Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This proxy statement contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements. You can identify these and other forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “relies,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “intends,” “potential,” “continues,” “thinks,” “seeks,” “commits,” “targets,” or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements also include the assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including unexpected delays, difficulties, and expenses in executing against our environmental, climate, diversity and inclusion or other Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets, goals and commitments outlined in this document, including, but not limited to, our efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, as well as changes in laws or regulations affecting us, such as changes in cybersecurity, data privacy, environmental, safety and health laws, and other risks as disclosed in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and we expressly assume no obligation and do not intend to update the forward-looking statements in this report after the date hereof. In addition, some of the statements contained in this proxy statement may rely on third-party information and projections that management believes to be reputable; however, we do not independently verify or audit this information, and any inaccuracies or deviations in such information and projections may materially impact our ability to execute on our strategy, achieve our goals, or otherwise adversely impact our business.

This proxy statement contains ESG-related statements based on hypothetical scenarios and assumptions as well as estimates that are subject to a high level of uncertainty, and these statements should not necessarily be viewed as being representative of current or actual risk or performance, or forecasts of expected risk or performance. In addition, historical, current, and forward-looking environmental and social-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, and internal controls and processes that continue to evolve. Forward-looking and other statements in this report, including regarding our corporate responsibility and sustainability progress, plans, and goals, are in some instances informed by various stakeholder expectations, including certain third-party standards and frameworks; as such, the inclusion of such statements is not an indication that these matters are necessarily material for the purposes of complying with or reporting pursuant to the U.S. federal securities laws and regulations, even if we use the word “material” or “materiality” in this report or elsewhere. We cannot guarantee strict adherence to framework recommendations or that our approach will strictly align with the preferences of any particular stakeholder. Our disclosures may change due to revisions in framework requirements, availability of information, changes in our business or applicable governmental policy, or other factors, some of which may be beyond our control. In addition, non-financial information, such as that included in parts of this proxy statement, is subject to greater potential limitations than financial information, given the methods used for calculating or estimating such information. Historical, current, and forward-looking environmental and social-related statements are also based on standards and metrics, as well as standards for the preparation of any underlying data for those metrics, that are still developing and internal controls and processes that continue to evolve. For example, we note that standards and expectations regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and the processes for measuring and counting GHG emissions and GHG emission reductions are evolving, and it is possible that our approaches both to measuring our emissions and to reducing emissions and measuring those reductions may be, either currently by some stakeholders or at some point in the future, considered inconsistent with common or best practices with respect to measuring and accounting for such matters, and reducing overall emissions. While these are based on expectations and assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time of preparation, they should not be considered guarantees. If our approaches to such matters are perceived to fall out of step with common or best practice, we may be subject to additional scrutiny, criticism, regulatory and investor engagement or litigation, any of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Separately, the standards and performance metrics used, and the expectations and assumptions they are based on, have not, unless otherwise expressly specified, been verified by us or any third party.

Website references throughout this document are provided for convenience only, and the content on the referenced websites is not incorporated by reference into this document.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

i

 

Notice of Annual Meeting of

 Stockholders

September 24, 2024

To our stockholders:

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of KLA Corporation (“KLA,” “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company”), a Delaware corporation, will be held on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. PST, in the Plus Building of our Milpitas headquarters, located at One Technology Drive, Milpitas, California 95035, for the following purposes:

 

1.	To elect the nine candidates nominated by our Board of Directors (the “Board”) to serve as directors for one-year terms, each until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified.

 

2.	To ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.

 

3.	To approve on a non-binding, advisory basis our named executive officer compensation.

 

4.	To transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment thereof.

The foregoing items of business are more fully described in the Proxy Statement accompanying this Notice.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on September 12, 2024, are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof. A complete list of such stockholders will be open to the examination of any stockholder for a period of ten days prior to the Annual Meeting for a purpose germane to the Annual Meeting at the Company’s offices at One Technology Drive, Milpitas, California 95035.

For admission to the Annual Meeting, stockholders should come to the stockholder check-in table. Those who hold shares of our common stock in their own names should provide identification and have their ownership verified against the list of registered stockholders as of the close of business on the record date, September 12, 2024. Those who have beneficial ownership of stock through a broker, bank or other nominee must bring account statements or letters from the broker, bank or other nominee indicating that they owned our common stock as of the close of business on the record date, September 12, 2024. To vote at the meeting, those who have beneficial ownership of stock through a broker, bank or other nominee must bring a legal proxy, which can be obtained only from the broker, bank or other nominee.

 

 

		Sincerely,
					Richard P. Wallace President and Chief Executive Officer Milpitas, California

This Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Proxy Statement and form of proxy are being made available electronically and mailed on or about September 24, 2024.

 

All stockholders are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting in person; however, regardless of whether you expect to attend the Annual Meeting in person, we encourage you to vote as soon as possible. You may vote by proxy over the Internet or by telephone, or, if you received paper copies of the proxy materials by mail, you can also vote by mail by following the instructions on the proxy card or voting instruction card. Voting over the Internet, by telephone or by written proxy or voting instruction card will ensure your representation at the Annual Meeting regardless of whether you attend in person.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

ii | Table of Contents

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

iii

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

1

 

Proxy Summary

This summary does not contain all of the information you should consider when casting your vote. You should read the complete Proxy Statement before voting.

 

 

ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

Time and Date   12:00 p.m. PST November 6, 2024

Place   One Technology Drive, Milpitas, California 95035

Record Date   Close of business on September 12, 2024

STOCKHOLDER VOTING MATTERS

Proposal

Board’s Voting Recommendation

Page Reference

Election of 9 Directors Named in this Proxy Statement

FOR Each Nominee

4

Ratification of Appointment of our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

FOR

31

Advisory Vote to Approve Named Executive Officer Compensation

FOR

33

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

2  | Proxy Summary

 

OUR DIRECTORS

 

Directors and Principal Occupation

Director Since

Current Other Public Company Boards

Committees*

Independent

Age

AC

CTC

NGC

Robert Calderoni Former Chairman and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Citrix Systems, Inc.

Yes

64

2007

Ansys, Inc.

🌑

Chair

Jeneanne Hanley Former Senior Vice President and President of E-Systems Division of Lear Corporation

Yes

51

2019

QuantumScape Corporation

🌑

Emiko Higashi Founder of Tohmon Capital Partners, LLC

Yes

65

2010

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company  Rambus, Inc.

🌑

Kevin Kennedy Former Chairman of Quanergy Systems, Inc.

Yes

68

2007

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.  UL Solutions Inc.

🌑

🌑

Michael McMullen Senior Advisor of Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Yes

63

2023

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

🌑

Gary Moore Former Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ServiceSource International, Inc.

Yes

75

2014

None

Chair

🌑

Marie Myers** Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company

Yes

56

2020

None

Chair

🌑

Victor Peng Former President, Adaptive, Embedded, and AI Group of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Yes

64

2019

None

🌑

Robert Rango Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Enevate Corporation

Yes

66

2014

Keysight Technologies, Inc.  Microchip Technology, Inc.

🌑

Richard Wallace President and Chief Executive Officer of KLA Corporation

No

64

2006

Marvell Technology, Inc.

* As of September 12, 2024

** Ms. Myers is not standing for reelection to the Board at the Annual Meeting.

AC = Audit Committee     CTC = Compensation and Talent Committee     NGC = Nominating and Governance Committee

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

3

 

GOVERNANCE HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

Board and Governance Information**
Size of the Board			9			Independent Chair		Yes
Number of Independent Directors			8			Proxy Access		Yes
Average Age of Directors			64.4			Stockholder Action by Written Consent		No
Average Tenure of Directors			10.8 years			Stockholder Ability to Call Special Meeting		No
Annual Election of Directors			Yes			Poison Pill		No
Women			22%			Stock Ownership Guidelines for Directors and Executive Officers		Yes
Ethnic/Racial Diversity			22%			Anti-Hedging and Pledging Policies		Yes
Majority Voting in Director Elections			Yes			Clawback Policy		Yes

* Ms. Myers is not standing for reelection to the Board at the Annual Meeting, which will reduce the Board’s gender diversity from 30% to 22%. Our Board and Nominating and Governance Committee value gender diversity on the Board and are committed to increasing the number of female Board members. We are actively seeking highly qualified director candidates with the appropriate skills and experience to serve on the Board, and we expect to complete our search and appoint a new director by the next annual meeting.

** The information in this table reflects only the directors nominated

Fiscal Year 2024

 Performance Highlights

(Dollars in thousands)

 

Total revenues   $9,812,247     6.5% from FY23				Net income attributable to KLA   $2,761,896     18.5% from FY23				Dividends and stock repurchases   $2,508,787     22.7% from FY23

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

4  | Proposal One: Election of Directors

 

Proposal One: Election of

 Directors

NOMINEES

Nine incumbent directors are nominated for election at the Annual Meeting. The Nominating and Governance Committee, consisting solely of independent directors as determined under the rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market, recommended the nominees listed in this Proposal One. Based on that recommendation, the members of the Board resolved to nominate such individuals for election.

