Fiscal year 2025 executive and director compensation, incentive-plan design, equity activity, and governance — every figure in this brief is traceable to its exact location in the company’s SEC filing — the document, the section, the page, and the table, linked directly.
Each company listed discloses DEC in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named DEC in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Gideon | $365,385 | $0 | $3,954,111 | $0 | $449,409 | $0 | $1,814,179 | $6,583,084 |
| Chief Operating Officer | ||||||||
| Robert Hutson | 806,923 | 0 | 2,795,234 | 0 | 1,359,056 | 0 | 35,064 | 4,996,277 |
| Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| Bradley Gray | 519,231 | 333,000 | 1,164,002 | 0 | 655,980 | 0 | 52,681 | 2,724,894 |
| President & Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Benjamin Sullivan | 469,231 | 284,000 | 956,437 | 0 | 592,905 | 0 | 38,537 | 2,341,110 |
| Senior EVP, Chief Legal and Risk Officer & Corporate Secretary | ||||||||
| Ronald Ridgway | 362,019 | 144,500 | 368,842 | 0 | 381,078 | 0 | 38,296 | 1,294,735 |
| EVP of Energy Marketing | ||||||||
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.
| Named executive officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Gideon | $6,583,084 | — | — | — |
| Robert Hutson | 4,996,277 | 4,609,862 | 4,159,739 | +386,415 |
| Bradley Gray | 2,724,894 | 2,649,951 | 2,275,023 | +74,943 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | 2,341,110 | 2,268,779 | 1,881,514 | +72,331 |
| Ronald Ridgway | 1,294,735 | 1,190,874 | 885,788 | +103,861 |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
| Executive | Award | Grant date | Threshold | Target | Granted | Maximum | Grant-date fair value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Ridgway | RSU | 2025-04-10 | — | — | 23,906 | — | $258,185 |
| Richard Gideon | RSU | 2025-04-10 | — | — | 62,651 | — | 676,631 |
| Richard Gideon | RSU | 2025-03-14 | — | — | 250,000 | — | 2,987,500 |
| Richard Gideon | PSU | 2025-04-10 | 4,028 | 26,850 | — | 26,850 | 289,980 |
| Bradley Gray | RSU | 2025-04-10 | — | — | 75,445 | — | 814,806 |
| Bradley Gray | PSU | 2025-04-10 | 4,850 | 32,333 | — | 32,333 | 349,196 |
| Robert Hutson | RSU | 2025-04-10 | — | — | 60,898 | — | 657,698 |
| Robert Hutson | PSU | 2025-04-10 | 29,688 | 197,920 | — | 197,920 | 2,137,536 |
| Ronald Ridgway | PSU | 2025-04-10 | 1,537 | 10,246 | — | 10,246 | 110,657 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | PSU | 2025-04-10 | 3,985 | 26,568 | — | 26,568 | 286,934 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | RSU | 2025-04-10 | — | — | 61,991 | — | 669,503 |
| Named executive officer | Time-vested (RSU) | Performance-vested (PSU) | Options / SARs | % performance-vested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Ridgway | $258,185 | $110,657 | $0 | 30.0% |
| Richard Gideon | 3,664,131 | 289,980 | 0 | 7.3% |
| Bradley Gray | 814,806 | 349,196 | 0 | 30.0% |
| Robert Hutson | 657,698 | 2,137,536 | 0 | 76.5% |
| Benjamin Sullivan | 669,503 | 286,934 | 0 | 30.0% |
% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Hutson | PSU | 280,728 | — | $4,064,941 |
| Bradley Gray | PSU | 81,656 | — | 1,182,379 |
| Richard Gideon | PSU | 250,000 | — | 3,620,000 |
| Robert Hutson | PSU | 214,215 | — | 3,101,833 |
| Bradley Gray | PSU | 106,588 | — | 1,543,394 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | PSU | 87,210 | — | 1,262,801 |
| Richard Gideon | PSU | 67,808 | — | 981,860 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | PSU | 67,095 | — | 971,536 |
| Robert Hutson | PSU | 65,911 | — | 954,391 |
| Bradley Gray | PSU | 45,679 | — | 661,432 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | PSU | 37,376 | — | 541,204 |
| Bradley Gray | PSU | 36,079 | — | 522,424 |
| Richard Gideon | PSU | 29,061 | — | 420,803 |
| Bradley Gray | PSU | 34,995 | — | 506,728 |
| Ronald Ridgway | PSU | 33,914 | — | 491,075 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | PSU | 30,328 | — | 439,149 |
| Benjamin Sullivan | PSU | 28,754 | — | 416,358 |
| Ronald Ridgway | PSU | 25,874 | — | 374,656 |
| Ronald Ridgway | PSU | 14,535 | — | 210,467 |
| Ronald Ridgway | PSU | 11,089 | — | 160,569 |
| Ronald Ridgway | PSU | 9,670 | — | 140,022 |
The executive compensation program is designed to align pay outcomes with Company performance, shareholder interests, and long-term strategic priorities by tying compensation to the achievement of financial and operational goals. It aims to drive desired behaviors, maintain industry competitiveness, and ensure internal consistency and equity by making a substantial portion of total executive compensation variable and tied to corporate performance.
