SkyAI Keeps Board in Place After Shareholder Protest
Shareholders kept the board in place, but rejected the 2026 compensation plan. The fight with Forward Industries over SkyAI’s Solana treasury and takeover bid is still going.
Key Takeaways
- SkyAI kept all five directors after a protest campaign by Forward Industries and Bastion Trading.
- Shareholders voted by a wide margin against the 2026 compensation plan and the release of 5 million shares.
- The takeover battle between Forward and SkyAI is still going; SkyAI has not publicly responded to the revised bid yet.
SkyAI kept all five directors at its annual meeting, despite a protest campaign by Forward Industries and Bastion Trading. Shareholders did, however, vote by a wide margin against the proposed 2026 compensation plan. That makes it clear that support for the board held up, but there was resistance to the way SkyAI wants to use its shares for compensation.
Board Stays in Place
According to an SEC filing on Thursday, all five directors received more abstentions than support. For each director, that meant 18.4 million to 20.7 million abstentions, compared with 6.9 million to 9.2 million votes for. Still, they did not lose their seats because SkyAI uses a plurality rule. Under that setup, abstentions do not count as votes against a candidate.
Forward had already described that scenario as likely when it urged shareholders to withhold their votes. The result shows that a protest campaign does not automatically lead to board changes, especially under a voting rule that gives abstentions less weight.
Compensation Plan Fails
While the board stayed in place, the 2026 equity incentive plan did not get support. Shareholders voted 22.5 million against and 5 million for the plan. SkyAI wanted to free up 5 million shares for stock-based compensation, on top of the shares still available under the existing plan.
The rejection matters because compensation plans are often a sensitive issue at crypto companies that put a lot of emphasis on growth, treasury management, and long-term incentives. In this case, the vote seems to show that investors are willing to keep a board in place, but are less eager to accept extra dilution through new share-based compensation.
Fight Over SkyAI Continues
The vote comes in the middle of the takeover battle around SkyAI. Forward, which according to the filing is by far the largest Solana treasury company, has been trying to acquire SkyAI since mid-June. On September 15, the company made a revised bid after SkyAI rejected the first proposal. The offer values each SkyAI share at the equivalent of 0.306 Forward shares.
SkyAI has not yet made a public decision on that second bid. Forward asked for a response by Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET. For European crypto followers, the case is especially relevant because it shows how quickly Solana treasury companies are becoming a battleground for takeovers, voting campaigns, and governance debates. That fits into a broader trend in which Forward Industries also expanded its SOL position further and became more clearly visible as a treasury player.
