NTNX Nutanix Inc

NUTANIX, INC.
(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement if Other Than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box)

1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150
San Jose, California 95110

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ABOUT PROXY MATERIALS AND VOTING

The information provided in the “questions and answers” format below is for your convenience only and is merely a summary of the information contained in the proxy statement. You should carefully read this proxy statement in its entirety. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not intended to be, and is not, incorporated by reference into this proxy statement and references to our website addresses in this proxy statement are inactive textual references only.

Why did I receive a notice regarding the availability of proxy materials on the Internet?

We have elected to provide access to our proxy materials over the Internet. Accordingly, we have sent you a Notice because our board of directors is soliciting your proxy to vote at the Annual Meeting. All stockholders will have the ability to access the proxy materials on the website referred to in the Notice or to request a printed set of the proxy materials. Instructions on how to access the proxy materials over the Internet or to request a printed copy may be found in the Notice.

We expect to mail the Notice on or about October 30, 2019 to all stockholders of record entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.

How do I attend and participate in the Annual Meeting online?

We will be hosting the Annual Meeting via live webcast only. Any stockholder can attend the Annual Meeting, live online at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/NTNX2019. The webcast will start at 8:30 a.m., Pacific Time. Stockholders may vote and submit questions while attending the meeting online. The webcast will open 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. In order to enter the meeting, you will need the control number. The control number will be included in the Notice or on your proxy card if you are a stockholder of record of shares of common stock, or included with your voting instructions received from your broker, bank or other agent if you hold your shares of common stock in a “street name.” Instructions on how to attend and participate online are available at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/NTNX2019.

Who can vote at the Annual Meeting?

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on October 21, 2019, or the Record Date, will be entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. As of the close of business on the Record Date, there were 173,721,537 shares of Class A common stock and 18,422,043 shares of Class B common stock outstanding and entitled to vote, together referred to as our common stock.

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name

If, as of the close of business on the Record Date, your shares of common stock were registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A., then you are a stockholder of record. As a stockholder of record, you may vote online during the meeting or vote by proxy. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote by proxy to ensure your vote is counted.

Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker or Bank

If, as of the close of business on the Record Date, your shares of common stock were held, not in your name, but rather in an account at a brokerage firm, bank, dealer or other similar organization, then you are the beneficial owner of shares held in “street name” and the Notice will be forwarded to you by that organization. The organization holding your account is considered to be the stockholder of record for purposes of voting at the Annual Meeting. As a beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your broker or other agent regarding how to vote the shares in your account. You are also invited to attend the virtual Annual Meeting. Since you are not the stockholder of record, you may vote your shares online during the Annual Meeting only by following the instructions from your broker, bank or other agent.

What matters am I voting on?

There are four matters scheduled for a vote:

How do I vote?

The procedures for voting are as follows:

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name

If you are a stockholder of record, you may vote online during the Annual Meeting, vote by proxy through the Internet, vote by proxy over the telephone, or vote by proxy using a proxy card that you may request. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote by proxy to ensure your vote is counted. Even if you have submitted a proxy before the Annual Meeting, you may still attend online and vote during the meeting. In such case, your previously submitted proxy will be disregarded.

If we receive your vote by Internet or phone or your signed proxy card up until 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, the day before the Annual Meeting, we will vote your shares as you direct.

To vote, you will need the control number. The control number will be included in the Notice or on your proxy card if you are a stockholder of record of shares of common stock, or included with your voting instructions received from your broker, bank or other agent if you hold your shares of common stock in a “street name”.

Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of Broker or Bank

If you are a beneficial owner of shares registered in the name of your broker, bank or other agent, you should have received a notice containing voting instructions from that organization rather than from us. Simply follow the voting instructions in such notice to ensure that your vote is counted. To vote online during the meeting, you must follow the instructions from your broker, bank or other agent.

Internet proxy voting is provided to allow you to vote your shares online, with procedures designed to ensure the authenticity and correctness of your proxy vote instructions. Please be aware that you must bear any costs associated with your Internet access.

Can I change my vote?

Yes. Subject to the voting deadlines above, if you are a stockholder of record, you may revoke your proxy at any time before the close of voting using one of the following methods:

If your shares are held by your broker or bank as a nominee or agent, you should follow the instructions provided by such party.

What happens if I do not vote?

Stockholder of Record: Shares Registered in Your Name

If you are a stockholder of record and do not vote during the Annual Meeting, or through the Internet, by telephone or by completing your proxy card before the Annual Meeting, your shares will not be voted.

Beneficial Owner: Shares Registered in the Name of a Broker or Bank

Broker non-votes occur when (1) a broker or other nominee holds shares for a beneficial owner, (2) the beneficial owner has not given the respective broker specific voting instructions, (3) the matter is non-routine in nature, and (4) there is at least one routine proposal presented at the applicable meeting of stockholders (such as Proposal 2 at this Annual Meeting). Under applicable rules, a broker or other nominee has discretionary voting power only with respect to proposals that are considered “routine,” but not with respect to “non-routine” proposals. Broker non-votes are considered present for purposes of determining the presence of a quorum so long as the shares represented by a broker or other nominee who holds shares for a beneficial owner, where the beneficial owner has not given the respective broker or other nominee specific voting instructions, can be voted for, against or in abstention for at least one proposal presented at the Annual Meeting. Since there is one routine proposal presented at the Annual Meeting (Proposal 2) on which brokers and other nominees have such discretionary voting power, broker non-votes will be counted for quorum purposes at the Annual Meeting. Broker non-votes will not be counted for purposes of determining the number of votes cast on a proposal. Therefore, a broker non-vote will make a quorum more readily attainable but will not otherwise affect the outcome of the vote on any of the proposals.

Abstentions represent a stockholder’s affirmative choice to decline to vote on a proposal, and occur when shares present at the meeting are marked “abstain.” Abstentions are counted for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present and are also counted as votes against a proposal in cases where approval of the proposal requires the votes from the holders of a majority in voting power of the shares present at the Annual Meeting or represented by proxy thereat and entitled to vote on the proposal (Proposals 2, 3 and 4).

Proposals 1, 3 and 4 are non-routine matters, so your broker or nominee may not vote your shares on Proposals 1, 3 or 4 without your instructions. Proposal 2, the ratification of Deloitte & Touche LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2020, is a routine matter so your broker or nominee may vote your shares on Proposal 2 even in the absence of your instruction. Please instruct your bank, broker or other agent to ensure that your vote will be counted.

What if I return a proxy card or otherwise vote but do not make specific choices?

If you return a signed and dated proxy card or otherwise vote but do not make specific choices, your shares will be voted FOR the election of both nominees for Class III director, FOR the ratification of the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2020, FOR the approval of certain amendments of the ESPP, including an amendment to increase the maximum number of shares of our Class A common stock authorized for sale thereunder by 9,200,000 shares, and FOR the approval of the compensation of our Named Executive Officers. If any other matter is properly presented at the Annual Meeting, your proxyholder (one of the individuals named on your proxy card) will vote your shares using his best judgment.

How many votes do I have?

Each holder of Class A common stock will have the right to one vote per share of Class A common stock and each holder of Class B common stock will have the right to ten votes per share of Class B common stock. Our Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote as a single class on all matters described in this proxy statement for which your vote is being solicited. Stockholders are not permitted to cumulate votes with respect to the election of directors.

How do I find out whether I have Class A common stock or Class B common stock?

If you are unsure whether you hold shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock, contact our stock administrator at stocks@nutanix.com.

How many votes are needed to approve each proposal and how are the votes counted?

Who counts the votes?

We have engaged Broadridge Financial Solutions, or Broadridge, as our independent agent to tabulate stockholder votes. If you are a stockholder of record, and you choose to vote over the Internet (either prior to or during the Annual Meeting) or by telephone, Broadridge will access and tabulate your vote electronically, and if you choose to sign and mail your proxy card, your executed proxy card is returned directly to Broadridge for tabulation. As noted above, if you hold your shares through a broker, your broker (or its agent for tabulating votes of shares held in street name, as applicable) returns one proxy card to Broadridge on behalf of all its clients.

