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Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
(b) On July 16, 2024, and effective on July 25, 2024, Mr. James Rhame resigned as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vertex Energy, Inc. (the “Company”) to retire from working full-time and pursue other interests outside of the Company.
(c) On July 16, 2024, and effective on July 25, 2024, the Board of Directors appointed Mr. Douglas S. Haugh, the Chief Commercial Officer of the Company, as Interim Chief Operating Officer of the Company to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Rhame’s resignation. Mr. Haugh’s age, business experience and his employment agreement, are each described in the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29, 2024, under the headings “Information About Our Executive Officers” and “Executive Compensation” and is incorporated by reference herein. Mr. Haugh is not party to any material plan, contract or arrangement (whether or not written) with the Company, except for his employment agreement, and there are no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Haugh and any other person pursuant to which Mr. Haugh was selected to serve as an officer of the Company, nor is Mr. Haugh a participant in any related party transaction required to be reported pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. There are no family relationships between any director or executive officer of the Company, including Mr. Haugh.
Item 8.01 Other Events.
On July 17, 2024, the Company issued a press release disclosing Mr. Rhame’s resignation as COO.
A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, and is incorporated into this Item 8.01 by reference.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
| Exhibit No. | Description | |
| 99.1* | Press Release dated July 17, 2024 | |
| 104 | Inline XBRL for the cover page of this Current Report on Form 8-K |
* Filed herewith.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| VERTEX ENERGY, INC. | |||
| Date: July 17, 2024 | By: | /s/ Chris Carlson | |
| Chris Carlson | |||
| Chief Financial Officer | |||