Beneficient ($BENF)

Hello, and welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Beneficient. It is my pleasure to introduce James Silk, Beneficient's Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Silk, the floor is yours.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm James Silk, Beneficient's Interim Chief Executive Officer. I will act as Chairman of this meeting; and David Ross, General Counsel, will act as Secretary of this meeting. The 2026 Annual Meeting of Beneficient is hereby called to order. I would like to welcome our stockholders and guests who are in attendance today. Additionally, I would like to introduce Dillon Loutan, a representative of Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the company's transfer agent, who will act as our inspector of election. Our transfer agent has been instructed to receive, examine and tabulate the proxies and to report on the voting by proxies. Copies of the agenda and rules of conduct for this meeting are available in the meeting documents tab located at the top of your screen in the virtual meeting viewing platform. I have in my possession an affidavit sworn to by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and duly signed as to the mailing of the notice of the meeting, which states that on March 17, 2026, the notice of the meeting, together with the related proxy materials was mailed to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 13, 2026, the record date for the meeting. As set forth in the notice of annual meeting of stockholders and the agenda available in the meeting documents tab, the principal items of business for this meeting are as follows: proposal #1, the director election proposal, to elect 3 Class A directors to serve until the company's 2027 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors are duly elected and qualified; proposal #2, the auditor ratification proposal, to ratify the appointment of Weaver and Tidwell, LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended March 31, 2026; and Proposal #3, the incentive plan amendment proposal, to approve an amendment to the Beneficient 2023 Long Term Incentive Plan to increase the number of shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance pursuant to awards. When the report of the inspector of election is complete, we will announce the voting results. After the meeting is adjourned, we will follow up to address any questions submitted by stockholders through the virtual meeting viewing platform that abide by the rules of conduct for this meeting via e-mail. You may access the rules of conduct in the Meeting Documents tab. The inspector of election has in his possession a certified list of the company's stockholders of record as of the close of business on the record date, which was February 13, 2026, and their respective number of shares entitled to vote at this meeting. The stockholder list will be filed with the minutes of this meeting. Dillon, will you please present your report of attendance at this meeting so that we can determine whether a quorum is present.

There were 14,183,822 shares of Class A common stock and 29,908 shares of Class B common stock entitled to vote as of the record date. And the holders of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at the annual meeting are present in person or represented by proxy at the annual meeting.

Thank you. Therefore, I find that a quorum is present and declare the meeting duly and lawfully convened for the purpose of transacting business properly before it. The meeting is now open and ready for business. I hereby declare the polls open for voting on all matters. If there is any person present and entitled to vote who has not yet voted, please submit your votes now by accessing the voting information tab located at the top of your screen in the virtual meeting viewing platform. The first item of business is to vote on the director election proposal. As set forth in the proxy statement, the directors elected by holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, which are referred to as the Class A directors must be elected by the affirmative vote of a plurality of the votes of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock voting together as a single class present or represented by proxy at the annual meeting and entitled to vote on the election of the Class A directors. The Class B stockholders are entitled to 10 votes per share with respect to all matters on which the stockholders are entitled to vote. As described in the proxy statement, the following directors have been designated as the current Class A Directors: Peter T. Cangany, Jr., Patrick J. Donegan and Karen J. Wendel. Information about the members of the Board of Directors, including their respective biographical backgrounds is contained in the proxy statement. The Board of Directors has recommended that you vote For all 3 Class A director nominees. The second item of business is a vote on the auditor ratification proposal. As set forth in the proxy statement, the approval of the auditor ratification proposal requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the annual meeting. Information about the appointment of Weaver as our independent registered public accounting firm is included in the proxy statement. The Board of Directors has recommended that you vote For this proposal. The third item of business is a vote on an amendment to the Beneficient 2023 Long Term Incentive Plan to increase the total number of shares of Class A common stock authorized for issuance under the plan. As set forth in the proxy statement, the approval of the incentive plan amendment proposal requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the annual meeting. Information about the amendment to the Beneficient 2023 Long Term Incentive Plan is included in the proxy statement. The Board of Directors has recommended that you vote For this proposal. At this time, we will tabulate and announce the voting results of the meeting and would ask that all stockholders complete and submit their votes. I will pause now for a moment to allow any stockholders who have not yet voted the opportunity to complete the voting process. If you have not already voted or if you wish to change your vote, please do so now by accessing the voting information tab. [Voting]

Thank you for your votes. There being no further discussion of the proposals, I now declare the polls closed. We will pause to tabulate votes. I understand that the votes have been counted and the preliminary report of the Inspector of Election has been delivered. Dillon, will you please announce the results of the stockholder vote?

I have counted the votes and determined based upon a preliminary count that we have sufficient votes to elect each of the Class A director nominees named in proposal 1, ratify the appointment of Weaver as the company's independent registered public accounting firm as set forth in proposal 2 and approve the amendment to the Beneficient 2023 Long Term Incentive Plan as set forth in proposal 3. A final detailed count will be provided to the company shortly after this meeting.

The report of the inspector of election as presented is accepted. We will file the oath and report of the Inspector of Election with the minutes of this meeting. The business of this meeting has been completed. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for attending today's meeting and for the interest you've shown in Beneficient. As mentioned in the notice, stockholders were able to submit questions through the virtual meeting viewing platform. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting is now adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is now concluded. We appreciate your attendance and support.