Who is paying for this proxy solicitation?

We will pay for the cost of soliciting proxies. In addition to these proxy materials, our directors and employees may also solicit proxies in person, by telephone, or by other means of communication. Directors and employees will not be paid additional compensation for soliciting proxies. We may reimburse brokers, banks and other agents for the cost of forwarding proxy materials to beneficial owners.

When are stockholder proposals due for next year’s annual meeting?

Requirements for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, for stockholder director nominations or other proposals to be considered at an annual meeting, the stockholder must give timely notice thereof in writing to our Secretary at Nutanix, Inc., 1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150, San Jose, CA 95110. No stockholders provided timely notice of a director nomination or other proposal for this 2019 Annual Meeting, thus no other matters will be presented for consideration at the Annual Meeting other than the proposals set forth in this proxy statement. To be timely for the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, a stockholder’s notice must be delivered to or mailed and received by our Secretary at our principal executive offices not later than September 15, 2020 nor earlier than August 16, 2020. A stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must also set forth the information required by our amended and restated bylaws.

Requirements for stockholder proposals to be considered for inclusion in our proxy materials.

Stockholder proposals submitted pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and intended to be presented at the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders must be received by us no later than July 2, 2020 in order to be considered for inclusion in our proxy materials for that meeting.

What is the quorum requirement?

A quorum of stockholders is necessary to hold a valid meeting. A quorum will be present if stockholders holding at least a majority of the aggregate voting power of the shares of common stock issued, outstanding and entitled to vote are present in person at the meeting or represented by proxy.

Your shares will be counted towards the quorum only if you submit a valid proxy (or one is submitted on your behalf by your broker, bank or other nominee) or if you vote during the Annual Meeting. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be counted towards the quorum requirement. If there is no quorum, either the chairperson of the Annual Meeting or the stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting that are present in person or represented by proxy may adjourn the meeting to another date.

How can I find out the results of the voting at the Annual Meeting?

We expect that preliminary voting results will be announced during or shortly following the Annual Meeting. In addition, final voting results will be published in a current report on Form 8-K that we expect to file within four business days after the Annual Meeting.

What does it mean if I receive more than one Notice?

If you receive more than one Notice, your shares may be registered in more than one name or in different accounts. Please follow the instructions on the Notices to ensure that all your shares are voted.

What does it mean if multiple members of my household are stockholders but we only received one Notice or full set of proxy materials in the mail?

The SEC has adopted rules that permit companies and intermediaries, such as brokers, to satisfy the delivery requirements for notices and proxy materials with respect to two or more stockholders sharing the same address by delivering a single Notice or set of proxy materials addressed to those stockholders. In accordance with a prior notice sent to certain brokers, banks, dealers or other agents, we are sending only one Notice or full set of proxy materials to those addresses with multiple stockholders unless we received contrary instructions from any stockholder at that address. This practice, known as “householding,” allows us to satisfy the requirements for delivering Notices or proxy materials with respect to two or more stockholders sharing the same address by delivering a single copy of these documents. Householding helps to reduce our printing and postage costs,

reduces the amount of mail you receive and helps to preserve the environment. If you currently receive multiple copies of the Notice or proxy materials at your address and would like to request “householding” of your communications, please contact your broker. Once you have elected “householding” of your communications, “householding” will continue until you are notified otherwise or until you revoke your consent.

To receive a separate copy, or, if a stockholder is receiving multiple copies, to request that we only send a single copy of the Notice and, if applicable, our proxy materials, such stockholder may contact us at the following address:

Nutanix, Inc.
Attention: Investor Relations
1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150
San Jose, California 95110

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AT NUTANIX

Nutanix is strongly committed to good corporate governance practices. These practices provide an important framework within which our board of directors and management can pursue our strategic objectives for the benefit of our stockholders. Our board of directors has adopted corporate governance guidelines that set forth the role of our board of directors, director independence standards, board structure and functions, director selection considerations, and other governance policies. In addition, our board of directors has adopted written charters for its standing committees (audit, compensation, and nominating and corporate governance), as well as a code of business conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors, including those officers responsible for financial reporting. Our nominating and corporate governance committee reviews the corporate governance guidelines annually, and recommends changes to our board of directors as warranted. The corporate governance guidelines, the committee charters, and the code of business conduct and ethics, and any waivers or amendments to the code of business conduct and ethics, are all available on our investor relations website (http://ir.nutanix.com) in the “Governance” section.

Director Independence

Our Class A common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or Nasdaq. Under the listing requirements and rules of Nasdaq, independent directors must comprise a majority of our board of directors. In addition, the rules of Nasdaq require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees be independent. Under the rules of Nasdaq, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of that company’s board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Compensation committee members must not have a relationship with us that is material to the director’s ability to be independent from management in connection with the duties of a compensation committee member. Additionally, audit committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. In order to be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10A-3, a member of an audit committee of a listed

company may not, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the board of directors or any other board committee, accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries or be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of its subsidiaries.

Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of each director and considered whether each director has a material relationship with us that could compromise his or her ability to exercise independent judgment in carrying out his or her responsibilities. As a result of this review, our board of directors determined that each of Ms. Bostrom and Messrs. Conway, Gomo, McAdam, Mhatre, Parks, Scarpelli, and Stevens, representing eight of our nine current directors, do not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and were “independent directors” as defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing requirements and rules of Nasdaq.

Board Leadership

Our nominating and corporate governance committee periodically considers the leadership structure of our board of directors and makes such recommendations to our board of directors as our nominating and corporate governance committee deems appropriate. Our corporate governance guidelines also provide that, when the positions of chairperson and chief executive officer are held by the same person, the independent directors may designate a “lead independent director.”

Currently, our board of directors believes that it is in the best interests of our company and our stockholders for our Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, Mr. Pandey, to serve as both CEO and Chairman given his knowledge of our company and industry and his strategic vision. Because Mr. Pandey has served and continues to serve in both these roles, in August 2015, our board of directors appointed Mr. Mhatre to serve as our lead independent director. As lead independent director, Mr. Mhatre will preside at all meetings of the board of directors at which the Chairman is not present, preside over executive sessions of our independent directors, serve as a liaison between our Chairman and our independent directors and perform such additional duties as our board of directors may otherwise determine and delegate. Our board of directors believes that its independence and oversight of management is maintained effectively through this leadership structure, the composition of our board of directors and sound corporate governance policies and practices.

Executive Sessions of Non-Employee Directors

In order to encourage and enhance communication among non-employee directors, and as required under applicable Nasdaq rules, our corporate governance guidelines provide that the non-employee directors will meet in executive sessions without management directors or company management on a periodic basis, no less than twice a year. Our lead independent director, Mr. Mhatre, is the presiding director at these meetings.

Communications with our Board of Directors

Stockholders or interested parties who wish to communicate with our board of directors or with an individual director may do so by mail to our board of directors or the individual director, care of our Chief Legal Officer at 1740 Technology Dr., Suite 150, San Jose, CA 95110. The communication should indicate that it contains a stockholder or interested party communication. In accordance with our corporate governance guidelines, all such communication will be reviewed by the Chief Legal Officer, in consultation with appropriate directors as necessary, and, if appropriate, will be forwarded to the director or directors to whom the communications are addressed or, if none are specified, to the Chairman of our board of directors.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, which have the composition and responsibilities described below. Our board of directors may establish other committees to facilitate the management of our business. Copies of the charters of the audit, compensation, and nominating and corporate governance committees are available in the “Governance” section of our investor relations website (http://ir.nutanix.com). Members serve on these committees until their resignation or until otherwise determined by our board of directors.

