors. In conducting its evaluation, the compensation committee considers current and future organizational needs, competitive challenges, leadership/ management potential and development and emergency situations.

As a result of the succession planning process, we appointed Mr. Shipchandler as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our board of directors, succeeding Jeff Lawson, our co-founder, who stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our board of directors.

Corporate Governance Policies

Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Conduct

Our board of directors has adopted corporate governance guidelines that address items such as the qualifications and responsibilities of our directors and director candidates and corporate governance policies and standards applicable to us in general. In addition, our board of directors has adopted a code of conduct that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors, including our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and other executive and senior financial officers. A copy of our corporate governance guidelines and code of conduct is available on our website at https://investors.twilio.com and may also be obtained without charge by contacting our Corporate Secretary at Twilio Inc., 101 Spear Street, Fifth Floor, San Francisco, California 94105. We intend to disclose any amendments to our code of conduct, or waivers of its requirements, on our website or in filings under the Exchange Act, as required by the applicable rules and exchange requirements. During 2023, no waivers were granted from any provision of our code of conduct.

Compliance and Ethics

Our culture of integrity starts with our corporate governance guidelines and code of conduct, and includes efforts in risk assessment, development of policies, procedures, training, auditing, monitoring, investigations and remediation of potential compliance matters. We have also implemented mandatory anti-harassment, anti-corruption and anti-bribery training as well as more targeted compliance training aimed at addressing the compliance risks of specific roles and business functions.

Furthermore, in order to promote a high standard of ethical and professional conduct within our company, we have engaged with an impartial third party to administer an ethics reporting hotline where, as permitted by law, employees, contractors, customers and vendors may address any issues on a confidential and anonymous basis. Employees may choose the method with which they are most comfortable to discuss any issues or complaints, whether it is through their manager, our human resources partners, or the reporting hotline. In addition, our code of conduct applies to all of our employees, including our officers and board of directors. Violations of the code of conduct may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Stockholder Recommendations and Nominations to the Board of Directors

Stockholders may submit recommendations for director candidates to the nominating and corporate governance committee by sending the individual’s name and qualifications to our Chief Legal Officer at Twilio Inc., 101 Spear Street, Fifth Floor, San Francisco, California 94105, who will forward all recommendations to the nominating and corporate governance committee. The nominating and corporate governance committee will evaluate any candidates recommended by stockholders against the same criteria and pursuant to the same policies and procedures applicable to the evaluation of candidates proposed by directors or management.

Under our third amended and restated bylaws (our “bylaws”), stockholders may also nominate directors for election at an annual meeting of stockholders. To nominate a director, the stockholder must provide proper written notice that sets forth all of the information required by our bylaws, as well as the additional information required by Rule 14a-19(b) under the Exchange Act. In addition, the stockholder must give timely notice to our Corporate Secretary in accordance with our bylaws, as described above under the section titled “Procedural Matters—What is the deadline to propose actions for consideration at next year’s annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate individuals to serve as directors?—Stockholder Proposals.”

Stockholder and Other Interested Party Communications

Our board of directors provides to every stockholder and any other interested parties the ability to communicate with the board of directors, as a whole, with our non-management directors as a group, and with individual directors on the board of directors through an established process for stockholder communication. For a stockholder communication directed to the board of directors as a whole or to our non-management directors as a group, stockholders and other interested parties may send such communication to our Chief Legal Officer via U.S. Mail or Expedited Delivery Service to: Twilio Inc., 101 Spear Street, Fifth Floor, San Francisco, California 94105, Attn: Chief Legal Officer.

For a stockholder or other interested party communication directed to an individual director, including our non-management directors, in his or her capacity as a member of the board of directors, stockholders and other interested parties may send such communication to the attention of the individual director via U.S. Mail or Expedited Delivery Service to: Twilio Inc., 101 Spear Street, Fifth Floor, San Francisco, California 94105, Attn: [Name of Individual Director].

We encourage stockholders to email any such communications to us at legalnotices@twilio.com to help ensure prompt receipt. Our Chief Legal Officer, in consultation with appropriate members of our board of directors as necessary, will review all incoming communications and, if appropriate, all such communications will be forwarded to the appropriate member or members of our board of directors, or if none is specified, to our board chair.

Non-Employee Director Compensation

Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy

We have adopted a compensation policy for our non-employee directors (as amended and restated from time to time, the “Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy”) to attract, retain and award these individuals and align their long-term interests with those of our company and our stockholders. Our non-employee directors are paid in the form of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) only and do not receive cash compensation. Employee directors receive no additional compensation for their service as a director.

