Definitive Healthcare names Clay Ritchey CEO, Kevin Coop steps down

What happened

Definitive Healthcare Corp., a provider of healthcare data and analytics software, announced the appointment of Clay Ritchey as its new Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board, effective September 8, 2026. Ritchey, 55, most recently served as CEO of Verato, a master data management company, and previously held senior roles at healthcare technology firms including Evariant, Imprivata, and Equinox Healthcare.

In a separate announcement, the company said Kevin Coop has stepped down as CEO and board member, effective August 31, 2026. The filing states that Coop's departure was not due to any disagreement with the company regarding operations, policies, or practices.

The stock rose sharply on the news, closing at $1.125 per share on September 2, 2026, up 24.7% from the previous close of $0.902. Trading volume was about 4.5 million shares, compared to an average of roughly 356,000 shares.

Terms of the new CEO's employment

Definitive Healthcare entered into an employment agreement with Ritchey on August 28, 2026. Under the agreement, Ritchey will receive an annual base salary of $500,000 and is eligible for an annual bonus with a target of 87.5% of base salary, plus annual equity awards with an initial target of at least $2,000,000 under the company's 2021 Equity Incentive Plan.

Ritchey will also receive a new-hire equity grant with a target value of $4,000,000, split into 65% time-based restricted stock units (worth $2.6 million) and 35% performance-based restricted stock units (worth $1.4 million). The number of shares will be based on a 30-day volume-weighted average stock price starting from the grant date.

If Ritchey is terminated without cause or resigns for good reason, he would receive 12 months of continued base salary, a lump sum for unpaid bonus plus target bonus, acceleration of time-based equity vesting for 12 months, and COBRA premium payments for up to 12 months. In the event of a change in control, the benefits are more generous, including 18 months of salary and full acceleration of equity vesting.

The company expects to enter into a separation agreement with Coop and will file the terms within four business days after execution.

What this means

This is an 8-K filing, which public companies must submit to the SEC to disclose major events that shareholders should know about. Item 5.02 specifically covers changes in directors or officers, which is why the announcement of a new CEO and the departure of the previous one appear here.

A CEO change is often significant because the person in that role shapes strategy and operations. The filing gives details on the new CEO's compensation and severance terms, which are standard for an executive appointment of this kind. The stock jump suggests investors viewed the news positively, but the filing does not explain why the market reacted that way.

The performance-based restricted stock units (PSUs) vest only if the company meets certain performance goals over a three-year period, tying part of the CEO's pay to the company's future performance. The time-based restricted stock units (RSUs) vest simply with continued employment, providing an incentive to stay.

Note that Coop's departure is described as without cause, which under most employment agreements triggers severance benefits. The company will disclose the specific terms of Coop's separation agreement in a later filing, which will detail any payments or benefits he receives.