Audit Committee

Our audit committee is comprised of Messrs. Gomo, Parks and Scarpelli, each of whom is a non-employee member of our board of directors. Mr. Scarpelli is the Chairman of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of the members of our audit committee satisfies the requirements for independence and financial literacy under the rules and regulations of Nasdaq and the SEC. Our board of directors has also determined that each of Messrs. Gomo and Scarpelli qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined in the SEC rules, and satisfies the financial sophistication requirements of Nasdaq. The audit committee is responsible for, among other things:

Compensation Committee

Our compensation committee is comprised of Ms. Bostrom and Messrs. McAdam, Mhatre and Parks, each of whom is a non-employee member of our board of directors. Mr. Parks is the Chairman of our compensation committee. Mr. McAdam is retiring from our board of directors effective as of the end of his current term of office, which will expire at the Annual Meeting. As a result of his retirement, Mr. McAdam will not stand for re-election at the Annual Meeting and, effective as of the expiration of Mr. McAdam’s term of office at the Annual Meeting, he will no longer serve on our compensation committee.

Our board of directors has determined that each member of our compensation committee meets the requirements for independence under the rules of Nasdaq and the SEC, and is a “non-employee director” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act. The compensation committee is responsible for, among other things:

Our audit committee has the responsibility to consider and discuss our major financial risk exposures and the steps our management has taken to monitor and control these exposures, including guidelines and policies to govern the process by which risk assessment and management is undertaken. Our audit committee also monitors compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, in addition to oversight of the performance of our internal audit function. Our nominating and corporate governance committee monitors the effectiveness of our corporate governance guidelines. Our compensation committee assesses and monitors whether our compensation philosophy and practices have the potential to encourage excessive risk-taking and evaluates compensation policies and practices that could mitigate such risks.

At periodic meetings of our board of directors and its committees, management reports to and seeks guidance from our board of directors and its committees with respect to the most significant risks that could affect our business, such as legal, financial, tax and audit related risks. In addition, among other matters, management provides our audit committee with periodic reports on our compliance programs and investment policy and practices.

NOMINATIONS PROCESS AND DIRECTOR QUALIFICATIONS

Nomination to the Board of Directors

Candidates for nomination to our board of directors are selected by our board of directors based on the recommendation of the nominating and corporate governance committee in accordance with the committee’s charter, our policies, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, our corporate governance guidelines, the criteria adopted by our board of directors regarding director candidate qualifications, and the requirements of applicable law. In recommending candidates for nomination, the nominating and corporate governance committee considers candidates recommended by directors, officers, and employees, as well as candidates that are properly submitted by stockholders in accordance with our policies and amended and restated bylaws, using the same criteria to evaluate all such candidates. A stockholder that wishes to recommend a candidate for election to the board of directors may send a letter directed to our Chief Legal Officer at 1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150, San Jose, CA 95110. The letter must include, among other things, the candidate’s name, home and business contact information, detailed biographical data, relevant qualifications, a signed letter from the candidate confirming willingness to serve, and information regarding any relationships between the candidate and Nutanix. Additional information regarding the process for properly submitting stockholder nominations for candidates for membership on our board of directors is set forth above under “Questions and Answers About Proxy Materials and Voting” and in our amended and restated bylaws.

Evaluations of candidates generally involve a review of background materials, internal discussions and interviews with selected candidates as appropriate and, in addition, the nominating and corporate governance committee may engage consultants or third-party search firms to assist in identifying and evaluating potential nominees.

Director Qualifications

With the goal of developing a diverse, experienced and highly qualified board of directors, the nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for developing and recommending to our board of directors the desired qualifications, expertise and characteristics of members of our board of directors, including qualifications that the committee believes must be met by a committee-recommended nominee for membership on our board of directors and specific qualities or skills that the committee believes are necessary for one or more of the members of our board of directors to possess.

In addition to the qualifications, qualities, and skills that are necessary to meet U.S. legal, regulatory and Nasdaq listing requirements and the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws, corporate governance guidelines, and charters of the board committees, the nominating and corporate governance committee requires the following minimum qualifications to be satisfied by any nominee for a position on the board of directors: (i) the highest personal and professional ethics and integrity, (ii) proven achievement and competence in the nominee’s field and the ability to exercise sound business judgment, (iii) skills that are complementary to those of the existing board of directors, (iv) the ability to assist and support management and make significant contributions to our success, and (v) an understanding of the fiduciary responsibilities that are required of a member of the board of directors and the commitment of time and energy necessary to diligently carry out those responsibilities. When considering nominees, our nominating and corporate governance committee may take into consideration many other factors including, among other things, the

candidates’ character, integrity, judgment, independence, area of expertise, corporate experience, length of service, and potential conflicts of interest, the candidates’ other commitments, and the size and composition of the board of directors and the needs of the board of directors and its committees. Our board of directors and nominating and corporate governance committee believe that a diverse, experienced and highly qualified board of directors fosters a robust, comprehensive and balanced decision-making process for the continued effective functioning of our board of directors and success of the Company. Accordingly, through the nomination process, the nominating and corporate governance committee seeks to promote board membership that reflects diversity, factoring in gender, race, ethnicity, differences in professional background, education, skill, and experience, and other individual qualities and attributes that contribute to the total mix of viewpoints and experience. The nominating and corporate governance committee evaluates the foregoing factors, among others, and does not assign any particular weighting or priority to any of the factors.

In conducting its 2019 director search, the nominating and corporate governance committee emphasized the above criteria, including in instructing Heidrick & Struggles, a leading executive search services firm that the nominating and corporate governance committee retained to assist it in identifying, interviewing, evaluating and recommending potential candidates. Following an extensive search in which numerous highly-qualified candidates from a variety of backgrounds were considered, the nominating and corporate governance committee recommended Brian Stevens to the Board.

The brief biographical description of each director set forth below in Proposal 1 below includes the primary individual experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of each of our directors that led to the conclusion that each director should serve as a member of our board of directors at this time.

Vote Required

Directors are elected by a plurality of the voting power of the shares present at the meeting or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the election of directors. WITHHOLD votes and broker non-votes have no legal effect on the outcome. Accordingly, the two nominees receiving the highest number of affirmative votes will be elected. Shares represented by executed proxies will be voted, if authority to do so is not withheld, for the election of the two nominees named above. If any nominee becomes unavailable for election as a result of an unexpected occurrence, shares that would have been voted for that nominee will instead be voted for the election of a substitute nominee proposed by us.

Nominees

Our nominating and corporate governance committee seeks to assemble a board of directors that, as a group, can best perpetuate the success of the business and represent stockholder interests through the exercise of sound judgment using its diversity of background and experience in various areas. To that end, the committee has identified and evaluated nominees in the broader context of our board’s overall composition, with the goal of recruiting members who complement and strengthen the skills of other members and who also exhibit integrity, collegiality, sound business judgment and other qualities deemed critical to effective functioning of our board of directors. Each of the nominees listed below is currently a director. Each of Messrs. Mhatre and Pandey was appointed to our board of directors prior to our IPO.

Set forth below is biographical information for the nominees and each person whose term of office as a director will continue after the Annual Meeting. This includes information regarding each director’s experience, qualifications, attributes or skills that led our board of directors to recommend them for board service.

Nominees for Re-Election at this Annual Meeting of Stockholders

Ravi Mhatre has served as our lead independent director since August 2015, and as a member of our board of directors since July 2010. Mr. Mhatre co-founded Lightspeed Venture Partners, a global technology venture capital firm, and has served as Managing Director of Lightspeed Venture Partners since August 1999. He currently serves on the board of directors of several private companies. Mr. Mhatre holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. We believe Mr. Mhatre is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his significant corporate finance and business expertise gained from his experience in the venture capital and IT industries, including his time spent serving on the boards of directors of various technology companies. We also value his perspective as a representative of one of our largest stockholders.

Dheeraj Pandey co-founded our company and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as the Chairman of our board of directors since our inception in September 2009, as well as our President from September 2009 until February 2016. Prior to co-founding our company, Mr. Pandey served as Vice President, Engineering at Aster Data Systems (now Teradata Corporation), a data management and analysis software company, from February 2009 to September 2009 and as its Director of Engineering from September 2007 to February 2009. Mr. Pandey has also served as a director of the board and an audit committee member of Adobe Inc., a multinational computer software company, since January 2019. Mr. Pandey holds a B. Tech. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and was a Graduate Fellow of Computer Science in the Ph.D. program at the University of Texas at Austin. We believe that the perspective and experience that Mr. Pandey brings as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman uniquely qualify him to serve on our board of directors.