Decisions regarding the Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy are approved by our board of directors based on recommendations from our compensation committee. Our compensation committee conducts an annual evaluation of the design and competitiveness of our Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy in light of best practices, market trends and a competitive market analysis of data for our compensation peer group prepared by its compensation consultant, and makes appropriate recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation of our non-employee directors.

During 2023, our compensation committee engaged Compensia, Inc. (“Compensia”), a national compensation consulting firm, as its independent compensation consultant to advise on, among other things, non-employee director compensation matters. In doing so, our compensation committee reviewed and considered a peer group compensation data analysis prepared by Compensia to understand market non-employee director compensation practices. Following a review and consideration of market data, our compensation committee recommended to our board of directors, and our board of directors approved, that non-employee director compensation would continue to be paid solely in the form of RSUs and that the value of such non-employee director compensation would remain unchanged from 2022 levels.

For purposes of the amounts described in this section, the values are calculated as set forth in the Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy. For the aggregate grant date fair value of the RSUs awarded to the non-employee directors in 2023, calculated in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (“FASB ASC Topic 718”), please see “2023 Non-Employee Director Compensation Table” below.

Annual Equity Grant and Annual Equity Retainer

For 2023, our non-employee directors received compensation in the form of RSUs only. Pursuant to our Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy, each non-employee director who continues as a member of our board of directors following each annual meeting of stockholders receives a grant of RSUs having a value of $250,000 (the “Annual Equity Grant”).

Each non-employee director also receives an annual equity retainer for board and committee membership, the values of which are as set forth below. The aggregate amount that each non-employee director receives for such director’s membership on our board of directors, as a member or chair of a committee, or as the lead independent director, is referred to as the “Annual Equity Retainer”.

The Annual Equity Grant and Annual Equity Retainer are granted in four quarterly installments over the course of the year that commences on the date of each annual meeting of stockholders, with such grants to be made on each of September 15, December 15, March 15, and the earlier of (i) June 15 or (ii) the day that is immediately prior to the next subsequent annual meeting of stockholders (each such date, a “Quarterly Date,” and each such grant, a “Quarterly Grant”). The value of each Quarterly Grant is equal to the value of the portion of the Annual Equity Retainer and Annual Equity Grant applicable to the period beginning on the day after the immediately preceding Quarterly Date and ending on the then-current Quarterly Date (the “Quarterly Period”), based on the board and committee roles held by the non-employee director during such Quarterly Period. The number of RSUs granted for each Quarterly Grant is determined by dividing the applicable values by the average closing market price on NYSE of one share of our common stock over the trailing 30-day period ending five business days before the effective date of the applicable grant. Each Quarterly Grant is fully vested upon the date of grant.

Initial Equity Grants

Our Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy during 2023 provided that, upon initial election to our board of directors, each non-employee director would be granted RSUs having a value of $575,000 (the “Initial Equity Grant”). The Initial Equity Grant vests in equal annual installments over three years, subject to continued service as a director through the applicable vesting dates; provided, however, that if a non-employee director is elected on a date other than at the annual meeting of stockholders, one-third of such value is pro-rated by the amount of time between such election and the next annual meeting of stockholders and such pro-rated portion vests on the day prior to the next annual meeting of stockholders (the “Initial Vesting Date”), with the other two-thirds vesting annually on the one and two-year anniversaries of the Initial Vesting Date over the following two years following such Initial Vesting Date.

During 2023, the number of RSUs for the Initial Equity Grant was determined by dividing the applicable value by the average closing market price on NYSE of one share of our common stock over the trailing 30-day period ending five business days before the effective date of the grant.

Other Non-Employee Director Compensation Terms

Awards granted under our Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy are subject to full accelerated vesting upon a “sale event,” as defined in our 2016 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (as amended and restated, the “2016 Plan”).

Our Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy also provides that, pursuant to the 2016 Plan, the aggregate amount of compensation, including both equity compensation and cash compensation but excluding expense reimbursement, paid to any non-employee director in a calendar year will not exceed $750,000 (or such other limit as may be set forth in the 2016 Plan or any similar provision of a successor plan).

We also reimburse all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our non-employee directors for their attendance at meetings of our board of directors or any committee thereof.

Non-Employee Directors’ Deferred Compensation Program

In July 2017, we implemented a Non-Employee Directors’ Deferred Compensation Program to offer our non-employee directors the ability to defer the receipt of any RSUs granted to them from Initial Equity Grants or Annual Equity Grants under the 2016 Plan. In advance of an award of RSUs and in compliance with the program’s requirements, a non-employee director may elect to defer the receipt of all of his or her RSUs until the earliest of (i) 90 days after such non-employee director ceases to serve as a member of our board of directors; (ii) the consummation of a “sale event”; or (iii) 90 days after the non-employee director’s death (such earliest date, the “Payment Event”). Upon the vesting of the RSUs, any amounts that would otherwise have been paid in shares of our common stock will be converted into deferred stock units (“DSUs”) on a one-to-one basis and credited to the non-employee director’s deferral account. The DSUs will be paid in shares of our common stock on a one-to-one basis in a single lump sum (and will cease to be held in the non-employee director’s deferred account) as soon as practicable following the Payment Event.

