Williams Companies management check
WMB · Energy · Oil & Gas Storage & Transportation · CEO Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Zamarin
Filings as of
2 good · 5 to watch · 0 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $384, against $303 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.33 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.6% of net income$17.9m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $2.8bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are selling4 insiders sold $6.7m in the last six months and none bought. 1 of 12 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.1% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.6% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Zamarin. 7 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Watch
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021. The company says it has not adopted insider trading policies.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Energy.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 84 | 64 | |
| Pay for performance | 66 | 65 | |
| CEO cost | 66 | 66 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 49 |
| Dilution | 49 | 58 | |
| Stable leadership | 50 | 73 | |
| Clean books | 70 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Oil & Gas Storage & Transportation, by management score. Williams Companies is 13th of 20 in its sector.
- 17TRGPTarga Resources86
- 232COPConocoPhillips66
- 253WMBWilliams Companies64
- 257CVXChevron Corporation64
- 279KMIKinder Morgan63
- 414OKEOneok51
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 18, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Zamarin | $17.9m | $31.8m | $4.9m | $384 | $303 | $2.8bn |
| 2024 | Mr. Armstrong | $16.3m | $44.8m | $4.8m | $335 | $283 | $2.3bn |
| 2023 | Mr. Armstrong | $17.5m | $18.5m | $4.9m | $206 | $259 | $3.3bn |
| 2022 | Mr. Armstrong | $13.9m | $36.7m | $4.3m | $184 | $261 | $2.1bn |
| 2021 | Mr. Armstrong | $13.8m | $32.3m | $4.0m | $138 | $160 | $1.6bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EBITDA. Its other key measures: Available Funds From Operations (AFFO) Per Share, Relative Total Stockholder Return (TSR), Return on Capital Employed (ROCE).
Insiders and the CEO's stake
4 insiders sold $6.7m in the last six months and none bought. 1 of 12 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldJohn Dean PorterEVP & CFO$3.8mMay 6, 2026
- SoldTerrance Lane WilsonSVP & General Counsel$1.8mOct 1, 2026
- SoldLarry C LarsenExecutive Vice President & COO$918kMay 14, 2026
- SoldGlen G. JasekSenior Vice President$195kMay 15, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Aug 21, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 1, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 4, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 26, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 5, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 24, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 13, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 13, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 28, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 3, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 13, 2021Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 30, 2021Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 4, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $11.1bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 96% of net income, and $423.0m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.8bn | $17.8bn | $12.0bn | $12.6bn | $14.9bn |
| Net income | $1.5bn | $2.0bn | $3.2bn | $2.2bn | $2.6bn |
| Stock-based pay | $81.0m | $73.0m | $77.0m | $99.0m | $93.0m |
| Buybacks | $0 | $9.0m | $130.0m | $0 | $0 |
| Dividends | $2.0bn | $2.1bn | $2.2bn | $2.3bn | $2.4bn |
| Diluted shares | 1218m | 1223m | 1223m | 1223m | 1225m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.