| CEO STI target (% of salary) | — |
|---|---|
| CEO LTI target (% of salary) | — |
| Independent consultant | Mercer Limited |
| Clawback policy | true |
| Anti-hedging | true |
| Anti-pledging | true |
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-06 | 36,892,924 | 258,439 | 401,565 | 98.24% | Passed |
Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year's compensation.
| Meeting year | Meeting date | Approval — company's computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-06 | 98.24%a |
a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “If a shareholder abstains from voting or directs the shareholder's proxy to abstain from voting on this matter, the abstention has the same effect as a vote against the matter.”.
Approval percentages are the company's own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy StashIndependent · Not standing for re-election · Departed during FY | $115,921 | — | — | — | $165,825 | $281,746 |
| David E. JohnsonIndependent · Board Chair · Compensation Committee · Sustainability and Safety Committee | 229,390 | — | — | — | 0 | 229,390 |
| David J. Turner JrIndependent · Audit and Risk Committee (Chair) · Compensation Committee (Chair) · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee | 204,379 | — | — | — | 0 | 204,379 |
| Kathryn Z. KlaberIndependent · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (Chair) · Audit and Risk Committee · Sustainability and Safety Committee (Chair) | 172,933 | — | — | — | 0 | 172,933 |
| Martin K. ThomasIndependent · Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee · Audit and Risk Committee | 164,792 | — | — | — | 0 | 164,792 |
| Randall WadeIndependent · Not standing for re-election | 90,067 | — | — | — | 0 | 90,067 |
| Sylvia KerriganIndependent · Not standing for re-election · Departed during FY | 28,238 | — | — | — | 0 | 28,238 |
| Robert Russell Hutson JrEmployee director | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| Annual cash retainer | $85,000 |
|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer | $150,000 |
| Per board meeting fee | — |
| Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov) | 20,000 / 20,000 / 15,000 |
| Stock ownership guideline | $425,000 |
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Cash retainers and fees | $1,005,720 |
| Equity awards (grant-date value) | $0 |
| All other compensation | $165,825 |
| Total cost of the board | $1,171,545 |
Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.
The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.
Of the companies Diversified Energy names as compensation peers, which name it back in their own disclosed peer groups. A peer set the market reciprocates reads differently from one selected in a single direction.
Reciprocity shown where the peer's own current proxy has been read — each mark is cited in the register to that peer's filing. A dash means the peer's current proxy was read and names no reciprocal group including Diversified Energy.
Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company's own proxy statement.
| Rank | Company | FY | Chief executive | Salary | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berry Corporation | 2024 | Kevin Kwilinski | $1,029,808 | $14,071,727 | $2,879,994 | $1,535,625 | $20,017,718 |
| 2 | Talos Energy Inc. | 2025 | Paul Goodfellow | 819,555 | 6,513,948 | 0 | 1,870,781 | 9,351,093 |
| 3 | CNX Resources Corp. | 2025 | Nicholas DeIuliis | 800,000 | 3,000,024 | 0 | 2,396,000 | 7,420,318 |
| 4 | W&T Offshore | 2025 | Tracy Krohn | 800,000 | 4,317,289 | 0 | 967,200 | 6,183,187 |
| 5 | Northern Oil and Gas | 2025 | Nicholas O'Grady | 925,000 | 2,815,683 | 0 | 1,638,564 | 5,602,413 |
| 6 | Diversified Energy | 2025 | Robert Hutson | 806,923 | 2,795,234 | 0 | 1,359,056 | 4,996,277 |
| 7 | Amplify Energy Corp. | 2025 | Daniel Furbee | 430,457 | 1,038,349 | 0 | 359,473 | 1,898,298 |
| 8 | Granite Ridge Resources | 2024 | Luke Brandenberg | 500,000 | 481,438 | 107,813 | 0 | 1,461,306 |
| — | Vital Energy | — | — | — | — | — | — | not in coverage universe |
| — | Ring Energy | — | — | — | — | — | — | not in coverage universe |
Each peer's compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer's figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.
| Company | Annual incentive payout | Long-term vehicle mix | PSU measures include TSR | Compensation consultant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diversified Energy | not disclosed | RSU 70 · PSU 30 | not disclosed | Mercer Limited |
| Amplify Energy Corp. | not disclosed | PSU 50 · RSU 50 | not disclosed | Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC |
| Berry Corporation | 117% | PSU 60 · Options 40 | Yes — Relative TSR vs. Peer Group | Pearl Meyer |
| CNX Resources Corp. | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Granite Ridge Resources | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | Dana Krieg |
| Northern Oil and Gas | 136.5% | MSU 88 · RSU 12 | Yes — 3-Year Absolute TSR | Willis Towers Watson |
| Ring Energy | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Talos Energy Inc. | not disclosed | RSU 50 · PSU 50 | not disclosed | Meridian |
| Vital Energy | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| W&T Offshore | 121.88% | PSU 60 · RSU 40 | Yes — TSR | Meridian |
Read from each company's Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company's filing does not state the item.
Each figure's location is given both for the eye (section · page · table · row · column) and for a script (table/row/column index and exact character span in the filed document). Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.
| # | Supports | Document | Filed | Accession | Location in document |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Section 01, Richard Gideon | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE” · page 38. As printed: 6,583,084. Filing ↗machine: r10 · c7 · span 604112–604121 |
| 2 | Section 01, Robert Hutson | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE” · page 38. As printed: 4,996,277. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c7 · span 588495–588504 |
| 3 | Section 01, Bradley Gray | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE” · page 38. As printed: 2,724,894. Filing ↗machine: r4 · c7 · span 593521–593530 |
| 4 | Section 01, Benjamin Sullivan | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE” · page 38. As printed: 2,341,110. Filing ↗machine: r7 · c7 · span 598780–598789 |
| 5 | Section 01, Ronald Ridgway | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE” · page 38. As printed: 1,294,735. Filing ↗machine: r11 · c7 · span 606335–606344 |
| 6 | Section 03, Ronald Ridgway RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 668596–668603 |
| 7 | Section 03, Richard Gideon RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 662122–662129 |
| 8 | Section 03, Richard Gideon RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 659897–659906 |
| 9 | Section 03, Richard Gideon PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 657673–657680 |
| 10 | Section 03, Bradley Gray RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 646362–646369 |
| 11 | Section 03, Bradley Gray PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 644139–644146 |
| 12 | Section 03, Robert Hutson RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 639614–639621 |
| 13 | Section 03, Robert Hutson PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 637387–637396 |
| 14 | Section 03, Ronald Ridgway PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 666518–666525 |
| 15 | Section 03, Benjamin Sullivan PSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 650908–650915 |
| 16 | Section 03, Benjamin Sullivan RSU | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE” · grants of plan-based awards table. Filing ↗machine: span 653133–653140 |
| 17 | Section 08, Sandy Stash | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 281,746. Filing ↗machine: span 226329–226415 |