Death Equity Acceleration Policy

See “Executive Compensation—Other Compensation Policies and Practices—Death Equity Acceleration Policy” for a discussion of the treatment of equity awards upon the termination due to death of an employee’s or non-employee director’s employment or other service relationship with us or any of our subsidiaries.

Stock Ownership Policy

In April 2018, we adopted a stock ownership policy for our non-employee directors, which was amended and restated in September 2020 and March 2022. Our stock ownership policy (as amended, the “Stock Ownership Policy”), requires our non-employee directors to acquire and hold a number of shares of our common stock equal in value to five times the Annual Board Retainer (as then in-effect). We only count directly and beneficially owned shares, in addition to shares underlying vested RSUs that are held or deferred. We do not count shares underlying vested and unexercised in-the-money stock options, unvested options, unvested RSUs or other unvested equity awards. Each non-employee director has five years from the later of his or her initial election to the board of directors or from the effective date of the Stock Ownership Policy to attain the required ownership level. As of December 31, 2023, all of our non-employee directors are in compliance with our Stock Ownership Policy or are within the five-year phase in period.

2023 Non-Employee Director Compensation Table

The following table provides information regarding the total compensation that was earned by or paid to each of our non-employee directors in 2023, all of which were paid solely in RSUs. Mr. Lawson, who at the time served as our Chief Executive Officer, did not receive any additional compensation for his service as a director. The compensation received by Mr. Lawson, as a named executive officer, is presented in “Executive Compensation—Summary Compensation Table.”

The following table sets forth the aggregate number of DSUs accumulated in each director’s deferral account as of December 31, 2023 from deferrals of RSUs granted to them.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

During 2023, Ms. Suzuki and Messrs. Immelt and Epstein served on the compensation committee. None of the members of our compensation committee is or has been an officer or employee of our company. None of our executive officers currently serve, or in the past year have served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions) of any entity that has one or more of its executive officers serving on our board of directors or compensation committee.

Our board of directors is currently composed of ten members. Byron Deeter previously informed our board of directors of his intent to not stand for re-election at the Annual Meeting. Accordingly, Mr. Deeter’s service as a member of our board of directors will end immediately prior to the Annual Meeting, at which time our board of directors will be reduced to nine members. In accordance with our certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is divided into three classes of directors. At the Annual Meeting, three Class II directors will be elected for a three-year term to succeed the same class whose term is then expiring.

Each director’s term continues until the election and qualification of his or her successor, or such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal. Any increase or decrease in the number of directors will be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each class will consist of one-third of our directors. This classification of our board of directors may have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in the control of our company.

Nominees

Our nominating and corporate governance committee has recommended, and our board of directors has approved, Jeff Epstein, Khozema Shipchandler and Andrew Stafman as nominees for election as Class II directors at the Annual Meeting. If elected, each of Messrs. Epstein, Shipchandler and Stafman will serve as Class II directors until the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each of the nominees is currently a director of our company. For information concerning the nominees, please see the section titled “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance.”

If you are a stockholder of record and you do not vote your shares or do not specify your voting instructions with respect to the voting of directors, your shares will be voted “FOR” the election of Messrs. Epstein, Shipchandler and Stafman. We expect that Messrs. Epstein, Shipchandler and Stafman will each accept such nomination; however, in the event that a director nominee is unable or declines to serve as a director at the time of the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be voted for any nominee designated by our board of directors to fill such vacancy. If you are a street name stockholder and you do not give voting instructions to your broker or nominee, your broker will leave your shares unvoted on this matter.

Vote Required

Each director is elected by a plurality of the voting power of the shares of our common stock present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon to be approved. “Withhold” votes and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal. See “Procedural Matters—How many votes are needed for approval of each proposal?” for further information.

Our audit committee has appointed KPMG LLP (“KPMG”), an independent registered public accounting firm, to audit our consolidated financial statements for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. During our fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, KPMG served as our independent registered public accounting firm.

Notwithstanding the appointment of KPMG, and even if our stockholders ratify the appointment, our audit committee, in its discretion, may appoint another independent registered public accounting firm at any time during our fiscal year if our audit committee believes that such a change would be in the best interests of our company and our stockholders. At the Annual Meeting, our stockholders are being asked to ratify the appointment of KPMG as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. Our audit committee is submitting the appointment of KPMG to our stockholders because we value our stockholders’ views on our independent registered public accounting firm and as a matter of good corporate governance. However, neither our bylaws nor other governing documents or law require stockholder ratification of the selection of KPMG as our independent registered public accounting firm. Representatives of KPMG will be present at the Annual Meeting, and they will have an opportunity to make a statement and will be available to respond to appropriate questions from our stockholders.