Information regarding the business experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of each nominee is provided below under the section entitled “Nominees for Election at the 2024 Annual Meeting.”

There are no family relationships among our executive officers and directors.

The nine candidates nominated by the Board for election as directors by the stockholders are:

 

If elected, each nominee will serve as a director for a one-year term expiring at our 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. Each director will hold office until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified, or until his or her death, resignation or removal. If any nominee declines to serve or becomes unavailable for any reason, or a vacancy occurs before the election, the proxies may be voted for such substitute nominees as the Board may designate. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Board is not aware of any nominee who is unable or who will decline to serve as a director.

VOTE REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDATION

Under our bylaws, in any uncontested election of directors (an election in which the number of nominees does not exceed the number of directors to be elected), any nominee who receives a greater number of votes cast “FOR” his or her election than votes cast “AGAINST” his or her election will be elected. In accordance with our bylaws, the Nominating and Governance Committee has established procedures under which any director who is not elected shall offer to tender his or her resignation to the Board following certification of the stockholder vote. The Nominating and Governance Committee, composed entirely of independent directors, will consider the offer of resignation and recommend to the Board the action to be taken. The Board will take action on the recommendation, and we will publicly disclose the Board’s decision and the rationale behind it, within 90 days following certification of the stockholder vote. In making their respective decisions, the Nominating and Governance Committee and Board will take into consideration all factors they deem relevant. The director who tenders his or her resignation will not participate in the decisions of the Nominating and Governance Committee or the Board regarding his or her resignation.

 

		The Board unanimously recommends a vote “FOR” each of the director nominees, with the Directors who are nominees abstaining with respect to their own nomination.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

5

 

Information About the

 Board of Directors and its

 Committees

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our Board held a total of four meetings during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. All directors other than Mr. Wallace are independent within the meaning of the NASDAQ Stock Market director independence standards.

The Board has three standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation and Talent Committee, and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Each committee is comprised entirely of independent directors, meets regularly and has a written charter approved by the Board, all of which are available on our website at http://ir.KLA.com, along with our Standards of Business Conduct, Corporate Governance Standards and other governance-related information. The Board and each committee periodically review the committee charters. In addition, at each quarterly Board meeting, a member of each committee reports on any significant matters addressed by the committee.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, each of the incumbent directors attended at least 75% of the aggregate of the total number of meetings (a) of the Board held during the period for which such person served as a director and (b) held by all Board committees on which such director served (during the periods that such director served).

Although we do not have a formal policy mandating attendance by members of the Board at our annual meetings of stockholders, we do have a formal policy encouraging their attendance at such meetings. All of the directors serving on our Board at the time attended last year’s annual meeting of stockholders.

Board Leadership Structure

KLA currently separates the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Since November 2022, Robert Calderoni, one of our independent Directors, has served as our Chairman of the Board. The responsibilities of the Chairman of the Board include: setting the agenda for each Board meeting, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer; chairing the meetings of the Board; presiding at executive sessions; facilitating and conducting, with the Nominating and Governance Committee, the annual self-assessments by the Board and each standing committee of the Board; and conducting, with the Compensation and Talent Committee, a formal evaluation of the Chief Executive Officer in the context of compensation reviews.

Separating the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board allows our Chief Executive Officer to focus on our day-to-day business, while allowing the Chairman of the Board to lead the Board in its fundamental role of providing advice to and independent oversight of management. The Board believes that having an independent director serve as Chairman of the Board is the appropriate leadership structure for KLA at this time.

However, our Corporate Governance Standards permit the roles of the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer to be filled by the same or different individuals. This provides the Board with flexibility to determine whether the two roles should be combined in the future based on our needs and the Board’s assessment of our leadership from time to time. Our Corporate Governance Standards provide that, in the event the Chairman of the Board is not an independent Director, the independent members of the Board will designate a “lead independent director.”

The Board’s Role in Oversight of Risk

Our Board, as a whole and through its committees, has responsibility for the oversight of risk management. In its oversight role, our Board has the responsibility to satisfy itself that the risk management processes designed and implemented by management are adequate and functioning as designed. The involvement of the Board in working with management to establish our business strategy at least annually is a key part of its oversight of risk management, its assessment of

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

6  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

management’s appetite for risk and its determination of what constitutes an appropriate level of risk for KLA. In addition, the Board periodically conducts a comprehensive review of our overall risk environment and risk management efforts. The Board and its committees also regularly receive updates from management (including representatives of our legal and internal audit teams) regarding certain risks that we face, including industry, business, macroeconomic, litigation, cybersecurity and other operating risks.

While our Board is ultimately responsible for risk oversight, our Board has delegated to the Audit Committee the primary responsibility for the active oversight of our enterprise risk management activities. Our Audit Committee is not only responsible for overseeing risk management of financial matters, the adequacy of our risk-related internal controls, financial reporting and internal investigations, and cybersecurity, but its charter also provides that the Audit Committee will discuss at least annually KLA’s risk assessment, enterprise risk management processes and major financial risk exposures, as well as the steps our management has taken to monitor and control those exposures. Our Audit Committee reports its findings and activities to the Board at each quarterly Board meeting.

In addition, our other Board committees each oversee certain aspects of risk management. Our Compensation and Talent Committee oversees risks related to our compensation and human capital policies and practices, and our Nominating and Governance Committee oversees governance-related risks, such as Board independence, environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters, conflicts of interest and management and director succession planning. The committees report their findings and activities to the Board.

While the Board is responsible for risk oversight, management is responsible for risk management. KLA maintains an effective internal controls environment and has processes to identify and manage risk, including an executive risk committee comprised of representatives from our legal, human resources, finance, global operations, internal audit, procurement, and risk and compliance teams. This committee reports to our Chief Executive Officer and has oversight of the various risk assessment, monitoring and controls processes across the Company.

The current composition of the committees of the Board is as follows:

 

Director		Audit		Compensation and Talent		Nominating and Governance
Robert Calderoni				✓		Chair
Jeneanne Hanley				✓
Emiko Higashi		✓
Kevin Kennedy		✓				✓
Michael McMullen				✓
Gary Moore				Chair		✓
Marie Myers*		Chair				✓
Victor Peng				✓
Robert Rango		✓
Richard Wallace

* Ms. Myers is not standing for reelection to the Board at the Annual Meeting.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

Current Members: Emiko Higashi, Kevin Kennedy, Marie Myers (Chair) and Robert Rango.

Meetings Held During Fiscal Year 2024: 8

Primary Responsibilities: The Audit Committee is responsible for appointing and overseeing the work of our independent registered public accounting firm, reviewing cybersecurity initiatives, approving the services performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, and reviewing and evaluating our accounting principles and system of internal accounting controls. In addition, the head of our Internal Audit function, who is supervised by our Chief Financial Officer, formally reports to the Audit Committee and provides updates at each quarterly meeting.

Independence: The Board has determined that each of the members of the Audit Committee meets the independence requirements (including the heightened requirements for Audit Committee members) of NASDAQ and under the rules and regulations of the SEC, and has no material relationship with KLA (including any relationship that, in the opinion of the Board, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment as a director) outside of their service on the Board and its committees.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

7

 

The Board has determined that each of Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Myers is an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC.

Ms. Myers is not standing for reelection to the Board at the Annual Meeting.

COMPENSATION AND TALENT COMMITTEE

Current Members: Robert Calderoni, Jeneanne Hanley, Michael McMullen, Gary Moore (Chair) and Victor Peng.

Meetings Held During Fiscal Year 2024: 6

Primary Responsibilities: The Compensation and Talent Committee reviews and either approves or recommends to the Board (depending upon the compensation plan and the executive involved) our executive compensation policies and programs and administers our employee equity award plans. The Compensation and Talent Committee also reviews and, except with respect to our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, has the authority to approve the cash and equity compensation for our executive officers and for members of the Board. The Compensation and Talent Committee also reviews our human capital initiatives and administers our compensation recovery policy. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Compensation and Talent Committee Decision Making-Approval Procedures Overview and Market Data” for more information concerning the procedures and processes the Compensation and Talent Committee follows in setting such compensation and implementing the various cash and equity compensation programs in effect for such individuals, including the retention of an independent compensation consultant to provide relevant market data and advice.

Independence: The Board has determined that each of the members of the Compensation and Talent Committee meets the independence requirements (including the heightened requirements for Compensation and Talent Committee members) of NASDAQ and under the rules and regulations of the SEC, and has no material relationship with KLA (including any relationship that, in the opinion of the Board, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment as a director) outside of their service on the Board and its committees.

Following the Annual Meeting, Mr. Moore will remain the Compensation and Talent Committee Chair.