Directors Continuing in Office Until the Annual Meeting of Stockholders After the End of the Fiscal Year Ending July 31, 2020

Susan L. Bostrom has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2017. Ms. Bostrom served as Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Worldwide Government Affairs of Cisco Systems, Inc., a networking equipment provider, from January 2006 to January 2011. Prior to that, from 1997 to January 2006, Ms. Bostrom served in various positions at Cisco, including Senior Vice President, Global Government Affairs and the Internet Business Solutions Group and Vice President of Applications and Services Marketing. Ms. Bostrom currently serves on the boards of directors of Cadence Design Systems, Inc., an electronic design software company, ServiceNow, Inc., a company providing cloud-based solutions, and Anaplan, Inc., a software company.

Ms. Bostrom previously served as a member of the board of directors of Varian Medical Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of medical devices and software, from February 2005 until February 2019, Rocket Fuel Inc., an artificial intelligence media buying company, from February 2013 until its acquisition by Sizmek, Inc. in September 2017, and Marketo, Inc., a provider of software as a service marketing automation solutions, from May 2012 until its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in August 2016. Ms. Bostrom holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. We believe that Ms. Bostrom is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to her extensive experience and leadership roles in the technology industry, and her experience serving on the board of directors of several public companies.

Steven J. Gomo has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015. Mr. Gomo served as Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of NetApp, Inc., a storage and data management company from October 2004 until his retirement in December 2011, as well as Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer from August 2002 to September 2004. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee of each of Enphase Energy, Inc., a solar energy management device maker, and Micron Technology, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of semiconductor memory products. Mr. Gomo also previously served on the board of directors of NetSuite Inc., a business management software company, from March 2012 until it was acquired by Oracle Corporation in November 2016. Mr. Gomo also served on the board of directors of SanDisk Corporation, a flash memory storage solutions and software company, from December 2005 until the company was acquired by Western Digital Corporation in May 2016. Mr. Gomo holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University. We believe Mr. Gomo is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his substantial corporate governance, operational and financial expertise gained from holding various executive positions at publicly-traded technology companies and from serving on the board of directors of several public companies.

Jeffrey T. Parks has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2013. Mr. Parks co-founded and has been a general partner of Riverwood Capital, a private equity firm, since January 2008. Mr. Parks currently serves on the board of directors of several privately-held companies. Prior to co-founding Riverwood Capital, Mr. Parks served as an investment executive with KKR & Co. L.L.P., a private equity firm, as an investment professional in the Principal Opportunities Fund at Oaktree Capital Management, an asset management firm, and as an investment banker at UBS, a global financial services company. Mr. Parks holds dual B.A. degrees in Economics and Mathematics from Pomona College, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. We believe Mr. Parks is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his extensive corporate governance and management experience with technology companies, including as a director and private equity investor.

Directors Continuing in Office Until the Annual Meeting of Stockholders After the End of the Fiscal Year Ending July 31, 2021

Craig Conway has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2017. Mr. Conway previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of PeopleSoft, Inc., an enterprise application software company, from 1999 to 2004. Mr. Conway currently serves on the board of directors of Salesforce.com, a cloud-based customer relationship management company. Mr. Conway previously served as a director of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., a semiconductor company, from September 2009 until May 2013, and Guidewire Software, Inc., a provider of software products to insurance companies, from December 2010 until January 2019. Mr. Conway holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from the State University of New York at Brockport. We believe that Mr. Conway is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors based on his extensive and broad management experience, gained from his background as the president and chief executive officer of multiple technology companies and from serving on the board of directors of several public companies.

Michael P. Scarpelli has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2013. Mr. Scarpelli has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Snowflake Inc., a company providing cloud-based solutions, since August 2019. Mr. Scarpelli previously served as Chief Financial Officer of ServiceNow, Inc., a company providing cloud-based solutions, from August 2011 to August 2019; as Senior Vice President of Finance and Business Operations of the Backup Recovery Systems Division at EMC Corporation, a computer data storage company, from July 2009 to August 2011; and as Chief Financial Officer of Data Domain, Inc., an information technology company, from September 2006 to July 2009, when it was acquired by EMC. Mr. Scarpelli holds a B.A. in

Economics from the University of Western Ontario. We believe Mr. Scarpelli is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his substantial corporate governance, operational and financial expertise gained as an executive at several companies in the technology industry.

Brian M. Stevens has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2019. Mr. Stevens has served as Executive Chairman of Neural Magic, a private machine learning company, since July 2019. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer from April 2017 to May 2019 and as Vice President of Product from September 2014 to May 2019 of Google Cloud, where he was responsible for leading the technology vision for Google’s public cloud offering. Prior to Google, from November 2001 until September 2014, Mr.Stevens served in various positions at Red Hat, Inc., a open source solutions company, including as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Worldwide Engineering from September 2013 until September 2014. Mr. Stevens has also served on various boards in the past including the American Red Cross, IEEE, Pentaho, Data Gravity, and the Open Stack Foundation. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of New Hampshire and an M.S. in Computer Systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. We believe Mr. Stevens is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his extensive business experience and expertise in our industry, gained from his substantial leadership roles as well as his time spent serving on the boards of other technology companies.

Non-Continuing Director

John McAdam has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2015. Mr. McAdam currently also serves as a director, and was previously the Chairman of the board of directors, of F5 Networks, Inc., a developer and provider of software-defined application services, for which he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from July 2000 to July 2015 and again from December 2015 until his retirement in April 2017. He also served on the board of directors of Tableau Software, Inc., a business intelligence software company, from December 2012 to August 2019 and Apptio, Inc., a technology business management solutions company, from January 2013 to January 2019. Mr. McAdam holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. We believe Mr. McAdam is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive executive management experience and substantial expertise in our industry.

Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy

In October 2018, our board of directors approved changes to our non-employee director compensation policy. Pursuant to the updated policy, our non-employee directors are compensated entirely through equity awards, which the board of directors believes best aligns the long-term interests of our directors and our stockholders. Non-employee directors receive no other form of remuneration, perquisites or benefits, but are reimbursed for their reasonable travel expenses incurred in attending board and committee meetings.

Pursuant to the policy, our non-employee directors will receive the RSU awards described below. In the event of a change of control, each RSU award granted pursuant to the policy may be subject to accelerated vesting in accordance with the terms of the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan.

AUDIT COMMITTEE MATTERS

Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures

Consistent with the requirements of the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, regarding auditor independence, the audit committee has responsibility for appointing, setting compensation, retaining and overseeing the work of our independent registered public accounting firm. In recognition of this responsibility, the audit committee has adopted a policy and procedures for the pre-approval of audit and non-audit services rendered by our independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP. The policy generally pre-approves specified services in the defined categories of audit services, audit-related services and tax services up to specified amounts. Pre-approval may also be given as part of the audit committee’s approval of the scope of the engagement of the independent auditor or on an individual, explicit, case-by-case basis before the independent auditor is engaged to provide each service.

All of the services provided by Deloitte & Touche LLP for our fiscal years ended July 31, 2018 and 2019 described above were pre-approved by the audit committee or our board of directors. Our audit committee has determined that the rendering of services other than audit services by Deloitte & Touche LLP is compatible with maintaining the principal accountant’s independence.

OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following is biographical information for our current executive officers not discussed above, as of the date of this proxy statement:

Our board of directors chooses our executive officers, who then serve at the board’s discretion. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

For biographical information regarding Mr. Pandey, please refer to the section above titled “Proposal No. 1: Election of Directors.”

Duston M. Williams has served as our Chief Financial Officer since June 2014. Prior to joining us, Mr. Williams served as Chief Financial Officer for Gigamon Inc., a network security company, from March 2012 until June 2014. From March 2011 to January 2012, he served as Chief Financial Officer for SandForce, Inc., a data storage company acquired by LSI Corporation. From July 2010 to February 2011, Mr. Williams served as the Chief Financial Officer of Soraa, Inc., a solid state lighting company. From June 2006 to June 2010, Mr. Williams served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Infinera Corporation, an optical networking systems provider. Mr. Williams holds a B.S. in Accounting from Bentley College and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California.