If our stockholders do not ratify the appointment of KPMG, our audit committee may reconsider the appointment.

Fees Paid to the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The following table presents fees for professional audit services and other services rendered to our company by KPMG for our fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023.

Auditor Independence

In our fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, there were no other professional services provided by KPMG, other than those listed above, that would have required our audit committee to consider their compatibility with maintaining the independence of KPMG.

Audit Committee Policy on Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Our audit committee has established a policy governing our use of the services of our independent registered public accounting firm. Under this policy, our audit committee is required to pre-approve all audit, internal control-related services and permissible non-audit services performed by our independent registered public accounting firm in order to ensure that the provision of such services does not impair the public accountants’ independence. All services provided by KPMG for our fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023 were pre-approved by our audit committee and were determined by our audit committee to be compatible with maintaining KPMG’s independence.

Vote Required

The ratification of the appointment of KPMG as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting power of the shares of our common stock present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon. Abstentions will have the effect of a vote against this proposal, and broker non-votes will have no effect.

Pursuant to Section 14A of the Exchange Act, we are asking our stockholders to approve, on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed in this proxy statement in accordance with the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC. This proposal, commonly known as a “Say-on-Pay” proposal, gives our stockholders the opportunity to express their views on our named executive officers’ compensation as a whole. The vote on this resolution is not intended to address any specific element of compensation; rather, the vote relates to the compensation of our named executive officers, as described in this proxy statement in accordance with the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC.

The Say-on-Pay vote is advisory, and therefore is not binding on us, our compensation committee, or our board of directors. The Say-on-Pay vote will, however, provide information to us regarding investor sentiment about our executive compensation philosophy, policies and practices, which our compensation committee will be able to consider when determining executive compensation for the remainder of the current fiscal year and beyond. Our board of directors and our compensation committee value the opinions of our stockholders. To the extent there is any significant vote against the compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed in this proxy statement, we will endeavor to communicate with stockholders to better understand the concerns that influenced the vote and consider our stockholders’ concerns, and our compensation committee will evaluate whether any actions are necessary to address those concerns.

As described in detail under the heading “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” our compensation programs are designed to effectively align the interests of our named executive officers with the interests of our stockholders by focusing on long-term incentives that correlate with the growth of sustainable long-term value for our stockholders. Stockholders are urged to read the section titled “Executive Compensation” and, in particular, the section titled “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis” in this proxy statement, which discusses how our executive compensation program policies and practices implement our compensation philosophy and contains tabular information and narrative discussion about the compensation of our named executive officers. Our board of directors and our compensation committee believe that these policies and practices are effective in implementing our compensation philosophy and in achieving our compensation program goals.

Accordingly, we are asking our stockholders to vote on the following resolution at the Annual Meeting:

RESOLVED, that the stockholders hereby approve, on a non-binding advisory basis, the compensation paid to the Company’s named executive officers, as disclosed in the Company’s proxy statement for the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the SEC, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables and the narrative discussions that accompany the compensation tables.

Vote Required

The approval of this advisory non-binding proposal requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting power of the shares of our common stock present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon. Abstentions will have the effect of a vote “against” this proposal, and broker non-votes will have no effect.

The Dodd-Frank Act and Section 14A of the Exchange Act enable our stockholders to indicate their preference at least once every six years regarding how frequently we should seek future non-binding advisory votes to approve the compensation of our named executive officers, as disclosed in our proxy statement. Accordingly, we are asking our stockholders to indicate whether they would prefer an advisory vote every one year, every two years, or every three years. Alternatively, stockholders may abstain from casting a vote.

After considering the benefits and consequences of each alternative, our board of directors recommends that the non-binding advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers continue to be submitted to the stockholders every year. In reaching this recommendation, our board of directors considered that compensation decisions are made annually and that an annual advisory vote on executive compensation will allow our stockholders to provide timely and direct input on our executive compensation philosophy, policies and practices. The board of directors believes that an annual vote is therefore consistent with our efforts to engage in an ongoing dialogue with our stockholders on executive compensation and corporate governance matters.

Vote Required

While our board of directors believes that its recommendation is appropriate at this time, the stockholders will not be voting to approve or disapprove of the recommendation of our board of directors. Instead, the proxy card provides stockholders with the opportunity to choose among four options with respect to this proposal (holding the vote every one, two or three years, or abstaining). The option that receives the highest number of votes from the voting power of shares of our common stock present in person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting and entitled to vote thereon will be deemed to be the frequency preferred by our stockholders. Abstentions will have the same effect as votes against each of the proposed voting frequencies and broker non-votes will have no effect on this proposal.