Risk Considerations in Our Compensation Programs

Our management conducted an extensive review and analysis of the design and operation of KLA’s compensation practices, policies and programs for all employees, including our NEOs (as that term is defined elsewhere in this Proxy Statement), to assess the risks associated with those practices, policies and programs. Our Compensation and Talent Committee has reviewed the results of that analysis, including the underlying plan data and a risk assessment of significant elements of our compensation program. Based on this review and assessment, we and our Compensation and Talent Committee do not believe our compensation program encourages excessive or inappropriate risk-taking for the following reasons:

 

		Our use of different types of compensation provides a balance of short-term and long-term incentives with fixed and variable components;
		Our equity awards (including awards of performance-based restricted stock units (“PRSUs”), to the extent earned) typically vest over a four-year period, encouraging participants to look to long-term appreciation in equity values;
		The metrics used to determine the amount of a participant’s bonus under our incentive bonus plans and the number of shares earnable under PRSUs focus on Company-wide measures such as Operating Margin Dollars and relative free cash flow margin, metrics that the Compensation and Talent Committee believes encourage the generation of profitable revenue and drive long-term stockholder value;
		Our bonus plans impose caps on bonus awards to limit windfalls;
		Our system of internal control over financial reporting, Standards of Business Conduct and whistleblower processes, among other things, are intended to reduce the likelihood of manipulation of our financial performance to enhance payments under our performance-based compensation plans; and
		Our insider trading policy provides that our employees may not enter into hedging transactions involving our common stock (“Common Stock”), in an effort to prevent employees who receive equity awards from insulating themselves from the effects of changes in our stock price.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

8  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

NOMINATING AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

Current Members: Robert Calderoni (Chair), Kevin Kennedy, Gary Moore and Marie Myers.

Meetings Held During Fiscal Year 2024: 4

Primary Responsibilities: The Nominating and Governance Committee is primarily responsible for identifying and evaluating the qualifications of all candidates for election to the Board, as well as reviewing corporate governance policies and procedures and assessing stockholder proposals related to governance matters. The Nominating and Governance Committee assesses the appropriate size and composition of the Board, the effectiveness of its leadership structure, and whether any vacancies on the Board are expected, and monitors our ESG initiatives.

Independence: The Board has determined that each of the members of the Nominating and Governance Committee meets the independence requirements of NASDAQ, and has no material relationship with KLA (including any relationship that, in the opinion of the Board, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment as a director) outside of their service on the Board and its committees.

Following the Annual Meeting, Mr. Calderoni will remain the Nominating and Governance Committee Chair.

Evaluation of Director Candidates

In the event that vacancies are anticipated, or otherwise arise, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers potential candidates that may come to its attention through current members of the Board, professional search firms, management, stockholders or other persons. In evaluating properly submitted stockholder recommendations, the Nominating and Governance Committee uses the evaluation standards discussed in further detail below and seeks to achieve a balance of knowledge, background, diversity, experience and capability on the Board.

It is the Nominating and Governance Committee’s policy to consider candidates for the Board recommended by, among other persons, stockholders who have owned at least one percent of our outstanding shares for at least one year and who state that they have an intent to continue as a substantial stockholder for the long term. Stockholders wishing to nominate candidates for the Board must notify our Corporate Secretary in writing of their intent to do so and provide us with certain information set forth in Article II, Section Eleven of our bylaws and all other information regarding nominees that is required to be provided pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), or as otherwise requested by the Nominating and Governance Committee.

Majority Vote Policy

We maintain a governance policy applicable to uncontested director elections (elections in which the number of nominees does not exceed the number of directors to be elected) requiring that directors receive majority support in such elections. Under our bylaws, in any uncontested director election, any nominee who receives a greater number of votes cast “FOR” his or her election than votes cast “AGAINST” his or her election will be elected. In accordance with our bylaws, the Nominating and Governance Committee has established procedures under which any director who is not elected shall offer to tender his or her resignation to the Board following certification of the stockholder vote. The Nominating and Governance Committee, composed entirely of independent directors, will consider the offer of resignation and recommend to the Board the action to be taken. The Board will take action on the recommendation, and we will publicly disclose the Board’s decision and the rationale behind it, within 90 days following certification of the stockholder vote. In making their respective decisions, the Nominating and Governance Committee and Board will take into consideration all factors they deem relevant. The director who tenders his or her resignation will not participate in the decisions of the Nominating and Governance Committee or the Board regarding his or her resignation.

Director Qualifications and Diversity

The Board believes that the skill set, backgrounds and qualifications of our directors, considered as a group, should provide a significant composite mix of diversity in experience, knowledge and abilities that will allow the Board to fulfill its responsibilities. In addition, the Board believes that there are certain attributes that every director should possess, such as demonstrated business or academic achievements, the highest ethical standards and a strong sense of professionalism. Accordingly, the Board and the Nominating and Governance Committee consider the qualifications of directors and director candidates individually and in the broader context of the Board’s overall composition and KLA’s current and future needs.

In considering candidates for director nomination, including evaluating any recommendations from stockholders as set forth above, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers candidates who have demonstrated executive

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

9

 

experience or significant high-level experience in accounting, finance or a technical field or industry applicable to KLA. As set forth in our Corporate Governance Standards, the Nominating and Governance Committee takes into account all factors it considers appropriate when evaluating director candidates, which include strength of character, mature judgment, career specialization and the extent to which the candidate would fill a present need on the Board. In addition, with every candidate search, the Board considers the value of diversity and inclusion, and actively seeks candidates who will enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of the Board. With respect to new Board members, it is the standard practice of the Nominating and Governance Committee to engage a third-party recruiting firm to identify a slate of individuals for consideration as Board candidates based on the above-mentioned criteria.

In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee annually reviews with the Board the appropriate skills and characteristics required of directors in the context of the current composition of the Board. In seeking a diversity of backgrounds, the Nominating and Governance Committee seeks a variety of occupational and personal backgrounds on the Board in order to obtain a range of viewpoints and perspectives. This annual assessment enables the Board to update the skills and experience it seeks in the Board as a whole, and in individual directors, as KLA’s needs evolve and change over time.

In evaluating director candidates, including incumbent directors for re-nomination to the Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee has considered all of the criteria described above. When assessing an incumbent director, the Nominating and Governance Committee also considers the director’s past performance on and contributions to the Board. Among other things, the Nominating and Governance Committee has determined that it is important to have individuals with the following skills and experiences on the Board:

 

		Current or former executives who demonstrate strong leadership qualities and possess significant operating experience that together enable them to contribute practical business advice to the Board and management, strategies regarding change and risk management, and valuable insight into developing, implementing and assessing our operating plan and business strategy;
		A deep understanding of the key issues relevant to technology companies, including specific knowledge regarding the semiconductor industry, which is vital in understanding and reviewing our business goals and challenges, as well as our product development and acquisition strategies;
		Substantial international experience, which is particularly important given our global presence and the international nature of our customer base;
		An understanding of finance and related reporting processes. In the case of members of our Audit Committee, we seek individuals with demonstrated financial expertise with which to evaluate our financial statements and capital structure;
		Corporate governance experience obtained from service as Board members and/or executives for other publicly traded companies, which we believe results in a greater sense of accountability for management and the Board and enhanced protection of stockholder interests; and
		Contribution to the Board’s overall diversity of background and viewpoint, including diversity with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, thought and areas of expertise.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

10  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

Director Nominee Skills Matrix

 

Director Nominee Skills Matrix (as of September 12, 2024)

Public Company. Experience with reporting obligations, investor interaction, corporate securities rules, and public company governance.

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Global Business. Broad exposure to companies or organizations having a significant global presence, including developing and managing business in markets around the world, communicating in different cultures, and understanding different geopolitical situations.

●

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●

●

●

●

●

●

●

Corporate Governance. Adhering to bylaws and charters; experience in setting and adhering to corporate governance agenda for a board of directors; knowledge and understanding of governance planning, implementation and review processes; experience in encouraging management accountability and protecting stockholder interests.

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¡

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Corporate Financing/Capital Allocation. Experience in making capital allocation decisions; experience in financing or capital markets transactions.

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●

●

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Financial Expertise/Literacy. Experience in accounting or financial reporting, including understanding of internal controls; experience in overseeing such reporting and controls.

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¡

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Information Services and Technology. Experience, knowledge and understanding of information services industry; significant experience with technology, science and innovation; basic knowledge of various IT solutions, experience in overseeing the implementation of such solutions and using such solutions to improve business performance; particular experience with social media and developing online platforms.

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Legal/Public/Regulatory. Expertise in compliance with applicable governmental regulations; experience in legal and regulatory matters, corporate compliance and ethics policies; experience in managing the effects of government policies and regulations.

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Risk Management. Experience in the management of critical business and/or legal risk; understanding of risk management functions, including risk profiles and appetite statements, scenario planning, crisis management, risk identification/classification and similar functions; history of leadership roles in risk management across a number of organizations; ability to think strategically about risk across several organizations; ability to provide oversight and advice relating to risk.

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Business Operations. Experience managing supply chain risk and functionality; operating within and through economic cycles; ramping up and ramping down significant employee base; appropriate staffing decisions across numerous functions and operational channels.

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Business Development and Strategic Planning. Superior knowledge and understanding of business development, strategic planning, implementation, and review processes; experience in leading strategy discussion at the board level; experience in strategy development with more than one organization; strategic agenda-setting experience; experience with developing and implementing strategies for growth and/or downsizing, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures.