David Sangster has served as our Chief Operating Officer since March 2019 and was our Executive Vice President, Engineering & Operations from February 2018 to March 2019, our Executive Vice President, Support & Operations from February 2016 to February 2018, our Senior Vice President, Operations from April 2014 to February 2016, and Vice President, Operations from December 2011 to April 2014. Prior to joining us, Mr. Sangster served as Vice President, Manufacturing Technology at EMC Corporation, an IT storage hardware solutions company, from July 2009 to December 2011. Mr. Sangster holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. in Operations and Marketing from Santa Clara University.

Tyler Wall has served as our Chief Legal Officer since November 2017. Prior to joining us, Mr. Wall was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, at Red Book Connect, LLC, a restaurant industry SaaS and technology solutions company, from April 2014 to September 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Wall was the Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary at Brocade, a supplier of networking hardware, software, and services, from 2005 to April 2014. Mr. Wall holds a B.S. in Economics from University of Utah, a J.D. from Santa Clara University - School of Law, and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University - School of Business.

Former Executive Officers

The following is biographical information for Louis J. Attanasio and Sunil Potti, our former Chief Revenue Officer and our former Chief Product and Development Officer, respectively, who are no longer executive officers of the Company as of the date of this proxy statement, but who were Named Executive Officers of the Company for our fiscal year ended July 31, 2019:

Louis J. Attanasio served as our Chief Revenue Officer from November 2017 to March 2019. From May 2016 until November 2017, Mr. Attanasio served as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for Informatica LLC, a data integration and management company. From 1979 to April 2016, he served in various roles at International Business Machines, or IBM, a manufacturer of computer hardware and software, most recently as General

Manager Global Sales, IBM Hybrid Cloud, General Manager Global Sales, IBM Systems Middleware, Vice President Global Sales, Cloud & Smarter Infrastructure and Vice President Software Sales, North America - East. Mr. Attanasio holds an A.A.S. in Electronics from Rockland Community College - State University of New York.

Sunil Potti served as our Chief Product and Development Officer from February 2016 to June 2019 and was our Senior Vice President, Engineering and Product Management from January 2015 to February 2016. Prior to joining us, Mr. Potti was with Citrix Systems, Inc., a cloud and mobile computing technology company, from April 2009 to January 2015, where he most recently served as Vice President and General Manager and previously as Vice President, Product Management and Marketing. Mr. Potti holds a B.E. in Computer Science from Osmania University and an M.S. in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University.

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

The compensation provided to our Named Executive Officers for our fiscal year ended July 31, 2019 is set forth in detail in the “Fiscal 2019 Summary Compensation Table” and the other tables that follow in this Compensation Discussion and Analysis. The following discussion provides an overview of our executive compensation philosophy, the overall objectives of our executive compensation program, and each component of compensation that we provide to our Named Executive Officers. In addition, we explain how and why the compensation committee of our board of directors arrived at the specific compensation policies and decisions for our Named Executive Officers. The following are the individuals who served as our Named Executive Officers during our fiscal year ended July 31, 2019, or a portion thereof:

Our board of directors has delegated to the compensation committee the authority and responsibility for establishing and overseeing salaries, administering the incentive compensation programs, and establishing and overseeing other forms of compensation for our executive officers, general remuneration policies for the balance of our employee population and for overseeing and administering our equity incentive and benefit plans.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Our goal is to create an executive compensation program that attracts and motivates the top executives who are essential for building Nutanix into the enterprise cloud platform company that we aspire to be. Achieving this goal depends on our continued discipline as we execute on our growth strategy, transition our business to a subscription-based business model, and continue to significantly invest in our business in order to build scale and increase our leadership in our industry. Since our IPO in 2016, our business has grown significantly, and maintaining this growth requires the intense focus and dedication of our executives. The velocity of our growth has also required that we recruit and retain seasoned leaders who are experienced in navigating the complexities of significant growth and who can continue to grow a company at scale. Accordingly, we continue to design and update our executive compensation programs to match the maturity, size, scale, growth, business model and continuing aspirations of our business to create value for our stockholders. We operate in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving market, and our ability to compete and succeed in this dynamic environment is directly correlated to our ability to recruit, incentivize and retain talented and seasoned top-caliber technology leaders. The market for skilled management and personnel that we seek to hire and retain is fiercely competitive, therefore our executive compensation programs are critical in supporting the growth of our business.

This executive summary provides an overview of:

Fiscal 2019 Business Highlights

In fiscal 2019, in addition to completing our transition to a software-centric business model, we made significant progress on our on-going transition toward a subscription-based business model. For example, our subscription billings increased to 60.5% of total billings in fiscal 2019, up 19 percentage points from fiscal 2018, and our subscription revenue reached $648.4 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 96.1%. These transitions - first to a software-centric business model, and now toward a subscription-based business model - have had, and may continue to have, adverse near-term impacts on our business, financial performance and stock price, and have resulted in shifts to our targets with respect to certain top-line metrics (such as total revenue and total billings). However, we believe we have a unique opportunity many other companies may not have, and will continue to focus on capturing this large and growing market opportunity, which requires that we continue to heavily invest in our business. In particular, our on-going subscription transition aims to capitalize on the hybrid cloud paradigm shift in our industry and provide our customers the freedom to choose the way they consume our enterprise cloud platform based on their specific business needs. As we continue with this subscription transition, our life-of-device licensing models will be increasingly replaced by term-based licenses, thereby providing our customers with a subscription consumption option that more closely matches the way they consume third-party public cloud services and, ultimately, true license portability across hybrid cloud deployments. As a result, despite the near-term impacts, we believe that our business model transitions will help us capture a larger portion of the market and ultimately contribute to our long-term growth.

Therefore, we designed the annual incentive component of our fiscal 2019 executive compensation program to align with key performance measures, such as the imputed software value on bookings, that we believe to be indicators of our success through these business model transitions.

Our financial and business results in fiscal 2019 provide context for stockholders reviewing our executive compensation disclosures:

We believe our Named Executive Officers’ compensation for fiscal 2019 appropriately reflected and rewarded their collective contributions to our performance as they execute our business model transitions and longer-term ambitions. As we surpass $1.2 billion in total annual revenue, we have attracted and retained an executive management team of seasoned and accomplished leaders capable of driving growth at a larger scale, focusing on executing on our market opportunities, and leading us through our next phase of growth.

Executive Compensation Practices

We endeavor to maintain sound governance standards consistent with our executive compensation policies and practices. The compensation committee evaluates our executive compensation program on a regular basis to ensure consistency with our short-term and long-term goals, given the dynamic nature of our business and the market in which we compete for executive talent. The following policies and practices were in effect during fiscal 2019:

Say-on-Pay Vote on Executive Compensation and Say-on-Pay Frequency Vote and Effect of Most Recent Say-on-Pay Vote

At the Annual Meeting, we will be conducting a non-binding, advisory vote on the compensation of our Named Executive Officers, or a Say-on-Pay vote, as described in Proposal No. 3 of this proxy statement. As previously disclosed, in our annual meeting of stockholders held on December 17, 2018, our stockholders approved, on a non-binding advisory basis, to hold future stockholder advisory votes on the compensation of our Named Executive Officers every one year.

Our compensation committee considers the results of the Say-on-Pay Vote on the compensation of our Named Executive Officers and stockholder feedback on our executive compensation program as part of its annual executive compensation review. At our 2018 annual meeting of stockholders, over 98% of the votes cast approved the compensation program for our Named Executive Officers as described in our 2018 proxy statement. Based on this strong stockholder support, our compensation committee determined not to make any significant changes to our existing executive compensation program and policies. Our compensation committee currently intends to continue to consider the results of the annual advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder feedback as data points in making executive compensation decisions.

DISCUSSION OF OUR FISCAL 2019 EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAM

Our executive compensation program is designed to attract, motivate and retain the key executives who drive our success and to align our executives with the long-term interests of our shareholders. This section provides an overview of our executive compensation philosophy, the overall objectives of our executive compensation program and each component of our executive compensation program. In addition, we explain how and why the compensation committee arrived at the specific compensation policies and decisions involving our executive compensation program.