As an advisory vote, this proposal will not be binding. Although the vote is non-binding, our board of directors and our compensation committee value the opinions of our stockholders on this matter and, to the extent there is any significant vote of one time period over another, will consider the outcome of this vote when making future decisions regarding the frequency of holding future say-on-pay votes.

Under our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, our board of directors is divided into three classes. Directors in each class serve on the board of directors until the third succeeding annual meeting of stockholders after their election, such that the term of office of one class expires at each annual meeting.

Proposal No. 5 would amend our certificate of incorporation to begin declassification of our board of directors at our 2025 annual meeting of stockholders (the “2025 Annual Meeting”) if this Proposal No. 5 is approved by the requisite vote of our stockholders at the Annual Meeting. Directors elected at this Annual Meeting will be elected to three-year terms expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders held in 2027. If the proposed amendments are approved at this Annual Meeting, then, beginning with the class of directors standing for election at the 2025 Annual Meeting, directors will be elected to one-year terms of office. Directors currently serving terms that expire at the annual meetings of stockholders to be held in 2025 and 2026 will (subject to their earlier resignation or removal) serve the remainder of their respective terms, and thereafter their successors will be elected to one-year terms. At the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders and annual meetings thereafter, all directors will stand for election annually, and the board of directors will no longer be classified. Any director appointed to fill a vacancy will be appointed for a term expiring upon the expiration of the term of the director whose place is filled, except that any director appointed to fill a vacancy arising from an increase in the size of the board of directors will be appointed for a term expiring at the earliest annual meeting of stockholders that follows their appointment. Our board of directors has approved certain conforming changes to our bylaws, contingent on the effectiveness of these proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation.

With respect to Proposal No. 5, the proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation are included with this proxy statement as Appendix A. This description of the proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation is qualified in its entirety by reference to the text of the amendments as set forth in Appendix A.

In proposing these amendments to our certificate of incorporation and seeking to evolve our governance structure, our board of directors has considered feedback from our stockholders and evolving governance practices. Our board of directors unanimously concluded, on the recommendation of the nominating and corporate governance committee, that the proposed changes contemplated by this Proposal No. 5 are advisable and in the best interest of the Company and our stockholders.

If this Proposal No. 5 is approved by the requisite vote of our stockholders at the Annual Meeting, the proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation would become effective upon the filing of an amended and restated certificate of incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, which we would file promptly following the Annual Meeting if our stockholders approve the amendments. If this Proposal No. 5 is not approved by the requisite votes of our stockholders at the Annual Meeting, the amendments to our certificate of incorporation described in this Proposal No. 5 would not become effective and the provisions that require a classified board would continue to apply.

Vote Required

The approval of this Proposal No. 5 and the amendments to our certificate of incorporation to declassify the board of directors requires the affirmative vote of at least sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66-2/3%) of the voting power of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have the effect of a vote against this proposal.

Report of the Audit Committee

The audit committee is a committee of the board of directors composed solely of independent directors as required by the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange and rules of the SEC. The audit committee operates under a written charter approved by our board of directors, which is available on our website at https://investors.twilio.com. The composition of the audit committee, the attributes of its members and the responsibilities of the audit committee, as reflected in its charter, are intended to be in accordance with applicable requirements for corporate audit committees. The audit committee reviews and assesses the audit committee’s performance and the adequacy of its charter on an annual basis.

With respect to our financial reporting process, our management is responsible for (1) establishing and maintaining internal controls and (2) preparing our consolidated financial statements. Our independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP (“KPMG”), is responsible for performing an independent audit of our consolidated financial statements and our internal control over financing reporting in accordance with the auditing standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), and to issue a report thereon. It is the responsibility of the audit committee to oversee these activities. It is not the responsibility of the audit committee to prepare our financial statements. These are the fundamental responsibilities of management. In the performance of its oversight function, the audit committee has:

Based on the audit committee’s review and discussions with management and KPMG, the audit committee recommended to the board of directors that the audited financial statements be included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

Respectfully submitted by the audit committee of the board of directors:

Jeff Epstein (Chair)

Donna Dubinsky

Erika Rottenberg

This report of the audit committee is required by the SEC and, in accordance with the SEC’s rules, will not be deemed to be part of or incorporated by reference by any general statement incorporating by reference this proxy statement into any filing under the Securities Act or under the Exchange Act, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate this information by reference, and will not otherwise be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” under either the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

Executive Officers

The following table identifies certain information about our executive officers as of March 31, 2024. Our executive officers are appointed by, and serve at the discretion of, our board of directors and hold office until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

Khozema Shipchandler. See the section titled “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Directors—Continuing Directors” for Mr. Shipchandler’s biographical information.