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Human Resource, Executive Compensation and Talent Management. Broad experience in executive development, performance, and compensation; experience with HR processes and strategies and efforts to attract, motivate, and retain candidates for key positions; experience in talent development, including developing diversity, equity, and inclusion in workforce.

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Cybersecurity/Data Privacy. Experience in overseeing and managing cybersecurity and data privacy risks; history of leadership roles in cybersecurity risk management; degrees, certifications, or other background in cybersecurity.

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Industry. Experience in the semiconductor industry; perspective and knowledge of semiconductor-related information, including insight into the industry’s challenges and opportunities.

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Denotes extensive experience, knowledge, and/or expertise and indicates a primary qualification supporting the Director’s nomination.

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Denotes an area in which the Director nominee has demonstrated proficiency and indicates an ancillary qualification supporting the Director’s nomination.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

11

 

Board Diversity Matrix

The Board Diversity Matrix below depicts the gender and ethnic composition of our Board nominees:

 

Board Nominee Diversity Matrix (As of September 12, 2024)
Total Number of Directors:		9
		Female		Male		Non-Binary		Did Not Disclose Gender
Part I: Gender Identity
Directors		2		7
Part II: Demographic Background
African American or Black (not of Hispanic or Latinx origin)
Alaska Native or Native American
Asian		1		1
Hispanic or Latinx
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
White (not of Hispanic or Latinx origin)		1		6
LGBTQ+
Did Not Disclose Demographic Background

Our Board and its Nominating and Governance Committee believe that all of the directors and nominees listed below are highly qualified and have the skills and experience required for service on our Board. Below is certain information with respect to our directors and nominees as of the date of this Proxy Statement, including, for each director and nominee, a biography and a summary of his or her significant experiences, qualifications and skills that are most pertinent to that individual’s service as a member of our Board.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

12  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

NOMINEES FOR ELECTION AT THE 2024 ANNUAL MEETING

 

Robert Calderoni

 

		Director Since: 2007   Age: 64   Board Committees: Compensation and Talent Nominating and Governance (Chair)		Background   Mr. Calderoni has more than 30 years of executive experience in the technology industry. He is the former Chairman and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Citrix Systems, Inc., retiring in December 2022. Mr. Calderoni was appointed Interim President and CEO at Citrix in October 2021. Mr. Calderoni was the Executive Chairman at Citrix from July 2015 to December 2018. From October 2015 to January 2016, Mr. Calderoni served as the interim Chief Executive Officer and President of Citrix. Prior to that, he was President of SAP AG’s cloud business following SAP’s October 2012 acquisition of Ariba, Inc., a leading provider of cloud software solutions where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to the acquisition, Mr. Calderoni served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Ariba from October 2001 until the company was acquired, and he also served as Ariba’s Chairman of the Board of Directors from July 2003 until the acquisition date. Before becoming Chief Executive Officer of Ariba, Mr. Calderoni served as Ariba’s Chief Financial Officer from January 2001 to October 2001. Prior to joining Ariba, Mr. Calderoni was Chief Financial Officer at Avery Dennison Corporation, a global manufacturing company. He also held numerous senior financial executive positions at major technology companies, including Senior Vice President Finance at Apple Inc., and Vice President Finance at IBM.   As a former senior executive officer of Citrix, SAP and Ariba, Mr. Calderoni provides our Board with extensive and relevant leadership and international operations experience in the technology industry. In addition, Mr. Calderoni is well-qualified to serve as Chairman of the Board as a result of his over 20 years of experience as a finance executive, including his past service as the Chief Financial Officer of two publicly traded technology companies. As a Board member of one other public company, Mr. Calderoni also has familiarity with a range of corporate governance issues.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:
				Ansys, Inc. (since 2020) Citrix Systems, Inc. (2014 to 2022)		Juniper Networks, Inc. (2003 to 2019) Logmein, Inc. (2017 to 2020)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

13

 

Jeneanne Hanley

 

		Director Since: 2019   Age: 51   Board Committees: Compensation and Talent		Background   Ms. Hanley has held various positions at Lear Corporation, a designer and manufacturer of automotive seating systems and electrical distribution systems and related components, from 1994 until January 2019, most recently serving as Senior Vice President and President of the E-Systems Division. Other positions at Lear Corporation she has held include Corporate Vice President, Global Surface Materials, Corporate Vice President, Americas Seating Business Unit and Vice President, Global Strategy and Business Development. Ms. Hanley earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1994 and her master’s degree in business administration in 2000 from the University of Michigan.   Ms. Hanley possesses significant operating and leadership skills, including extensive experience in electrical distribution systems and electronic modules used in the automotive industry. She offers significant experience pairing business strategy with organizational strategy in a complex global industry.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:   QuantumScape Corporation (since 2021)

 

 

Emiko Higashi

 

		Director Since: 2010   Age: 65   Board Committees: Audit		Background   Ms. Higashi is a founder of Tohmon Capital Partners, LLC (formerly Tomon Partners, LLC), a strategy and M&A advisory firm based in San Francisco and primarily serving companies in technology- and healthcare-related fields since 2003. Ms. Higashi serves on the boards of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. and Rambus, Inc. Prior to Tohmon Partners, she was a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gilo Ventures, a technology-focused venture capital firm, from 2000 to 2002. Before that, Ms. Higashi spent 15 years in investment banking. After beginning her investment banking career at Lehman Brothers from 1985 to 1988, Ms. Higashi was a founding member of Wasserstein Parella and the head of that firm’s technology M&A business from 1988 to 1994, and subsequently served as a managing director in charge of Merrill Lynch’s global technology M&A practice from 1994 until 2000. Prior to her investment banking career, Ms. Higashi spent two years as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. in Tokyo, Japan. Ms. Higashi holds a Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute CERT Certificate for Cybersecurity Oversight.   As a result of her extensive career in technology-focused investment banking and finance, Ms. Higashi brings to the Board significant strategic, business development, mergers and acquisitions and financial experience related to the business and financial issues facing large global technology corporations, a comprehensive understanding of international business matters, particularly in Asia, and knowledge of the semiconductor industry. In addition, as a founder and partner of several consulting firms and a founding member of an investment banking firm, Ms. Higashi also possesses significant leadership and entrepreneurial experience.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:
				Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. (since 2016) Rambus, Inc. (since 2017)		One Equity Partners Open Water I Corp. (2021 to 2023)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

14  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

Kevin Kennedy

 

		Director Since: 2007   Age: 68   Board Committees: Audit Nominating and Governance		Background   Mr. Kennedy most recently served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quanergy Systems, Inc., a leading provider of LiDAR sensors, from March 2020 to December 2023. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Quanergy from January 2020 to December 2022. In December 2022 Quanergy filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. From July 2018 through March 2020, Mr. Kennedy was a senior managing director at Blue Ridge Partners, a consulting firm that advises companies on accelerating profitable revenue growth. Prior to that, Mr. Kennedy previously served as President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Avaya Inc., a leading global provider of business communications applications, systems and services, positions he held from January 2009 to October 2017. In January 2017, Avaya Inc. filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining Avaya, Mr. Kennedy was Chief Executive Officer of JDS Uniphase Corporation, a provider of optical products and test and measurement solutions for the communications industry, from September 2003 to December 2008, also serving as JDS Uniphase’s President from March 2004 to December 2008. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Openwave Systems, Inc., a provider of software solutions for the communication and media industries. Previously, Mr. Kennedy spent nearly eight years at Cisco Systems, Inc. and 17 years at Bell Laboratories. In 1987, Mr. Kennedy was a Congressional Fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives on Science, Space and Technology. In January 2012, Mr. Kennedy was appointed to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee by former President Barack Obama. Mr. Kennedy holds a Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute CERT Certificate for Cybersecurity Oversight.   As a member of the Board of Directors of UL Solutions Inc. (Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.) and a former senior executive at Avaya, JDS Uniphase, Quanergy and Openwave, Mr. Kennedy possesses a vast amount of leadership and operational experience with companies in high technology industries. Also, as the holder of a Ph.D. degree in engineering from Rutgers University, a member of President Obama’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, a former Congressional Fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and the author of more than 30 papers on computational methods, data networking and technology management, Mr. Kennedy offers relevant expertise in a broad range of technology matters. Specifically, Mr. Kennedy has been associated with over 150 M&A transactions as part of building large and growing organizations. In addition, as a result of his experience on the Boards of Directors of several public companies, Mr. Kennedy offers our Board a deep understanding of corporate governance matters.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:
				Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (since 2013) Quanergy Systems, Inc. (2020 to 2023)		Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. (2020 to 2022) UL Solutions Inc. (since 2020)

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

15

 

Michael McMullen

 