Executive Compensation Philosophy

Our desire is to create a premier enterprise cloud platform software company, and our compensation philosophy is singularly focused on the achievement of that goal. We operate in a highly competitive business environment characterized by a rapidly changing market and frequent technological advances, and we expect competition among companies in our market to continue to increase. In the past several years, we have experienced a high level of growth and have focused our current business strategy on maintaining that growth at scale while also transitioning to a subscription-based business model. To successfully execute on this strategy in this dynamic environment, we need to recruit, incentivize and retain talented and seasoned leaders who are able to execute at the highest level and deliver stockholder value. We have structured our executive compensation program to align with this strategy by adopting a mix of short-term and long-term incentives, which we believe will motivate our executive officers to execute to our short-term and long-term growth strategy.

We actively compete with many other companies in seeking to attract and retain a skilled executive management team that has successfully and rapidly scaled and managed multi-billion dollar software businesses. This is especially challenging in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley markets in which we have our headquarters, where there are a large number of rapidly expanding technology companies, especially in the software space, intensely competing for highly qualified candidates. We have responded to this intense competition for talent by implementing compensation practices designed to attract and motivate our executive officers to pursue our corporate objectives, while retaining them and incentivizing them to create long-term value for our stockholders, such that these executives can help lead us to become the premier software platform company we aspire to be.

Our executive compensation program combines short-term and long-term components, including salary, cash bonuses and equity awards. In particular, we have a strong belief that our employees should share in the ownership of Nutanix. Therefore, equity compensation is a significant part of our compensation packages, which we believe best aligns the interests of our employees with those of our stockholders.

Our compensation committee regularly reviews and adjusts our executive compensation program to align with the maturity, size, scale, growth and aspirations of our business. Due to the dynamic nature of our industry and our business, we expect to continue to adjust our approach to executive compensation to respond to our needs and market conditions as they evolve.

Executive Compensation Objectives

The current objectives of our executive compensation program are to:

Compensation-Setting Process

Role of the Compensation Committee

Pursuant to its charter, the compensation committee is primarily responsible for establishing, approving and adjusting compensation arrangements for our Named Executive Officers, including our CEO, reviewing and approving corporate goals and objectives relevant to these compensation arrangements, evaluating executive performance against the backdrop of our corporate goals and objectives, and determining the long-term incentive component of our executive compensation arrangements in light of factors related to our performance, including accomplishment of our long-term business and financial goals. For additional information about the compensation committee, see “Corporate Governance at Nutanix - Board of Directors and Its Committees - Compensation Committee” in this proxy statement.

Compensation decisions for our executive officers are made by the compensation committee, with the input of its independent compensation consultant and our CEO and management team (except with respect to their own compensation). The compensation committee periodically reviews and, as necessary, adjusts the cash and equity compensation of our executive officers with the goal of ensuring that our executive officers are properly incentivized.

The compensation committee considers compensation data from our peer group as one of several factors that inform its judgment of appropriate parameters for target compensation levels. The compensation committee, however, does not strictly benchmark compensation to a specific percentile of our peer group, nor does it apply a formula or assign relative weights to specific compensation elements. In addition, while compensation peer group data is a factor, the compensation committee is forward-looking in aligning our executive compensation program with the unique growth opportunity we believe we have, and the risks associated with pursuing the opportunity, which are not captured by reviewing peer data.

The compensation committee makes compensation decisions after the consideration of many factors, including:

The compensation committee operates under a written charter adopted by our board of directors. A copy of the charter is posted on the investor relations section of our website located at http://ir.nutanix.com.

Role of Management

The compensation committee works with members of our management team, including our CEO and our human resources, finance and legal professionals (except with respect to their own compensation). Typically, our CEO makes recommendations to our compensation committee, regularly attends compensation committee meetings and is involved in the determination of compensation for our executive officers, except that our CEO does not make recommendations as to his own compensation. Because of his direct role overseeing our executive officers, our CEO makes recommendations to our compensation committee regarding short- and long-term compensation for all executive officers (other than himself) based on our results and aspirations, an individual executive officer’s

actual contribution toward, and ability to contribute to the achievement of, these results and aspirations, and performance toward individual goal achievement. Our compensation committee then reviews the recommendations and other data and makes decisions as to total compensation for each executive officer, as well as each individual compensation component.

Role of Compensation Consultant

The compensation committee is authorized, in its sole discretion, to retain the services of one or more compensation consultants, outside legal counsel and such other advisors as necessary to assist with the execution of its duties and responsibilities. For fiscal 2019, the compensation committee engaged Compensia, Inc., or Compensia, a nationally recognized compensation consulting firm, to conduct market research and analysis on our various executive positions, to assist the committee in developing appropriate incentive plans for our executives on an annual basis, to provide the committee with advice and ongoing recommendations regarding material executive compensation decisions, and to review compensation proposals of management. Compensia evaluated the following components to assist the committee in establishing executive compensation for fiscal 2019:

Based on consideration of the factors specified in the SEC rules and Nasdaq listing standards, the compensation committee does not believe that its relationship with Compensia and the work of Compensia on behalf of the compensation committee and our management team has raised any conflicts of interest. The compensation committee reviews these factors on an annual basis. As part of the compensation committee’s determination of Compensia’s independence for fiscal 2019, it received written confirmation from Compensia addressing these factors and stating its belief that it remains an independent compensation consultant to the compensation committee.

Peer Group

The compensation committee reviews market data of companies that we believe are comparable to us. With Compensia’s assistance, the compensation committee developed a peer group for use when making its fiscal 2019 compensation decisions, which consisted of companies that are located in the same geographical area and that had revenues, growth rates, market capitalization and/or a number of employees within a range similar to that of Nutanix. While the compensation committee takes into account compensation practices of the peer companies, the compensation committee uses this information as one of many factors in its deliberations on compensation matters, as described above, and does not set compensation levels to meet specific percentiles.

The compensation committee referred to compensation data from this peer group when making fiscal 2019 base salary, cash bonus and equity award decisions for our executive officers. The following is a list of the public companies that comprised our fiscal 2019 peer group:

In May 2019, the compensation committee reviewed the compensation peer group that would be used for fiscal 2020 compensation decision making. In light of our comparable market capitalization at the time, comparable growth rate and annual revenue, and our continued transition toward a subscription-based business model, the compensation committee determined that Dropbox should be added to the peer group. The committee believes

that this updated peer group provides even more comprehensive insight into market executive compensation practices as we continue our transition to a subscription-based business model, and will help further align our executive compensation with our business plans in the near and long term.

The following is a list of the public companies that comprise our fiscal 2020 peer group:

COMPONENTS OF COMPENSATION PROGRAM AND FISCAL 2019 COMPENSATION

Our executive compensation program consists of the following primary components:

We also provide our executive officers with comprehensive employee benefit programs such as medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan, life and disability insurance, flexible spending accounts, an employee stock purchase plan and other plans and programs generally made available to all of our eligible employees.

We believe these elements provide a compensation package that attracts and retains qualified individuals, links individual performance to Company performance, focuses the efforts of our Named Executive Officers and other executives on the achievement of both our short-term and long-term objectives and aligns the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders. In particular, our corporate culture encourages a long-term focus by our Named Executive Officers, as well as all our other employees, by placing a heavy emphasis on granting equity awards, the value of which depends on our stock performance and other performance measures, to achieve strong long-term performance. On average, our fiscal 2019 target compensation packages for our Named Executive Officers who were in office for the full fiscal year were comprised of 24% in base salary, 12% in annual incentives, and 64% in long-term incentives:

Base Salaries

We pay base salaries to our Named Executive Officers to compensate them for services rendered during the year and provide predictable income. Generally, we establish the initial base salaries of our executive officers at the time we hire the individual executive officer, taking into account the executive officer’s experience, skills, knowledge, and scope of responsibilities, as well as benchmarking against our peer group. In addition, the competition in the market from which we recruit plays a role in setting salary levels due to the difficulty in recruiting candidates with the level of talent and experience we believe are necessary for us to execute on our business and growth plans. We do not apply specific formulas to determine changes in salaries. Instead, the salaries of our Named Executive Officers are reviewed on an annual basis by our CEO (other than his own salary, which is reviewed and determined by the compensation committee) and the compensation committee, based on their experience setting salary levels and in determining compensation for senior executives.