| 18 | Section 08, David E. Johnson | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 229,390. Filing ↗machine: span 223660–223746 |
| 19 | Section 08, David J. Turner Jr | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 204,379. Filing ↗machine: span 228007–228093 |
| 20 | Section 08, Kathryn Z. Klaber | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 172,933. Filing ↗machine: span 225418–225504 |
| 21 | Section 08, Martin K. Thomas | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 164,792. Filing ↗machine: span 227182–227268 |
| 22 | Section 08, Randall Wade | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 90,067. Filing ↗machine: span 229083–229168 |
| 23 | Section 08, Sylvia Kerrigan | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 28,238. Filing ↗machine: span 224568–224653 |
| 24 | Section 08, Robert Russell Hutson Jr | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗ |
| 25 | Section 06, 2026 vote | Form 8-K | 2026-05-12 | 0001922446-26-000045 | Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 98.24% (votes for as printed: 36,892,924). Filing ↗ |
| 26 | Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed) | Computed | — | computed | Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1) |
| 27 | Section 03b vehicle mix (computed) | Computed | — | computed | RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).machine: formula: sums + PSU ratio |
| 28 | Section 09b board cost (computed) | Computed | — | computed | Cash 1,005,720 + equity 0 + all other 165,825 = 1,171,545, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,171,545 |
| 29 | Berry Corporation, Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2025-01-07 | 0001104659-25-001507 | CEO total compensation as printed in Berry Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 20,017,718. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c42 · span 938559–938569 |
| 30 | Talos Energy Inc., Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-04-22 | 0001193125-26-170385 | CEO total compensation as printed in Talos Energy Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,351,093. Filing ↗machine: r4 · c34 · span 1025234–1025243 |
| 31 | CNX Resources Corp., Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-03-26 | 0001308179-26-000153 | CEO total compensation as printed in CNX Resources Corp.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,420,318. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c25 · span 718010–718019 |
| 32 | W&T Offshore, Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-04-23 | 0001104659-26-047016 | CEO total compensation as printed in W&T Offshore's own proxy. As printed: 6,183,187. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c42 · span 1563753–1563762 |
| 33 | Northern Oil and Gas, Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-04-10 | 0001104485-26-000013 | CEO total compensation as printed in Northern Oil and Gas's own proxy. As printed: 5,602,413. Filing ↗machine: t117 · r4 · c12 · span 550610–550619 |
| 34 | Diversified Energy (subject), Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-03-24 | 0001140361-26-010918 | CEO total compensation as printed in Diversified Energy's own proxy. As printed: 4,996,277. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c7 · span 588495–588504 |
| 35 | Amplify Energy Corp., Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2026-04-23 | 0001104659-26-047701 | CEO total compensation as printed in Amplify Energy Corp.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,898,298. Filing ↗machine: r1 · c41 · span 283281–283290 |
| 36 | Granite Ridge Resources, Section 10b CEO total | DEF 14A | 2025-04-08 | 0001928446-25-000017 | CEO total compensation as printed in Granite Ridge Resources's own proxy. As printed: 1,461,306. Filing ↗machine: span 290882–290892 |
| 37 | Section 10a, Northern Oil and Gas reciprocity | DEF 14A | — | 0001104485-26-000013 | Northern Oil and Gas's most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Diversified Energy. Filing ↗ |
| 38 | Section 10a, CNX Resources Corp. reciprocity | DEF 14A | — | 0001308179-26-000153 | CNX Resources Corp.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Diversified Energy. Filing ↗ |
| 39 | Section 10a, Berry Corporation reciprocity | DEF 14A | — | 0001104659-25-001507 | Berry Corporation's most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Diversified Energy. Filing ↗ |
| 40 | Section 10a, Amplify Energy Corp. reciprocity | DEF 14A | — | 0001104659-26-047701 | Amplify Energy Corp.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Diversified Energy. Filing ↗ |
| 41 | Section 10a, Talos Energy Inc. reciprocity | DEF 14A | — | 0001193125-26-170385 | Talos Energy Inc.'s most recent proxy was read; its disclosed peer group does not include Diversified Energy. Filing ↗ |
| 42 | Section 10a, W&T Offshore reciprocity | DEF 14A | — | 0001104659-26-047016 | W&T Offshore names Diversified Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). Filing ↗ |