Mr. Sarvadi co-founded the Company in 1986 and has served as Chairman of the Board and CEO since 1989. The Board believes that Mr. Sarvadi s intimate knowledge of the daily operations of, and familiarity with, the Company and industry put him in the best position to provide leadership to the Board on setting the agenda, emerging issues facing the Company and the PEO industry, and strategic opportunities. Additionally, Mr. Sarvadi s substantial financial stake in the Company creates a strong alignment of interests with other stockholders. Mr. Sarvadi s combined roles also ensure that a unified message is conveyed to stockholders, employees, and clients. As of April 4, 2025, Mr. Sarvadi had 120,000 shares of our common stock pledged, which represented approximately 9.0% of the shares of our common stock Mr. Sarvadi beneficially owned. After a thorough review, the Board approved Mr. Sarvadi s pledge of shares based on their determination that the number of shares pledged by him were not significant.