Fiscal 2019 Base Salaries

In October 2018, in connection with its review of our executive compensation program, our compensation committee approved adjustments to the base salaries of our Named Executive Officers (other than Mr. Attanasio), which were effective retroactively to October 1, 2018. Based on an analysis prepared by Compensia, the then-current base salary levels for several of our Named Executive Officers had been below the median or the 75^th percentile, as applicable, for the comparable executive in our compensation peer group. Therefore, to reward each individual’s performance and contribution to the Company’s performance in fiscal 2018, account for cost-of-living increases in Silicon Valley, where all of our Named Executive Officers are or were based and, in the applicable instances, including with respect to our CEO, move base salaries closer towards or above the median of the competitive market, our compensation committee approved base salary increases for each Named Executive Officer, as set forth below.

Target and Actual Annual Incentive Compensation

Our board of directors has adopted our Executive Incentive Compensation Plan, or the Executive Bonus Plan. Our Executive Bonus Plan allows our compensation committee to provide incentive awards to employees selected by our compensation committee, including our Named Executive Officers.

Under our Executive Bonus Plan, our compensation committee determines the performance goals (if any) applicable to any award or portion of an award and may choose the performance goals from a wide range of possible metrics as set forth in the Executive Bonus Plan. The performance goals may differ from participant to participant and from award to award.

Our compensation committee administers our Executive Bonus Plan and may, in its sole discretion and at any time, increase, reduce or eliminate a participant’s actual award, and/or increase, reduce or eliminate the amount allocated to the bonus pool for a particular performance period. The actual award may be below, at or above a

participant’s target award, at the discretion of the compensation committee. The compensation committee may determine the amount of any reduction on the basis of such factors as it deems relevant, and it is not required to establish any allocation or weighting with respect to the factors it considers.

Actual awards are paid in cash in a single lump sum only after they are earned, which usually requires continued employment through the last day of the performance period. If a participant terminates employment because of death or disability before the actual award is paid, the award may be paid to the participant’s estate or to the participant, as applicable, subject to the compensation committee’s discretion to reduce or eliminate the award. Payment of awards occurs as soon as administratively practicable after they are earned, but no later than the dates set forth in our Executive Bonus Plan.

Our board of directors and our compensation committee have the authority to amend, alter, suspend or terminate our Executive Bonus Plan, provided such action does not impair the existing rights of any participant with respect to any earned awards.

Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan

Each year, our compensation committee determines the terms and conditions for the Executive Bonus Plan for the year. In fiscal 2019, our compensation committee adopted and approved the terms and conditions for fiscal 2019, or the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan, which provided for potential performance-based incentive payouts to our Named Executive Officers based on two general performance components. First, 80% of each Named Executive Officer’s potential payout was based on our actual achievement of pre-established corporate objectives, as set forth in our annual operating plan. The target levels for the corporate objectives in our annual operating plan were set at levels determined to be challenging and requiring substantial skill and effort on the part of senior management. Second, the remaining 20% of each Named Executive Officer’s potential payout was based on personal performance objectives for each Named Executive Officer that were aligned to our principal business goals in fiscal 2019. Payouts under the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan ranged between 0% to 200% depending on achievement of the performance measures, with bonus payouts made as a lump sum payment every six months. In the first half of the year, the amount paid would be 50% of the calculated payout, based solely on achievement under the performance measures tied to pre-established corporate objectives with a minimum performance requirement of 100% achievement to receive the payment.

In October 2018, following review of an analysis prepared by Compensia, the dollar amount of the target annual incentive compensation opportunities increased for each of our Named Executive Officers (except for Messrs. Attanasio and Wall) as part of the compensation committee’s annual analysis of the total cash compensation package provided to our executive officers. Messrs. Attanasio and Wall were not considered for adjustments to their annual bonus targets as they had each been with the Company for less than a year at the time the increases were approved. The target annual incentive compensation opportunities established under the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan for our Named Executive Officers were as follows:

Performance Measures

The Named Executive Officers’ performance measures for payment under the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan included: (1) imputed software value, or ISV, on bookings; (2) performance under the “Rule of 40” framework, or Rule of 40, which we calculate using the sum of (x) our year-over-year revenue growth, calculated on an ISV basis, or ISV Revenue, and expressed as a percentage, and (y) our fiscal 2019 free cash flow as a percentage of our fiscal 2019 ISV Revenue; (3) new customer adds; and (4) personal performance. We define bookings as the total billable amount under binding purchase orders received by the Company during a given period. ISV on bookings is calculated by subtracting the cost of the hardware for a relevant order from total bookings. Similarly, ISV Revenue is calculated by subtracting all hardware revenue from our total revenue. For fiscal 2019, the compensation committee believed that ISV on bookings and revenue were performance metrics that allowed us to better track the true growth of our software business by excluding the amounts attributable to the pass-through hardware that we use to deliver our solutions. Free cash flow is a performance measure that the compensation committee believes provides useful information about the amount of cash generated by our business after necessary capital expenditures, and we define free cash flow as net cash (used in) provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment. For fiscal 2019, the compensation committee believed that our performance under the Rule of 40 was an important indicator of our ability to balance our growth against the level of free cash flow generated by our business. New customer adds counts as total new logos added in the period and is measured against our annual operating plan. For fiscal 2019, the compensation committee believed that new customer adds was an important indicator of the success of key elements of our growth strategy, which includes continued investment in acquiring new end customers. The personal performance objectives in the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan were set based on each Named Executive Officer’s personal objectives, which were aligned to our principal business goals in fiscal 2019. For fiscal 2019, the compensation committee believed that the inclusion of personal performance metrics was an important way to recognize the unique contribution that each Named Executive Officer makes to our overall business goals and incentivize each Named Executive Officer to achieve his personal objectives for the fiscal year.

The compensation committee believed that these performance measures were objective measures of our and, with respect to the personal performance measures, each Named Executive Officer’s successful achievement of our growth and business strategy, especially in light of our ongoing transition to a subscription-based business model. These performance measures under our Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan, while significant to our achievement of our growth and business strategy, are our internal metrics that we do not disclose in our financial statements.

The following table describes the relative weighting of each performance measure and the payout percentages that were used to calculate the actual payout based on achievement of the targets at and between the low end of the target range and the high end of the target range. Any achievement of the plan targets between the low and high end of the target range would correlate to a lower or higher payout percentage between 0% and 200%. For the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan, if we did not achieve a payout under the ISV bookings performance measure, then no payout would be made under the Executive Bonus Plan to any Named Executive Officer, regardless of the level of achievement under any other performance measure (including personal performance).

Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan Payouts

The achievement of the various performance metrics for the Named Executive Officers under the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan were as follows:

As indicated above, we did not achieve a payout under the ISV bookings performance measure and, as a result, the compensation committee did not calculate each Named Executive Officer’s achievement under his personal performance measure and none of our Named Executive Officers received a payout under the Fiscal 2019 Executive Bonus Plan.

Long-Term Equity Compensation

Our corporate culture encourages a long-term focus by our Named Executive Officers, as well as all our other employees. In keeping with this culture, our executive compensation program places a heavy emphasis on granting equity awards, the value of which depends on our stock performance and other performance measures, to achieve strong long-term performance.

These equity awards are typically time-based RSUs but, where appropriate, we also grant PRSUs to our Named Executive Officers that are tied to the long-term objectives of the Company.

We believe that RSUs offer predictable value delivery to our executive officers while promoting alignment of their interests with the long-term interests of our stockholders in a manner consistent with competitive market practices. We also believe that PRSUs directly link a significant portion of an executive officer’s target total direct compensation to our financial performance based on the achievement of one or more pre-established financial or stock price performance metrics. In fiscal 2019, we granted a PRSU to our CEO, and certain of our Named Executive Officers, including our CEO, hold PRSUs from prior fiscal years. Together, RSUs and PRSUs are important tools to motivate and retain our highly sought-after executive officers since the value of the awards is delivered to our executive officers over multi-year periods, subject to their continued service. Going forward, we may introduce other forms of equity awards to our executive officers, including our Named Executive Officers, to continue to maintain a strong alignment of their interests with the interests of our stockholders.