		Director Since: 2023   Age: 63   Board Committees: Compensation and Talent		Background   Mr. McMullen is the former Chief Executive Officer and President of Agilent Technologies (“Agilent”), a global leader in life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets, providing application focused solutions that include instruments, software, services and consumables for the entire laboratory workflow, roles he held since 2015 and 2014, respectively, until his retirement in May 2024. Mr. McMullen currently serves as a senior advisor to Agilent. In his over twenty-year career at Agilent and its predecessor, Hewlett-Packard Company, Mr. McMullen held numerous leadership positions, including Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2015, and Senior Vice President, Agilent and President, Chemical Analysis Group from 2009 to 2014. Prior to that, he served in various capacities for Agilent, including Vice President and General Manager of the Chemical Analysis Solutions Unit of the Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis Group and Country Manager for Agilent’s China, Japan and Korea Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis Group. Prior to that, Mr. McMullen served as Controller for the Hewlett-Packard Company and Yokogawa Electric Joint Venture from 1996 to 1999. Mr. McMullen served as a member of the Boards of Directors of Agilent from 2015 to 2024 and Coherent, Inc. from 2018 to 2022.   As the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Agilent, Mr. McMullen brings to the Board extensive leadership experience, driving growth at a global scale in complex multinational equipment businesses. His experiences will provide valuable insight into challenges faced by a technology company with an international presence.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:
				Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (since 2024) Agilent Technologies, Inc. (2015 to 2024) Coherent, Inc. (2018 to 2022)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

16  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

Gary Moore

 

		Director Since: 2014   Age: 75   Board Committees: Compensation and Talent (Chair) Nominating and Governance		Background   Mr. Moore retired in July 2022 from his position as the Chief Executive Officer of ServiceSource International, Inc., a global leader in outsourced, performance-based customer success and revenue growth solutions, a position he had held since December 2018. He also held the position of the Executive Chairman of ServiceSource International, Inc. since November 2018. Mr. Moore previously retired in July 2015 from his positions as President and Chief Operating Officer of Cisco Systems, Inc., a leading global provider of networking and other products and services related to the communications and information technology industry, positions he had held from October 2012 to July 2015. Mr. Moore first joined Cisco in October 2001 as Senior Vice President, Advanced Services, and, in August 2007, he also assumed responsibility as co-lead of Cisco Services. From May 2010 to February 2011, he served as Executive Vice President, Cisco Services, and he was Cisco’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from February 2011 until October 2012 when he was named President and Chief Operation Officer. Immediately before joining Cisco, Mr. Moore served for approximately two years as Chief Executive Officer of Netigy Corporation, a network consulting company. Prior to that, he was employed for 26 years by Electronic Data Systems (“EDS”), where he held a number of senior executive positions, including as the President and Chief Executive Officer of joint venture Hitachi Data Systems from 1989 to 1992.   As the former Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ServiceSource and a former senior executive with Cisco and other global companies (including roles as Cisco’s President and Chief Operating Officer, the head of Cisco Services, the creator and manager of EDS’s e-solutions global business unit and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the EDS joint venture Hitachi Data Systems), Mr. Moore brings to the Board extensive leadership experience, as well as expertise in matters relating to international operations in the technology industry. Mr. Moore’s experience managing large-scale operations and growing businesses enables him to provide the Board and the Company with valuable advice and guidance regarding operational and strategic issues faced by global technology companies.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:   Finjan Holdings, Inc. (2015 to 2020) ServiceSource International, Inc. (2016 to 2022)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

  17

 

 

Victor Peng

 

		Director Since: 2019   Age: 64   Board Committees: Compensation and Talent		Background   Mr. Peng retired in August 2024 from his position as President, Adaptive, Embedded, and AI Group, of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (“AMD”), a developer of leadership high-performance and adaptive processor technologies, combining CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, Adaptive SoCs and deep software expertise to enable leadership computing platforms for cloud, edge and end devices, a position he held since February 2022 when AMD acquired Xilinx, Inc. From January 2018 to February 2022, Mr. Peng served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Xilinx. He served on the Xilinx board of directors from October 2017 to February 2022. From April 2017 to January 2018, Mr. Peng served as Xilinx’s Chief Operating Officer. From July 2014 to April 2017, he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Products. Prior to joining Xilinx, Mr. Peng served as Corporate Vice President, Graphics Products Group at AMD from November 2005 to April 2008. Prior to joining AMD, Mr. Peng served in a variety of executive engineering positions at companies in the semiconductor and processor industries.   As the former President, Adaptive, Embedded, and AI Group, of AMD, the former Chief Executive Officer of Xilinx and former member of its board of directors, and with his over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, Mr. Peng provides our Board with extensive and relevant leadership and international operations experience.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:   Xilinx, Inc. (2017 to 2022)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

18  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

Robert Rango

 

		Director Since: 2014   Age: 66   Board Committees: Audit		Background   Mr. Rango retired in December 2022 from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer of Enevate Corporation, a company working on the development of next generation Lithium Ion (Li-ion) battery technology, after serving in those roles since May 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Rango served for over 12 years, from March 2002 to July 2014, as an executive at Broadcom Corporation, a leading fabless semiconductor company. He most recently served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Mobile and Wireless Group, a role he had held from February 2011 to July 2014. During his tenure with Broadcom, Mr. Rango held a number of senior management positions in the company’s Network Infrastructure Business Unit, Mobile and Wireless Group and Wireless Connectivity Group, including as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Connectivity Group from January 2006 to February 2010 and as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Connectivity Group from February 2010 to February 2011. From 1995 to 2002, Mr. Rango held several Vice President and General Manager positions at Lucent Microelectronics, a networking communications company, and Agere Systems, a leader in semiconductors and software solutions for storage, mobility and networking markets, in its Optical Access, New Business Initiatives and Modem/Multimedia Divisions. Mr. Rango holds a Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute CERT Certificate for Cybersecurity Oversight.   Mr. Rango possesses significant operating and leadership skills, including extensive experience in global semiconductor product marketing, development and sales. As a result of his past service as an operational executive and general manager of several large global organizations, Mr. Rango offers a broad understanding of mobile, wireless, semiconductor, optical, software and technology management, which enables him to make significant contributions as a member of our Board.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:   Keysight Technologies, Inc. (since 2015) Microchip Technology, Inc. (since 2023) Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (2015 to 2019)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

19

 

Richard Wallace

 

		Director Since: 2006   Age: 64   Board Committees: None		Background   Mr. Wallace currently serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer. He has been our Chief Executive Officer since January 2006 and has also served as our President since November 2008. He began at KLA Instruments in 1988 as an applications engineer and has held various general management positions throughout his 36 years with us, including positions as President and Chief Operating Officer from July 2005 to December 2005, Executive Vice President of the Customer Group from May 2004 to July 2005, and Executive Vice President of the Wafer Inspection Group from July 2000 to May 2004. Earlier in his career, he held positions with Ultratech Stepper and Cypress Semiconductor. Mr. Wallace previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), a prominent industry association, including as SEMI’s Chairman of the Board. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and his master’s degree in engineering management from Santa Clara University, where he also taught strategic marketing and global competitiveness courses after his graduation.   As our President and Chief Executive Officer and a KLA employee for 36 years, Mr. Wallace brings to the Board extensive leadership and semiconductor industry experience, including a deep knowledge and understanding of our business, operations and employees, the opportunities and risks faced by KLA, and management’s strategy and plans for accomplishing our goals. In addition, Mr. Wallace’s current service as a member of the Boards of Directors of KLA and Marvell Technology, Inc., and his prior service as a member of the Boards of Directors of Splunk, NetApp and Proofpoint give him a strong understanding of his role as a Director and a broad perspective on key industry issues and corporate governance matters.   Other U.S. Public Company Boards:   Marvell Technology, Inc. (since 2024) Splunk, Inc. (2022 to 2024) NetApp, Inc. (2011 to 2019) Proofpoint, Inc. (2017 to 2021)

 

 

 

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

20  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Our Fiscal Year 2024 Director Compensation Program

Non-employee members of the Board (“Outside Directors”) receive a combination of equity and cash compensation as approved by the Compensation and Talent Committee (or, in the case of the compensation of the Chairman of the Board, as recommended by the Compensation and Talent Committee and approved by the Board). Equity compensation to Outside Directors is provided under our 2023 Incentive Award Plan (“2023 Plan”), which has been approved by our stockholders. Retainers and committee fees are paid in quarterly cash installments (unless the applicable director elects to defer such cash payments, as described below). The following table presents the key features of our fiscal year 2024 Outside Director compensation program:

 

COMPENSATION ELEMENT		FISCAL YEAR 2024 PROGRAM
Cash Compensation
Standard annual cash retainer		$100,000
Committee member additional annual cash retainers  (including Committee Chair)		$15,000 for Audit Committee $12,500 for Compensation and Talent Committee $7,500 for Nominating and Governance Committee
Committee Chair additional annual cash retainers		$30,000 for Audit Committee $20,000 for Compensation and Talent Committee $10,000 for Nominating and Governance Committee
Annual cash retainer for non-executive Chairman  (in lieu of standard retainer)		$155,000
Reimbursement for reasonable meeting attendance  expenses		Included

 

Equity Compensation
Market value of standard restricted stock unit (“RSU”) award  granted at annual meeting		$235,000 (to be granted at the Annual Meeting); dividend equivalents payable upon vesting
Market value of non-executive Chairman RSU award  granted at annual meeting in lieu of standard RSU award		$290,000 (to be granted at the Annual Meeting); dividend equivalents payable upon vesting
Vesting period of Outside Director RSUs		Awards vest in full annually; shares immediately issued upon vesting

Effective for fiscal year 2024, the Board increased (i) the standard annual cash retainer from $90,000 to $100,000; (ii) the annual cash retainer for our non-executive Chairman from $130,000 to $155,000; and (iii) the grant-date value of the annual RSU award from $220,000 to $235,000.