Aidan Viggiano. Ms. Viggiano has served as our Chief Financial Officer since March 2023. Previously, Ms. Viggiano served as our Senior Vice President of Finance from 2021 to 2023 and as our Vice President of Corporate Finance from 2019 to 2021. From 2003 until 2019, Ms. Viggiano served in a variety of finance leadership positions at General Electric, including, most recently, in Investor Relations from 2018 to 2019, and as Chief of Staff to the Chief Financial Officer from 2012 until 2017. Ms. Viggiano holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dana Wagner. Mr. Wagner has served as our Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary since December 2021. From 2018 to 2021, Mr. Wagner served as the Chief Legal Officer of Impossible Foods Inc., a company that develops plant-based substitutes for meat products. From 2018 to 2020, he was an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, and he has taught and lectured at Berkeley Law periodically since 2019. From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Wagner served as General Counsel of Square, Inc. (now Block, Inc.), a financial technology company. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Wagner served in various legal positions at Google Inc., a multinational technology company, and prior to 2007, he held various positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Wagner holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Executive Compensation

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

This Compensation Discussion and Analysis describes the material elements of our executive compensation program during 2023 and certain aspects of our compensation program for 2024. It also provides an overview of our executive compensation philosophy and objectives. Finally, it discusses how our compensation committee arrived at the specific compensation decisions for our executive officers, including our named executive officers, for 2023, including the key factors that our compensation committee considered in determining their compensation. During 2023, these individuals were:

Leadership Transitions

This transition was part of our long-term leadership development and succession planning strategy, which is overseen by our compensation committee. Our succession planning process is further discussed in “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Executive Talent Management and Succession Planning”.

Contemporaneous with the CEO Transition, our board of directors separated the roles of Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer and appointed Jeff Epstein, an independent director and formerly our lead independent director, to fill the newly created role of Independent Board Chair. Our board structure is further discussed in “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Board Leadership Structure”.

Executive Summary

Business Update

Over the past year and a half, amid an evolving operating environment, we took robust proactive action to better position our business to achieve durable, profitable growth. Some of the key actions we have taken include:

Financial Performance and Capital Allocation

Our top priority is creating long-term value for our stockholders by driving Twilio towards durable, profitable growth. Our 2023 financial highlights include the following:

Additionally, as announced in connection with the conclusion of the operational review of Segment in March 2024, we accelerated our target timeline to achieve GAAP operating profitability on a consolidated basis to the fourth quarter of 2025, and we are targeting break-even non-GAAP income from operations for our Segment business by the second quarter of 2025.

Given the strength of our balance sheet and the improving free cash flow generation in our business, in February 2023, our board of directors authorized a $1 billion share repurchase program, and in March 2024, our board of directors announced an additional $2 billion share repurchase program. As of March 31, 2024, we have completed over $1.05 billion of repurchases and we are targeting to complete the remaining authorization by the end of 2024. We believe that these capital return programs create value for stockholders while reducing dilution from stock-based compensation.

2023 Executive Compensation Program Highlights

In 2023, in consideration of our evolving business environment, we undertook significant actions to reposition our business to achieve durable, profitable growth. In designing our compensation program for 2023, our compensation committee considered both how to best support the successful execution of these initiatives while managing near-term retention and to respond to stockholder feedback on our 2022 compensation program. We adopted a compensation structure for 2023 that was responsive to our business priorities and was intended to be a transitional year to support the retention and stability of our leadership team to achieve our profitable growth strategy and to provide immediate alignment of their interests with those of our stockholders. Our compensation structure for 2024 better reflects our intended approach moving forward.

We engaged with our stockholders to understand their perspectives on our 2022 compensation program and to develop appropriate responsiveness actions. We heard concerns about the magnitude of pay, based largely on the front-loaded PSU awards granted to executives in 2022, as well as a desire to see a more normalized structure of the executive compensation program with an annual incentive program. In 2023, we did not grant additional PSUs to our executives and did not raise base salaries except in connection with promotions, which is reflected in the significant decline in the reported compensation for 2023. Additionally, we began a transition to a performance-based cash incentive program by granting our named executive officers (other than our Chief Executive Officer) a performance-based cash award based on non-GAAP income from operations targets. We also updated our peer group in both 2022 and 2023 to reflect our evolving business strategy and market capitalization to ensure our pay benchmarks remain appropriate, which had the effect of reducing our market compensation benchmarks.

