Companies Knife River Corp
Knife River (KNF): executive pay, fiscal 2025
Free brief. Every figure links to the company’s own filing.
Velarion Intel: free for 3 days, no card →Email me Knife River Corp’s executive pay brief as a PDF
You get it on this page the moment you ask, and a copy by email. Every figure is cited to its filing.
After the PDF, up to three short notes on the deeper reports for this company. Reply “unsubscribe” to any of them, any time.
CEO pay, last three years
- $4,991,482FY2023
- $6,941,573FY2024
- $5,820,868FY2025
CEO total pay was $5,820,868 in fiscal 2025, down from $6,941,573 in fiscal 2024.
FY2025: salary $1,000,000 · bonus $0 · stock awards $3,785,841 · option awards $0
Executives and directors
Frequently asked questions
Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.
Full detail
Every table from the filing. Open any section.
Summary compensation table
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Gray | $1,000,000 | $0 | $3,785,841 | $0 | $1,006,253 | $0 | $28,774 | $5,820,868 |
| President and Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| Trevor Hastings | 545,000 | 0 | 935,426 | 0 | 342,755 | 61,030 | 94,274 | 1,978,485 |
| Vice President and Chief Operating Officer | ||||||||
| Nathan Ring | 545,000 | 0 | 935,426 | 0 | 342,755 | 0 | 83,274 | 1,906,455 |
| Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Karl Liepitz | 485,000 | 0 | 832,371 | 0 | 305,021 | 3,358 | 84,251 | 1,710,001 |
| Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary | ||||||||
| Glenn Pladsen | 425,000 | 0 | 536,385 | 0 | 267,286 | 0 | 71,158 | 1,299,829 |
| Vice President and Chief Excellence Officer | ||||||||
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.
Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive
| Named executive officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Gray | $5,820,868 | $6,941,573 | $4,991,482 | ↓ −1,120,705 |
| Trevor Hastings | 1,978,485 | 2,444,108 | 2,227,879 | ↓ −465,623 |
| Nathan Ring | 1,906,455 | 2,430,308 | 1,739,152 | ↓ −523,853 |
| Karl Liepitz | 1,710,001 | 2,208,458 | 2,185,495 | ↓ −498,457 |
| Glenn Pladsen | 1,299,829 | — | — | — |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis
To ensure management's interests are aligned with those of our stockholders and the performance of the company, the majority of the CEO's and the other named executive officers' compensation is dependent on the achievement of company performance targets and long-term incentives.
| CEO STI target (% of salary) | 120% |
|---|---|
| CEO LTI target (% of salary) | — |
| Independent consultant | Meridian |
| Clawback policy | True |
| Anti-hedging | True |
| Anti-pledging | True |
Equity grants and outstanding awards
Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025
| Executive | Award | Grant date | Threshold | Target | Granted | Maximum | Grant-date fair value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Pladsen | PSU | 2025-02-27 | 1,657 | 3,314 | — | 6,628 | $370,091 |
| Nathan Ring | RSU | 2025-02-27 | — | — | 3,114 | — | 289,945 |
| Glenn Pladsen | RSU | 2025-02-27 | — | — | 1,786 | — | 166,294 |
| Trevor Hastings | PSU | 2025-02-27 | 2,890 | 5,780 | — | 11,560 | 645,482 |
| Brian Gray | RSU | 2025-02-27 | — | — | 12,599 | — | 1,173,093 |
| Karl Liepitz | RSU | 2025-02-27 | — | — | 2,770 | — | 257,915 |
| Brian Gray | PSU | 2025-02-27 | 11,698 | 23,396 | — | 46,792 | 2,612,748 |
| Karl Liepitz | PSU | 2025-02-27 | 2,572 | 5,144 | — | 10,288 | 574,456 |
| Trevor Hastings | RSU | 2025-02-27 | — | — | 3,114 | — | 289,945 |
| Nathan Ring | PSU | 2025-02-27 | 2,890 | 5,780 | — | 11,560 | 645,482 |
Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type
| Named executive officer | Time-vested (RSU) | Performance-vested (PSU) | Options / SARs | % performance-vested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Pladsen | $166,294 | $370,091 | $0 | 69.0% |
| Nathan Ring | 289,945 | 645,482 | 0 | 69.0% |
| Trevor Hastings | 289,945 | 645,482 | 0 | 69.0% |
| Brian Gray | 1,173,093 | 2,612,748 | 0 | 69.0% |
| Karl Liepitz | 257,915 | 574,456 | 0 | 69.0% |
% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.
Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Pladsen | RSU | 3,939 | — | $277,109 |
| Karl Liepitz | RSU | 7,118 | — | 500,751 |
| Glenn Pladsen | PSU | 7,314 | — | 514,540 |
| Nathan Ring | RSU | 7,919 | — | 557,102 |
| Trevor Hastings | RSU | 7,919 | — | 557,102 |
| Karl Liepitz | PSU | 13,219 | — | 929,957 |
| Nathan Ring | PSU | 14,705 | — | 1,034,497 |
| Trevor Hastings | PSU | 14,705 | — | 1,034,497 |
| Brian Gray | RSU | 30,368 | — | 2,136,389 |
| Brian Gray | PSU | 56,396 | — | 3,967,458 |
Director compensation
No director compensation table is on file for fiscal year 2025.