Other than as described above, members of the Board do not receive any additional compensation for their services as directors. The Board will separately determine the compensation payable to Outside Directors for service on special purpose committees of the Board, if such committees are created.

If a new Outside Director joins the Board after the date of an annual meeting of stockholders, his or her first RSU award will be granted at the time or promptly after he or she joins the Board and will be prorated to take into account the period of time from the last annual meeting of stockholders to the date the new Outside Director joined the Board.

Under the Outside Director compensation program, the RSU awards granted to our Outside Directors are issued with “dividend equivalent” rights pursuant to our 2023 Plan. Dividend equivalent rights entitle the recipient to receive credits, payable in cash, equal to the cash dividends that would have been received on the shares of our Common Stock had the shares subject to the RSUs been issued and outstanding on the dividend record date. The dividend equivalents are only payable to the recipient upon vesting and settlement of the underlying award.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

21

 

We have had in effect since 2008 a policy of providing prorated vesting acceleration of RSUs held by Outside Directors who are in good standing, whose service on the Board terminates before their RSUs are vested and who, at the time of termination, have served on the Board for six years.

Deferred Compensation

Each Outside Director is entitled to defer all or a portion of his or her cash retainer pursuant to our Executive Deferred Savings Plan (“EDSP”), a nonqualified deferred compensation plan. Amounts credited to the EDSP may be allocated by the participant among a variety of investment funds. For further information regarding our EDSP, including the list of investment funds available under the EDSP during fiscal year 2024, please refer to the section of this Proxy Statement entitled “Compensation Discussion and Analysis - Nonqualified Deferred Compensation.” Of the Outside Directors who served in fiscal year 2024, only Ms. Myers and Kiran Patel participated in the EDSP.

Matching Program

Since August 2014, Outside Directors have been able to participate in a gift matching program, under which the KLA Foundation will generally match, dollar-for-dollar, gifts by Outside Directors to qualifying tax-exempt institutions up to $10,000 per calendar year.

Stock Ownership Guidelines

We have adopted a policy, pursuant to which each Outside Director is expected to own a specified minimum number of shares of our Common Stock. Under our current policy, each Outside Director, once he or she has served as an Outside Director for at least four years, is expected to own shares of our Common Stock with a market value of at least five (5) times the standard annual cash retainer paid to the Outside Directors. Shares of Common Stock underlying outstanding RSUs held by the directors count toward this ownership requirement.

The table below sets forth as of September 12, 2024, the compliance with our stock ownership guidelines by the eight Outside Directors who have served for at least four years. Value is based on the closing price of our Common Stock on June 28, 2024 ($824.51) (i.e., the last trading day of our last completed fiscal year). Ratio is equal to value divided by annual cash retainer.

 

Name		Total Shares (#)(1)				Value ($)				Ratio
Robert Calderoni			14,529.527				11,979,740				77.3x
Jeneanne Hanley			3,547.000				2,924,537				29.2x
Emiko Higashi			14,416.000				11,886,136				118.9x
Kevin Kennedy			7,482.000				6,168,984				61.7x
Gary Moore			14,678.000				12,102,158				121.0x
Marie Myers			3,530.000				2,910,520				29.1x
Victor Peng			5,262.000				4,338,572				43.4x
Robert Rango			11,343.000				9,352,417				93.5x

(1) Consists of: (i) shares owned, including shares indirectly owned by the Outside Directors through living trusts, and (ii) RSUs.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

22  | Information about the Board of Directors and its Committees

 

Director Compensation Table

The following table sets forth certain information regarding the compensation earned by or awarded to each Outside Director during fiscal year 2024:

 

Name		Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($)(1)				Stock Awards ($)(2)				Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings ($)(3)				All Other Compensation ($)(4)				Total ($)
Robert Calderoni			185,000				289,730				-				4,826				479,556
Jeneanne Hanley			112,500				234,929				-				3,661				351,090
Emiko Higashi			115,000				234,929				-				3,661				353,590
Kevin Kennedy			122,500				234,929				-				3,661				361,090
Michael McMullen			112,500				234,929				-				172				347,601
Gary Moore			140,000				234,929				-				3,661				378,590
Marie Myers			152,500				234,929				-				3,661				391,090
Kiran Patel(5)			30,625				-				-				3,661				34,286
Victor Peng			112,500				234,929				-				3,661				351,090
Robert Rango			115,000				234,929				-				3,661				353,590

(1) The amounts set forth in this column represent cash fees earned by each Outside Director during fiscal year 2024, regardless of whether the fees were actually paid during the fiscal year.

(2) The amounts shown represent the aggregate grant date fair value of RSUs awarded to each Outside Director during fiscal year 2024, computed in accordance with the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, referred to in this Proxy Statement as ASC 718 (except that the fair values set forth above have not been reduced by the Company’s estimated forfeiture rate). The ASC 718 grant date fair value of each RSU award was calculated based on the fair market value of our Common Stock on the award date. For further discussion regarding the assumptions used in calculating the grant date fair value for RSUs, please refer to Note 1 to the Company’s consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024, filed with the SEC on August 5, 2024.

On November 1, 2023, each Outside Director then in office was granted an RSU award for 493 shares of our Common Stock (other than Mr. Calderoni who, as Chairman of the Board, received an RSU award for 608 shares, as described above under the heading “Our Fiscal Year 2024 Director Compensation Program”). The following table shows, for each Outside Director, the aggregate number of unvested shares of our Common Stock underlying all outstanding RSUs held by that Outside Director then in office as of June 30, 2024:

 

Name		Aggregate Number of Unvested Shares of Common Stock Underlying Director RSU Awards as of June 30, 2024
Robert Calderoni			604
Jeneanne Hanley			493
Emiko Higashi			493
Kevin Kennedy			493
Michael McMullen			493
Gary Moore			493
Marie Myers			493
Victor Peng			493
Robert Rango			493

(3) As noted above, of the current Outside Directors, only Ms. Myers participated in our EDSP during fiscal year 2024. We have concluded that, because the EDSP earnings correspond to the actual market earnings on a select group of investment funds available under the EDSP, no portion of our Outside Directors’ earnings under the EDSP is “above market” or “preferential.” Accordingly, we do not report any portion of our Outside Directors’ earnings under the EDSP in the Director Compensation Table. Ms. Myers’ investment earnings (loss) under the EDSP during fiscal year 2024 were $79,336.

(4) Represents dividend equivalents paid upon the vesting of RSUs during fiscal year 2024.

(5) Mr. Patel served as an Outside Director through November 1, 2023, at which time his service on our Board ended.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement

 

23

 

Our Corporate Governance

 Practices

At KLA, we believe that strong and effective corporate governance procedures and practices are an extremely important part of our corporate culture. In that spirit, we have summarized several of our corporate governance practices below.

ADOPTING AND MAINTAINING GOVERNANCE STANDARDS

The Board has adopted, and periodically reviews and updates as necessary, a set of Corporate Governance Standards to establish a framework within which it will conduct its business and to guide management in its running of the Company. The governance standards, portions of which are summarized below, can be found on our website at http://ir.KLA.com. We have posted information regarding our corporate governance procedures to help ensure the transparency of our practices.

MONITORING BOARD EFFECTIVENESS

It is important that our Board and its committees are performing effectively and in the best interests of KLA and our stockholders. The Board is responsible for annually assessing its effectiveness and the effectiveness of each of its committees in fulfilling their respective obligations, and each Committee is responsible for reviewing the Board’s assessment of that Committee’s effectiveness. In addition, our Nominating and Governance Committee is charged with overseeing an annual review of the Board and its membership. The standard practice of the Board is that Outside Directors will not stand for re-election after reaching the age of 75. However, upon the recommendation of the Nominating and Governance Committee, the Board may nominate director candidates who have reached the age of 75, if it determines that doing so is in the best interest of the Company. Board members are elected for one-year terms, and there is currently no limitation on the number of terms a director may serve.

CONDUCTING FORMAL INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR SESSIONS

At the conclusion of each regularly scheduled Board meeting, the independent directors meet in executive session without KLA management or any non-independent directors.

HIRING OUTSIDE ADVISORS

The Board and each of its committees may retain outside advisors and consultants of their choosing at our expense, without management’s consent.

AVOIDING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

We expect our directors, executive officers and employees to conduct themselves with the highest degree of integrity, ethics and honesty. Our credibility and reputation depend upon the good judgment, ethical standards and personal integrity of each director, executive officer and employee. In order to provide assurances internally and to our stockholders, we have implemented Standards of Business Conduct that provide clear conflict of interest guidelines to our employees, as well as an explanation of reporting and investigatory procedures.

COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE BOARD

Stockholders may communicate with the Board by writing to us at KLA Corporation, Attention: Investor Relations, One Technology Drive, Milpitas, California 95035. All communications will be received, processed, and then directed to the appropriate member(s) of our Board, other than, at the Board’s request, certain items unrelated to the Board’s duties, such as spam, junk mail, solicitations, employment inquiries, and similar items.

Stockholders who would like their submission directed to a member of the Board may so specify, and the communication will be forwarded, as appropriate.

 

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24  | Our Corporate Governance Practices

 

STANDARDS OF BUSINESS CONDUCT; WHISTLEBLOWER HOTLINE AND WEBSITE

The Board has adopted Standards of Business Conduct for all of our employees and directors, including our principal executive and senior financial officers, and we have prepared and made available versions of our Standards of Business Conduct translated into Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese and Korean in an effort to maximize the accessibility and understandability of these important guidelines to our employees. You can obtain a copy of our Standards of Business Conduct via our website at http://ir.KLA.com, or by making a written request to us at KLA Corporation, Attention: Investor Relations, One Technology Drive, Milpitas, California 95035. We will make any required disclosures regarding amendments to, or waivers from, the Standards of Business Conduct on our website at the same address.

In addition, we have established a hotline and website for use by employees, as well as third parties such as vendors and customers, to report actual or suspected wrongdoing and to answer questions about business conduct. The hotline and website are both operated by an independent third party, which provides tools to enable individuals to submit reports in a number of different languages and, where permitted by law, on an anonymous basis.

ENSURING AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE

We have taken a number of steps to ensure the continued independence of our outside auditors. Our independent registered public accounting firm reports directly to the Audit Committee, which also has the ability to pre-approve or reject any non-audit services proposed to be conducted by the firm.

COMPENSATION AND TALENT COMMITTEE INTERLOCKS AND INSIDER PARTICIPATION

During all or a portion of fiscal year 2024, Messrs. Calderoni, McMullen, Moore and Peng and Mses. Hanley and Higashi served on the Compensation and Talent Committee. None of these individuals was an officer or employee of KLA at any time during fiscal year 2024 or at any other time. During fiscal year 2024, there was no instance in which an executive officer of KLA served as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity and an executive officer of that same entity served on our Board or Compensation and Talent Committee.

STOCKHOLDER NOMINATIONS TO THE BOARD

Please see “INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ITS COMMITTEES—Nominating and Governance Committee.”

MAJORITY VOTE POLICY

Please see “INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ITS COMMITTEES—Nominating and Governance Committee—Majority Vote Policy.”

STOCKHOLDER OUTREACH

During the year, we engage with our stockholders to better understand their views on matters they consider important, which varies by stockholder, but usually includes topics such as: agenda items for the annual meeting of stockholders; Board composition; business performance and strategy; corporate governance; and environmental, social and human capital management. We typically commence our outreach activities following the filing of our proxy statement. Stockholder outreach is led by our investor relations team, but often includes members of management, our legal and compliance team and occasionally one or more members of our Board. Stockholder concerns expressed in this outreach are summarized and communicated to the Board or one of its committees. Similar to previous years, during outreach sessions, certain stockholders generally expressed a desire to see more disclosure on our website regarding ESG matters. In 2024, we published our fourth global impact report covering our ESG strategy and the foundation of that strategy.

INSIDER TRADING POLICY

We have adopted a Policy on Insider Trading and Unauthorized Disclosures that govern the purchase, sale, and other dispositions of our securities by our directors, officers, employees and consultants that are reasonably designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules, and regulations, and the listing standards of the NASDAQ Stock Market. Our Policy on Insider Trading and Unauthorized Disclosures is included as Exhibit 19.1 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024.

 

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Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

KLA is built on a foundation of innovative spirit and perseverance—traits we believe are essential to solving tough challenges. Our top priority is helping customers achieve their goals with innovative tools and equipment. Since process control is our business, this means we also partner with our customers to deliver products and services that help them reduce waste and avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We approach our customers’ challenges like they are our own, supporting them on their respective journeys to make better products a better way. We are excited to announce that KLA received validation from the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) for our near-term targets covering Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

Our ESG activities are led by an enterprise-wide ESG Steering Committee. This committee comprises leaders from across the business who create and drive strategies, cross-functional programs, and initiatives to achieve our ESG goals. To promote dialogue between management and the Board for engagement and prioritization of ESG issues, the ESG Steering Committee receives oversight from the Nominating and Governance Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for monitoring KLA’s policies, programs and results related to environmental stewardship, corporate citizenship, human rights, and other social and public matters of significance to KLA and regularly receives updates from and engages with management. ESG oversight was added to the Nominating and Governance Committee’s charter in 2021, in response to input from our stakeholders.

ADVANCING STEWARDSHIP

KLA is focused on responding to the climate challenges facing our world. In addition to our SBTi validated targets, we are working to make the microprocessor manufacturing process more efficient (and thus sustainable) through our core business, creating new products and services that can help companies reduce waste, conserve natural resources and reduce their environmental footprint.

We have made important strides in updating and improving our greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory baseline and achieving limited third-party verification across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 of our inventory, including renewable energy use.

Climate and energy:

We are taking action through our near-term science-based targets—KLA is committed to reducing absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2021 base year and to reducing our Scope 3 GHG emissions from the use of sold products 52% per billion transistors inspected, measured, or processed by 2030 from our 2021 baseline. As reported in our 2023 Global Impact Report, we are on track toward achieving these goals.

Highlights:

 

		Since 2018, we have continued to increase our procurement of electricity from carbon-free sources across our global operations year-over-year. In 2023, 64% of our electricity was sourced from renewable energy sources. We are on track toward our goal of using 100% renewable electricity across our global operations by 2030.

 

		In 2021, 2022 and 2023, KLA conducted in-depth climate risk and opportunity assessments following the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In 2023, we completed and disclosed the results of a climate scenario analysis for the first time, assessing physical climate risks. While the results did not identify any risks that would be material for the purposes of our U.S. securities reporting, we continue to assess the results to help guide our climate-related efforts.

 

		In 2022, we completed our first limited third-party verification of GHG inventory that extended across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, including the use of sold products.

 

		To address emissions in our supply chain, we work with suppliers representing the highest-impact emissions to set their own climate goals.

 

		Named one of America’s Greenest Companies in 2023.

Materials and waste:

KLA strives to reduce waste generation across our sites and support our customers’ efforts around responsible materials management. In 2023, we published a new KLA Water & Waste Policy detailing our corporate intentions and our expectations of employees, contractors and others working on behalf of the company. Within our ISO-certified systems, we commit to strategies that reduce the creation of waste materials, and we pursue beneficial reuse or recycling strategies for unavoidable waste materials. As an example of these efforts, our U.S. and Singapore locations have implemented a reusable crate program that reduces the volume of raw materials used in crate manufacturing while also saving costs.

 

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Highlights:

 

		In 2023, we implemented new data collection software and established definitions for 23 waste categories and eight disposition methods within our global waste management system, allowing us to better identify waste impacts across our Super Sites and inform waste-related target-setting and mitigation actions (using 2023 as our new baseline).

 

		2023 was the first year KLA disclosed hazardous waste, which totaled 126.8 metric tons across our Super Sites, representing 4% of our total waste. We seek opportunities to reduce hazardous waste wherever feasible.

Water management:

Water is a shared natural resource that is vital to KLA and its surrounding communities. We acknowledge our role in stewarding local water resources and strive to adopt innovative approaches across our locations to reduce our water usage and reliance on sources of fresh water. Just as we help our customers reduce their water usage, KLA aims to improve water conservation at our own manufacturing sites, with emphasis in locations facing water scarcity and drought conditions.

Highlights:

 

		We continue to look for opportunities to reduce our impacts on municipal water sources and use recycled water when possible. At our Singapore site 82% of total water usage is domestic wastewater (NEWater) cleaned through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection that can be used for industrial purposes such as cooling towers. In 2023, across all Super Sites, 30% of total water withdrawals are from recycled water, a 16% increase from 2022.

 

		We completed a water risk assessment for our Super Sites using the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas and WWF Water Risk Filter. We performed this analysis to determine which of our water-intensive sites may be exposed to near-term and long-term water-related risks. Our water risk assessment identified three KLA Super Sites at risk for water stress: our headquarters in Milpitas, California, and sites at Yavne and Migdal Ha’emek, Israel. The share of total water use from these sites decreased from 52% in 2022 to 50% in 2023.

ADVANCING OPPORTUNITY

We say that KLA advances humanity, and we mean it. From the global impact of our business innovations to our respectful and inspiring workplace culture, we strive to help individuals advance their personal and professional lives and contribute to a more fair, equitable and sustainable future.

We are a multinational company with approximately 15,000 employees around the world. Our collaborative work environment thrives on effective communication, mutual understanding, a rich blend of global cultures and a wealth of skills and knowledge.

