LADR Ladder Capital Corp

Item 5.02.      Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On May 10, 2022, Ladder Capital Corp (“Ladder”) appointed Anthony V. Esposito as Chief Accounting Officer and principal accounting officer, effective May 10, 2022. Paul J. Miceli, Chief Financial Officer of Ladder, who previously performed the functions of Ladder’s principal accounting officer, will continue to serve as Ladder’s principal financial officer.

Before joining Ladder, Mr. Esposito, age 43, worked for iStar Inc. and Safehold Inc. from May 2013 to May 2022, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller for both. Prior to that, Mr. Esposito was a Senior Manager in the assurance practice at Ernst & Young LLP, where he was employed from July 2002 to May 2013. Mr. Esposito is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the State University of New York at Albany, and a Master of Science in Real Estate from the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University.

Mr. Esposito will receive a base salary of $275,000 per year and will be eligible for a discretionary bonus as determined by Ladder. Mr. Esposito is also entitled to an initial equity award in the form of restricted stock of Ladder with a grant date value as of the date of his appointment of $375,000, half of which will be subject to time-vesting conditions and the other half will be subject to time and performance-vesting conditions in accordance with the restricted stock award agreement between Ladder and Mr. Esposito. Mr. Esposito will be entitled to participate in all of Ladder’s employee benefit programs in which employees of Ladder are generally eligible to participate. Mr. Esposito will also be subject to confidentiality, non-compete and non-solicitation covenants that are generally applicable to employees of Ladder.

Mr. Esposito is not a party to any arrangement or understanding regarding his selection as an officer. There are no family relationships between Mr. Esposito and any director or executive officer of Ladder. Mr. Esposito is not a party to any transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.