Our compensation committee reduced our Chief Executive Officer’s annual base salary by more than 50% from $134,000 to $65,535, effective March 1, 2023. Additionally, our Chief Executive Officer was not eligible for a performance-based cash award and did not receive any equity awards in 2023.

The second tranche of our 2022 PSU grants based on 2023 revenue performance paid out at 0% despite delivering organic revenue of 10%, in line with our guidance for the year, highlighting the rigor of the PSU award targets and underscoring our commitment to a pay-for-performance philosophy.

2023 Executive Compensation Program Design

Chief Executive Officer

Our compensation committee took the following key actions with respect to the compensation of Jeff Lawson, our Chief Executive Officer for 2023:

Other Named Executive Officers

To manage retention and incentivize execution on near-term initiatives while still providing alignment with our stockholders, our compensation committee took a holistic approach to determining the mix of incentive-based compensation for non-CEO named executive officers. Consistent with the front-loaded design of the 2022 PSU awards and stockholder feedback, our compensation committee did not award additional PSUs to our named executive officers in 2023.

Our compensation committee took the following key actions with respect to the compensation of our named executive officers (other than our Chief Executive Officer) for 2023:

2023 Performance Program Outcomes

The performance-based cash awards granted in 2023 paid out at 100% of target as a result of non-GAAP income from operations for 2023 being $533 million, which exceeded our $250 million target (payouts were capped at 100%).

The 2023 tranche of the PSUs granted in 2022 resulted in 0% payout due to organic revenue growth for 2023 being 10%, which was 1/3 of the target amount and 1/2 of the threshold amount, evidencing the rigorous targets set by our compensation committee.

Stockholder Engagement and Our Say-on-Pay Vote

We value our stockholders’ feedback and are committed to maintaining a regular dialogue to understand the perspectives of our stockholders. We believe that ongoing engagement builds mutual trust and alignment with our stockholders.

In the course of our discussions with stockholders, we received valuable feedback on our compensation program, with key themes summarized in the chart below. This feedback was conveyed to our full board of directors and our compensation committee for consideration in their decision-making. Key feedback we received from stockholders and our responses is described in the chart below.

2024 Executive Compensation Program Changes

In 2024, in response to stockholder feedback, our compensation committee made the following key changes to our executive compensation program for 2024:

We are committed to strong executive compensation practices. Our approach is guided by our overarching philosophy of paying for demonstrable performance and aligning the compensation of our executive officers with the long-term interests of our stockholders.

Over the past few years, our executive compensation program has evolved to reflect our maturation as a company, industry standards, practices of our peers, and stockholder feedback. In 2022, we first introduced PSUs and, in 2024, we transitioned our PSU structure to a cumulative three-year performance period. In 2023, we introduced performance-based cash awards and, in 2024, we formalized a short-term incentive program in the form of an annual cash bonus plan. Additionally, we have not increased the base salaries of our named executive officers in 2023 or 2024, except in connection with promotions.

In 2023, we adopted a compensation structure that was intended to be a transitional year to support the retention and stability of our leadership team. In 2024, we evolved our program to a more standard compensation structure that we expect to be more reflective of our go-forward executive compensation program.

We believe that these changes further align the interests of our named executive officers and our stockholders. In making these changes, our compensation committee considered the feedback we received from stockholders during outreach efforts in 2023. Our compensation committee continues to assess our incentive compensation practices in light of our continued growth and maturation as well as discussions with stockholders.

Executive Compensation Policies and Practices

We believe our executive compensation program is reasonable and competitive and appropriately balances the goals of attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining our executive officers with the goal of aligning their interests with those of our stockholders. The annual compensation of our executive officers, including our named executive officers, varies from year to year based on our corporate financial and operational results and individual performance. In 2023, the principal elements of our executive compensation program, and the purposes for each element, were as follows:

While we do not determine either contingent (“variable”) or “fixed” pay for each named executive officer with reference to a specific percentage of target total direct compensation, consistent with our “pay-for-performance” philosophy, our executive compensation program heavily emphasizes variable pay over “fixed” pay. In 2023, the majority of the target total direct compensation of our named executive officers consisted of variable pay in the form of long-term and at-risk incentive compensation opportunities. The following charts show the percentages of target variable pay versus target fixed pay for our Chief Executive Officer and our other named executive officers in 2023.

 

We believe that this approach provides balanced incentives for our executive officers to drive our financial performance and create long-term stockholder value. See the section titled “Individual Compensation Elements” for information about the principal elements of our executive compensation program, and the purposes for each element.