Inclusion

Inclusion is foundational to KLA, both as a strategic imperative to advance our business and as an expression of our core values. An inclusive workplace culture leads to more open ideating and better collaboration, generating innovation and supporting business success. We believe inclusion is everybody’s job, and that making it a reality requires not just policies but also conscious, considerate individual actions, multiplied daily across the organization. Through our ongoing Inclusion for All initiative, we aim to create a sense of belonging that weaves throughout KLA, embracing each individual’s backgrounds and experiences, celebrating everyone’s diverse perspectives and knitting together teams that drive personal and corporate success.

Highlights:

 

		Named a top company for women in 2023 by Forbes Magazine.

 

		In 2023, as part of our Inclusion for All campaign, we continued to strengthen our inclusion and diversity (“I&D”) trainings to promote inclusive behavior. We conducted over 20 employee training sessions focused on inclusive leadership, identity and belonging and unconscious bias and increased our reach globally.

 

		Within KLA, volunteer Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) help advance a more inclusive and diverse future by collaborating, sharing ideas and raising awareness of important issues affecting their communities. By fiscal year-end 2024, we had five established ERGs and one in development. The newest ERG to launch is supporting KLA employees who are U.S. military veterans and the group expected to launch in late 2024 aims to provide a bridge between different generations of KLA employees.

 

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		Demonstrating our commitment to creating a more diverse workforce, KLA signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge and joined the Alliance for Global Inclusion in 2022.

 

		At KLA, we value I&D throughout our organization and supply chain. We are working to grow an inclusive and diverse global supply chain, that drives innovation and partners with us in advancing humanity through KLA technologies and services.

Talent development:

Our competitive advantage is our people and the technology they develop, so we invest in KLA’s future by fully supporting their personal and professional growth. Our talent development programs focus on developing the unique attributes of our employees through comprehensive training offerings, employee engagement programs, and health and wellness activities.

Highlights:

 

		KLA has been included in Training Magazine’s Top 10 Hall of Fame for the past 17 years.

 

		We support continued learning through tuition reimbursement. Through our partnerships with Stanford University and the University of Michigan, employees can pursue advanced degrees in engineering that are customized for KLA and the skills/competencies required to support our customers.

 

		Our Corporate Learning Center (“CLC”) offers extensive training programs that are among the best in the technology industry.

 

		In 2023, we achieved a 78% internal rate of promotion at the VP level, which is a testament to our efforts in promoting internal mobility.

 

		Across our global operations, our full-time-equivalent employees completed an average of 37.8 hours of training in 2023, including approximately 450 unique CLC learning courses.

Health and safety:

Our employees are the lifeblood of our business. That is why their health and safety are a continual priority.

Highlights:

 

		In 2023, we continued to make progress expanding our ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 programs across our main production and R&D facilities. As of year-end 2023, our sites in Singapore; Newport, Wales; Milpitas, California; and Migdal Ha’emek, Israel, are certified to ISO 14001, the internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems (EMS). Our Wales site is also certified to ISO 45001, which specifies requirements for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management systems.

 

		In 2023, we continued a major expansion of our Corporate Learning Center’s library of on-demand, web-based trainings that are assigned to employees based on their specific job classifications. In all, our training library expanded to more than 60 courses that will launch in 2024. As a sign of the support our training program enjoys from leadership, some of these new courses are narrated by a member of the KLA executive team.

 

		In 2023, our U.S. Total Recordable Incident Rate was 0.25, which is below our industry average of 1.20, based on 2022 injury and illness rates published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Community engagement:

The KLA Foundation’s mission is to advance humanity by investing in our communities to create a more equitable, inclusive and accessible world. The KLA Foundation and KLA employees around the world play an active role in supporting the communities where we live and work through financial support, volunteerism and program facilitation. The KLA Foundation focuses its efforts on three strategic pillars: Education, Wellness and Community Enrichment.

Highlights:

 

		In 2023, the KLA Foundation made $5.2 million in direct grants and $2.2 million in employee match funding grants for a total of $7.4 million in community giving.

 

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28  | Our Corporate Governance Practices

 

		In 2023, the KLA Foundation extended our support for first-generation, limited-income and underrepresented students. The year’s major initiative was launching the KLA Foundation Education Equity Fund, a multi-year commitment designed to accelerate community efforts that expand access to quality education by delivering academic, social and cultural resources essential to student success.

 

		The KLA Foundation is committed to supporting the communities where our employees live and work. Near our Milpitas, California headquarters, KLA Foundation helped HomeFirst Services of Santa Clara County serve more than 5,000 housing-insecure or unhoused adults, veterans, families and youth through a continuum of care—meeting people where they are and working to support a housing plan specific to each individual.

 

		The Foundation also supported unhoused people through grants to Project Homeless Connect (Washington County, Oregon), SOS Community Services (Ypsilanti, Michigan) and Urban Renewal Corp. (Newark, New Jersey). We also worked with KLA offices in Arizona, California, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon and Texas to provide $130,500 in grants to local foodbanks, helping people experiencing food insecurity.

 

		We continue to prioritize inclusion as a key focus area of the KLA Foundation, focusing on our mission to advance humanity by investing in our communities to help create a more equitable, inclusive and accessible world. We aligned the KLA Foundation’s strategic pillars of education, wellness and community enrichment with six of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, informing our efforts by considering how they may impact goals, including 4-Quality Education, 5-Gender Equality and 10-Reduced Inequities.

Supply Chain Stewardship:

As a global company, we are committed to continue aligning our supply chain strategy with our broader ESG goals around Advancing Humanity. We seek out suppliers who share our strong values, treat their employees with dignity, respect and fairness, and meet the strict requirements in our Standards of Business Conduct to promote a supply chain free from any human trafficking and labor violations.

Highlights:

 

		We expanded inclusion and diversity transparency across our supply chain. In 2023, we gave supplier managers access to a third-party database to search for potential suppliers from less commonly represented backgrounds that may meet KLA’s needs and stringent standards. In addition to helping spur inclusion, this can help us improve supply chain resiliency as well as procurement costs by having a wider network of suppliers to draw from.

 

		Suppliers are required to adhere to KLA’s Standards of Business Conduct, as well as our Global Human Rights Standard, which is aligned with the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct.

 

		We continued to achieve our goal to get 85% of our targeted suppliers to participate in the annual RBA Facility Supplier Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), which assesses the supplier’s compliance to the RBA Code of Conduct. In 2023, we successfully expanded the program to include our top tier 1 indirect suppliers. This new effort resulted in an 87% completion rate of the Indirect Facility SAQs requested.

 

		In 2022, we initiated the development of a strategy to engage suppliers in setting their own climate-related targets and addressing climate-related risks in the supply chain. This strategy is now in execution with select suppliers.

ADVANCING INNOVATION

We tackle our customers’ most complex problems through significant investment in research and development (“R&D”), collaborative teams and a passion for excellence.

Product innovation and sustainability:

The nature of KLA’s business and involvement in technological advancements requires us to continue to innovate and heavily invest in R&D to deliver for our customers. Our customers are constantly challenged to increase their production yield, reduce waste and meet their own profitability and sustainability goals. KLA solutions make this possible by allowing manufacturers to innovate and produce chips faster, more sustainably and at a lower cost.

Highlights:

 

		In fiscal year 2022, our R&D spending was 12% of total revenue.

 

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		To address our products’ power consumption, we are creating a comprehensive product energy efficiency strategy that incorporates efficiency metrics into the product development processes and aims to generate and adopt innovative energy efficiency solutions. Our dedicated ESG product lead supports this effort, along with efforts to standardize energy intensity metrics across product groups. In 2023, we launched a new, cross-divisional Product ESG Steering Team comprised of management representatives to focus on product efficiency throughout KLA.

 

		KLA continues to deliver solutions and support to the growing silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power device market that enables advances in electric vehicles and other green technologies.

 

 

 

Protecting intellectual property:

At KLA, we have been a part of the most significant technological breakthroughs in our industry. Protecting the intellectual assets that we create and manage every day enables the innovations that advance humanity tomorrow.

Highlights:

 

		We aim to ensure that the technologies we use to secure our digital environment are operational and running more than 99% of the time in any calendar month.

 

		We have developed need-to-know and data classification systems to help employees recognize and protect intellectual property. The need-to-know campaign aims to get employees to think more about how and with whom they share information, while the data classification system is a visual way to identify and protect information.

Protecting against cybersecurity threats:

Around the globe, businesses are under constant threat from financially motivated cybercriminals and foreign governments seeking advantage through information theft. In the face of ongoing geopolitical tensions and U.S. regulations around semiconductor-related technology exports, risks involving malicious threat actors are heightened for both the industry and its supply chain. To mitigate these threats, our cybersecurity team evaluates the architecture of our network, maintains a security-first mindset and focuses on scalability to support the future needs of the business.

Highlights:

 

		Our KLA Security Operations Center monitors our digital environment 24/7 to help protect our data.

 

		We have introduced key technologies that give us more visibility holistically across our environment—significantly reducing the time needed to detect and contain incidents.

 

		We have a culture of open reporting. We want people to feel like they can come to us, ask questions and report concerns.

 

 | 2024 Proxy Statement