The compensation committee, in consultation with our CEO (other than with respect to himself) and its independent compensation consultant, determines the size, mix, material terms and, in the case of PRSUs, performance metrics of the equity awards granted to our executive officers, taking into account a number of factors as described in the section “Executive Compensation - Compensation Discussion and Analysis - Compensation-Setting Process.”

Severance and Change of Control-Related Benefits

Our Named Executive Officers are or, with respect to Messrs. Attanasio and Potti, were, each eligible to participate in our Change of Control and Severance Policy, which provides each of them with protections in the event of their involuntary termination of employment following a change of control of the Company. In addition, certain of the executive officers may have such provisions in their employment agreements. We believe that these protections

assist us in retaining these individuals. We also believe that these protections serve our executive retention objectives by helping our Named Executive Officers maintain continued focus and dedication to their responsibilities to maximize stockholder value, including in the event that there is a potential transaction that could involve a change of control. The terms of these agreements and the Change of Control and Severance Policy were determined after our board of directors and compensation committee reviewed our retention goals for each Named Executive Officer and an analysis of relevant market data.

For a summary of the material terms and conditions of these post-employment compensation arrangements, see section titled “Executive Compensation - Employment Arrangements.”

EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS

We have entered into employment agreements with our Named Executive Officers. Each of these arrangements provides or, with respect to Messrs. Attanasio and Potti, provided for, “at-will” employment and sets forth the initial terms and conditions of employment of each Named Executive Officer, including base salary, target annual bonus opportunity, standard employee benefit plan participation, a recommendation for an initial grant of an option to purchase shares of our common stock or other equity awards, opportunities for post-employment compensation and vesting acceleration terms. These agreements also set forth the rights and responsibilities of each party and may protect both parties’ interests in the event of a termination of employment by providing for certain payments and benefits under specified circumstances, including following a change of control of the Company. These offers of employment were each subject to the execution of a standard proprietary information and invention assignment agreement and proof of identity and work eligibility in the United States.

Each of these agreements was approved on our behalf by the compensation committee or our board of directors at the recommendation of the compensation committee. We believe that these arrangements were necessary to induce these individuals to forgo other employment opportunities or leave their then-current employer for the uncertainty of a demanding position in a new and unfamiliar organization.

In filling our executive positions, the compensation committee was aware that, in some situations, it would be necessary to recruit candidates with the requisite experience and skills to manage a growing business. Accordingly, it recognized that it would need to develop highly competitive compensation packages to attract qualified candidates in a competitive labor market. At the same time, the compensation committee was sensitive to the need to integrate new executive officers into the executive compensation structure that it was seeking to develop, balancing both competitive and internal equity considerations.

For a summary of the material terms and conditions of our employment agreements with the Named Executive Officers, see section below titled “Executive Compensation - Employment Arrangements.”

OTHER COMPENSATION POLICIES

Employee Benefits

We provide employee benefits to all eligible employees in the United States, including our Named Executive Officers, which the compensation committee believes are reasonable and consistent with its overall compensation objective to better enable us to attract and retain employees. These benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance, health savings accounts, a 401(k) plan, life and disability insurance, flexible spending accounts, an employee stock purchase plan and other plans and programs.

Stock Trading Practices; Hedging and Pledging Policy

We maintain an Insider Trading Policy that, among other things, prohibits our officers, including our Named Executive Officers, directors and employees from trading during quarterly and special blackout periods. We also prohibit short sales, hedging and similar transactions designed to decrease the risks associated with holding our securities, as well as pledging our securities as collateral for loans and transactions involving derivative securities relating to our common stock. Our Insider Trading Policy requires that all directors, executive officers, and certain other key employees, including our Named Executive Officers, pre-clear with our legal department any proposed open market transactions.

Impact of Accounting and Tax Requirements on Compensation

Deductibility of Executive Compensation

Generally, Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, disallows a tax deduction to any publicly-held corporation for any remuneration in excess of $1 million paid in any taxable year to its chief executive officer and certain other highly compensated officers. The compensation committee may, in its judgment, authorize compensation payments that are not fully tax deductible when it believes that such payments are appropriate to attract and retain executive talent or meet other business objectives. The compensation committee intends to continue to compensate our Named Executive Officers in a manner consistent with the best long-term interests of the Company and our stockholders.

Taxation of “Parachute” Payments and Deferred Compensation

We do not provide our Named Executive Officers with a “gross-up” or other reimbursement payment for any tax liability that he or she might owe as a result of the application of Sections 280G, 4999, or 409A of the Code. Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code provide that certain officers and directors, and service providers who hold significant equity interests, and certain highly compensated service providers may be subject to an excise tax if they receive payments or benefits in connection with a change of control that exceeds certain prescribed limits, and that the Company, or a successor, may forfeit a deduction on the amounts subject to this additional tax. However, under our Change of Control and Severance Policy, if any payment or benefits to a policy participant, including the payments and benefits under the policy, would constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code and would therefore be subject to an excise tax under Section 4999 of the Code, then such payments and benefits will be either (1) reduced to the largest portion of the payments and benefits that would result in no portion of the payments and benefits being subject to the excise tax, or (2) not reduced, whichever, after taking into account all applicable federal, state and local employment and income taxes and the excise tax, results in the participant’s receipt, on an after-tax basis, of the greater payments and benefits.

Section 409A also imposes additional significant taxes on the individual in the event that an executive officer, director or other service provider receives “deferred compensation” that does not meet certain requirements of Section 409A of the Code.

Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation

We follow ASC Topic 718 for our stock-based awards. ASC Topic 718 requires companies to measure the compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to employees and directors, including stock options, restricted stock unit awards and performance units, based on the grant date “fair value” of these awards. This calculation is performed for accounting purposes and reported in the compensation tables below. ASC Topic 718 also requires companies to recognize the compensation cost of their stock-based compensation awards in their income statements over the period that a Named Executive Officer is required to render service in exchange for the option or other award.

For performance units, stock-based compensation expense recognized may be adjusted over the performance period based on interim estimates of performance against pre-set objectives.

Compensation Risk Assessment

Our compensation committee reviews and discusses with management the risks arising from our compensation philosophy and practices applicable to all employees to determine whether they encourage excessive risk-taking and to evaluate compensation policies and practices that could mitigate such risks. In addition, our compensation committee has engaged Compensia to independently review our executive compensation program. Based on these reviews, our compensation committee structures our executive compensation program to encourage our named executive officers to focus on both short-term and long-term success. We do not believe that our executive compensation program creates risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on us.

quarterly measurement date equals or exceeds $80, then 1/18^th of the PRSUs plus the applicable Carryover PRSUs, if any, would vest, and/or (iii) if the Average Stock Price never equals or exceeds $80 during the Performance Period, the PRSUs would terminate at the end of the Performance Period.

OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL 2019 YEAR-END TABLE

The following table presents, for each of our Named Executive Officers, information concerning each outstanding equity award held by such Named Executive Officer as of July 31, 2019. This information supplements the information about these awards set forth in the “Fiscal 2019 Summary Compensation Table” above. Mr. Attanasio’s and Mr. Potti’s employment terminated effective March 8, 2019 and June 21, 2019, respectively. As of March 8, 2019, certain of the outstanding unvested equity awards held by Mr. Attanasio were accelerated in accordance with the terms of Mr. Attanasio’s employment agreement and all remaining unvested equity awards held by Mr. Attanasio were canceled. For additional information, please see footnotes 9 and 10 set forth in the “Fiscal 2019 Summary Compensation Table” above. As of June 21, 2019, all outstanding unvested equity awards held by Mr. Potti were canceled. For additional information, please see footnote 11 set forth in the “Fiscal 2019 Summary Compensation Table” above.