We endeavor to maintain sound governance standards consistent with our executive compensation policies and practices. Our compensation committee evaluates our executive compensation program on at least an annual basis to ensure that it is consistent with our short-term and long-term goals given the dynamic nature of our business and the market in which we compete for executive talent. The following summarizes our executive compensation and related policies and practices:

Executive Compensation Philosophy

We operate in an extremely competitive market where there is substantial and continuous competition for leadership with the experience and skill to lead in a dynamic and innovative industry. Our executive compensation program is guided by our overarching philosophy of paying for demonstrable performance and aligning the compensation of our executive officers with the long-term interests of our stockholders. Consistent with this philosophy, we designed our executive compensation program to achieve the following primary objectives:

We have not historically had a short-term cash incentive program for our executive officers and, as a result, our compensation committee has evaluated the base salaries of our executive officers in the context of establishing their total cash compensation at levels that are consistent with the target total cash compensation of executive officers holding comparable positions at public companies in order to attract and retain our executive officers. In 2023, to manage retention and incentivize execution on near-term initiatives, while still providing alignment with our stockholders, our compensation committee introduced performance-based cash awards that were tied to a non-GAAP income from operations performance metric. In 2024, to formalize a short-term incentive program, our compensation committee introduced an annual cash bonus plan to use going forward. The implementation of a formal short-term incentive program was in response to stockholder feedback and intended to strengthen the performance-based core of our compensation program and reduce compensation-related stockholder dilution. As a result, we have not increased the base salaries of our named executive officers in 2023 or 2024, except in connection with promotions.

Our compensation committee tends to weight the target total direct compensation opportunities of our executive officers more heavily towards equity compensation. We understand the importance of linking the individual performance of our executive officers and the financial and operational performance of our company to our overall executive compensation program. We believe our strong focus on, and heavy weighting toward, equity compensation, supports that philosophy and has worked to align our executive compensation with the interests of our stockholders. In 2022 we first introduced PSUs, in 2023 we incentivized profitability and reduced stock-based compensation, and in 2024 we have continued to adapt our performance-based incentives to better align with stockholder expectations and industry standards. We will continue to review current compensation trends as well as the feedback from our stockholders in regard to our executive compensation program.

Oversight of Executive Compensation

Role of the Compensation and Talent Management Committee

Our compensation committee discharges many of the responsibilities of our board of directors relating to the compensation of our executive officers, including our named executive officers, and the non-employee members of our board of directors (as described further in “Board of Directors and Corporate Governance—Non-Employee Director Compensation” above). Our compensation committee has overall responsibility for overseeing our compensation structure, philosophy, policies and benefits programs generally, and overseeing and evaluating the compensation plans, policies and practices applicable to our executive officers. Our compensation committee also oversees the annual evaluation of our executive officers, including our named executive officers, for the prior year and has the authority to retain, and has retained, an independent compensation consultant to provide support to the committee in its review and assessment of our compensation programs.

Compensation-Setting Process

Our compensation committee determines the target total direct compensation opportunities for our executive officers, including our named executive officers. Our compensation committee does not use a single method or measure in developing its recommendations, nor does it establish one specific target for the total direct compensation opportunities of our executive officers. Rather, our compensation committee generally begins its deliberations on cash and equity compensation by

considering competitive market data regarding compensation amounts and practices with an intent to weight compensation more heavily towards equity compensation. Our compensation committee does not target a specific percentile of compensation, but instead considers the market data, along with the factors below, to determine an executive’s compensation with no specific weight given to any particular factor.

When formulating its recommendations for the amount of each compensation element and approving (or recommending for approval) each compensation element and the target total direct compensation opportunity for our executive officers, our compensation committee considers the following factors:

These factors provide the framework for compensation decision-making and final decisions regarding the compensation opportunity for each executive officer. No single factor is determinative in setting pay levels, nor was the impact of any factor on the determination of pay levels quantifiable. Our compensation committee reviews the base salary levels, short-term and long-term incentive compensation opportunities of our executive officers, including our named executive officers, each year at the beginning of the year, or more frequently as warranted. Long-term incentive compensation is granted on a regularly-scheduled basis, as described in “Other Compensation Policies and Practices—Equity Awards Grant Policy” below.

Role of Chief Executive Officer

In discharging its responsibilities, our compensation committee consults with members of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer. Our management assists our compensation committee by providing information on corporate and individual performance, market compensation data and management’s perspective on compensation matters. Our compensation committee solicits and reviews our Chief Executive Officer’s recommendations and proposals with respect to adjustments to annual cash compensation, short-term and long-term incentive compensation opportunities, program structures and other compensation-related matters for our executive officers, other than with respect to his own compensation.

Our compensation committee reviews and discusses these recommendations and proposals with our Chief Executive Officer and considers them as one factor in determining the compensation for our executive officers, including our other named executive officers. Our Chief Executive Officer recuses himself from all deliberations and determinations regarding his own compensation.