Board fee structure and ownership guideline
| Annual cash retainer | $110,000 |
|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer | $150,000 |
| Per board meeting fee | $0 |
| Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov) | 20,000 / 20,000 / 15,000 |
| Stock ownership guideline | $5 |
Peer group, and who names Knife River as a peer
Companies that benchmark against KNF
2 companies name KNF as a compensation peer
- Arcosa, Inc.ACAFY2025
- ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES INCAWIFY2025
Each company listed discloses KNF 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 KNF in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.
Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025
The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.
Peer reciprocity
The companies Knife River Corp names as compensation peers that name it back in their own disclosed peer groups.
Chief executive pay against the peer group
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 | Vulcan Materials Company | 2025 | J. Thomas Hill | $1,235,000 | $7,906,513 | $1,976,288 | $3,043,000 | $14,699,497 |
| 2 | Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 2025 | C. Howard Nye | 1,368,333 | 9,428,726 | 0 | 2,835,719 | 14,264,065 |
| 3 | Eagle Materials Inc. | 2026 | Michael Haack | 1,119,456 | 5,457,270 | 1,657,834 | 1,948,987 | 10,302,728 |
| 4 | Granite Construction Incorporated | 2025 | Kyle Larkin | 1,000,000 | 7,178,777 | 0 | 1,612,935 | 9,861,425 |
| 5 | Allegion plc | 2025 | John Stone | 1,066,115 | 4,562,226 | 1,450,032 | 1,940,926 | 9,155,073 |
| 6 | Armstrong World Industries, Inc. | 2025 | Victor Grizzle | 1,000,000 | 5,599,532 | 0 | 1,584,000 | 8,537,000 |
| 7 | Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | 2025 | Joseph Cutillo | 1,100,000 | 4,675,000 | 0 | 2,530,000 | 8,414,685 |
| 8 | Arcosa, Inc. | 2025 | Antonio Carrillo | 1,000,000 | 5,127,741 | 0 | 1,937,500 | 8,092,216 |
| 9 | Dycom Industries, Inc. | 2026 | Daniel Peyovich | 1,176,259 | 3,762,642 | 0 | 3,058,273 | 8,011,338 |
| 10 | Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. | 2025 | Michael Olosky | 950,000 | 5,383,384 | 0 | 1,389,713 | 7,768,355 |
| 11 | Minerals Technologies Inc. | 2025 | Douglas Dietrich | 1,050,000 | 2,310,022 | 768,803 | 2,891,160 | 7,405,693 |
| 12 | Construction Partners, Inc. | 2025 | Fred J. (Jule) Smith, III | 837,308 | 2,870,328 | 0 | 875,000 | 6,410,129 |
| 13 | Compass Minerals International, Inc. | 2025 | Edward Dowling Jr. | 1,000,000 | 3,500,019 | 0 | 1,645,280 | 6,343,575 |
| 14 | The Azek Company Inc. | 2024 | Jesse Singh | 850,628 | 3,140,196 | 900,016 | 1,365,030 | 6,339,248 |
| 15 | Knife River Corp | 2025 | Brian Gray | 1,000,000 | 3,785,841 | 0 | 1,006,253 | 5,820,868 |
| 16 | Gibraltar Industries, Inc. | 2025 | William Bosway | 908,269 | 3,202,440 | 0 | 274,500 | 4,731,001 |
| — | Summit Materials, Inc. | — | — | — | — | — | — | 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.
Incentive design against the same peers
| Company | Annual incentive payout | Long-term vehicle mix | PSU measures include TSR | Compensation consultant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knife River Corp | 83.9% | PSU 65 · RSU 35 | Yes — Total Stockholder Return (TSR) relative to that of peer companies | Meridian |
| Allegion plc | 131.31% | PSU 50 · Options 25 · RSU 25 | Yes — Relative TSR | FW Cook |
| Arcosa, Inc. | not disclosed | not disclosed | Yes — rTSR | Pay Governance LLC |
| Armstrong World Industries, Inc. | not disclosed | RSU 50 · PRSU 50 | not disclosed | Aon |
| Compass Minerals International, Inc. | not disclosed | RSU 50 · PSU 50 | not disclosed | FW Cook |
| Construction Partners, Inc. | 100% | PSU 73 · RSU 27 | No | Dana Krieg (independent compensation consultant) |
| Dycom Industries, Inc. | 226% | PSU 50 · RSU 50 | No | Not disclosed |
| Eagle Materials Inc. | not disclosed | Options 50 · PSU 25 · RSU 25 | Yes — Average Absolute Total Stockholder Return (Avg. A-TSR) | Meridian Compensation Partners |
| Gibraltar Industries, Inc. | 25% | PSU 64 · RSU 36 | No | WTW |
| Granite Construction Incorporated | 134% | PSU 75 · RSU 25 | Yes — Relative TSR | FW Cook |
| Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 185% | PSU 55 · RSU 45 | Yes — Relative TSR | Pay Governance |
| Minerals Technologies Inc. | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | FW Cook |
| Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | not disclosed | PSU 60 · RSU 40 | Yes — Relative Total Shareholder Return (TSR) | Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC |
| Summit Materials, Inc. | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed | not disclosed |
| The Azek Company Inc. | not disclosed | PSU 50 · RSU 25 · Option 25 | not disclosed | Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. |
| Vulcan Materials Company | not disclosed | PSU 60 · RSU 20 · SOSAR 20 | Yes — Total Shareholder Return (TSR) percentile rank relative to S&P 500 Index | Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC |
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.
Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-20 | 45,322,044 | 1,777,385 | 103,741 | 96.01% | Passed |
| 2025 | 2025-05-22 | 43,551,803 | 2,233,830 | 145,389 | 94.82% | Passed |
| 2024 | 2024-05-14 | 41,673,105 | 1,440,727 | 131,134 | 96.37% | 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.
Say-on-pay — history, company’s computation
| Meeting year | Meeting date | Approval — company’s computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2026-05-20 | 96.01%a |
| 2025 | 2025-05-22 | 94.82%b |
| 2024 | 2024-05-14 | 96.37%c |
a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will count as votes against this proposal.”.
b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will count as votes against this proposal.”.
c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will count as votes against this proposal.”.
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.
CEO pay ratio
| Ratio (CEO : median employee) | 64 : 1 |
|---|---|
| CEO total compensation | $5,820,868 |
| Median employee compensation | $90,710 |
Insider trades since the proxy
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
Sources (39 citations)
Each figure is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.
- Section 01, Brian Gray. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Summary Compensation Table for 2025” · page 62. As printed: 5,820,868. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Trevor Hastings. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Summary Compensation Table for 2025”. As printed: 1,978,485. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Nathan Ring. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Summary Compensation Table for 2025”. As printed: 1,906,455. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Karl Liepitz. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Summary Compensation Table for 2025”. As printed: 1,710,001. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Glenn Pladsen. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Summary Compensation Table for 2025”. As printed: 1,299,829. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Glenn Pladsen PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Nathan Ring RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Glenn Pladsen RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Trevor Hastings PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Brian Gray RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Karl Liepitz RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Brian Gray PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Karl Liepitz PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Trevor Hastings RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 03, Nathan Ring PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
- Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 64 : 1. View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-21. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 96.01% (votes for as printed: 45,322,044). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-05-28. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 94.82% (votes for as printed: 43,551,803). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-05-17. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 96.37% (votes for as printed: 41,673,105). View filing ↗
- Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
- Section 03b vehicle mix (computed). Computed. RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).
- Vulcan Materials Company, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Vulcan Materials Company's own proxy. As printed: 14,699,497. View filing ↗
- Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-15. CEO total compensation as printed in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 14,264,065. View filing ↗
- Eagle Materials Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-06-15. CEO total compensation as printed in Eagle Materials Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 10,302,728. View filing ↗
- Granite Construction Incorporated, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-23. CEO total compensation as printed in Granite Construction Incorporated's own proxy. As printed: 9,861,425. View filing ↗
- Allegion plc, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-17. CEO total compensation as printed in Allegion plc's own proxy. As printed: 9,155,073. View filing ↗
- Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-30. CEO total compensation as printed in Armstrong World Industries, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 8,537,000. View filing ↗
- Sterling Infrastructure, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-25. CEO total compensation as printed in Sterling Infrastructure, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 8,414,685. View filing ↗
- Arcosa, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-31. CEO total compensation as printed in Arcosa, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 8,092,216. View filing ↗
- Dycom Industries, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-16. CEO total compensation as printed in Dycom Industries, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 8,011,338. View filing ↗
- Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,768,355. View filing ↗
- Minerals Technologies Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-02. CEO total compensation as printed in Minerals Technologies Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 7,405,693. View filing ↗
- Construction Partners, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-27. CEO total compensation as printed in Construction Partners, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,410,129. View filing ↗
- Compass Minerals International, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-23. CEO total compensation as printed in Compass Minerals International, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,343,575. View filing ↗
- The Azek Company Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2025-01-13. CEO total compensation as printed in The Azek Company Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,339,248. View filing ↗
- Knife River Corp (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. CEO total compensation as printed in Knife River Corp's own proxy. As printed: 5,820,868. View filing ↗
- Gibraltar Industries, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-06. CEO total compensation as printed in Gibraltar Industries, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,731,001. View filing ↗
- Section 10a, Arcosa, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Arcosa, Inc. names Knife River Corp in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
- Section 10a, Armstrong World Industries, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. names Knife River Corp in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