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Companies Ring Energy

Ring Energy (REI): executive pay, fiscal 2025

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CEO total pay$2,884,957CEO Paul McKinney · source
Say-on-pay support77.32%Latest vote · source
CEO vs. named peers20th pct.Of 12 peer CEOs
CEO pay ratio18:1To the median employee · source

CEO pay, last three years

  • $3,762,729FY2023
  • $3,403,046FY2024
  • $2,884,957FY2025

CEO total pay was $2,884,957 in fiscal 2025, down from $3,403,046 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $626,667 · bonus $0 · stock awards $1,473,306 · option awards $0

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Ring Energy in fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Paul McKinney (Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board) was the highest-paid executive at Ring Energy in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $2,884,957.
How does Ring Energy's chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?
As disclosed, Paul McKinney's total compensation ranked at the 20th percentile of Ring Energy's disclosed peer group.
What is Ring Energy's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio?
As disclosed, Ring Energy's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 18:1.
How did shareholders vote on Ring Energy's executive compensation?
As disclosed, 77.32% of shareholders supported Ring Energy's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does Ring Energy spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Ring Energy reported total board compensation of $1,321,229 for fiscal 2025.

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 officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Paul McKinney$626,667$0$1,473,306$0$753,984$0$31,000$2,884,957
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
Travis Thomas308,22101,341,9940222,6880823,4292,696,332
Former Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Alexander Dyes436,6670446,8220403,920023,5001,310,909
Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer
James Parr395,0000446,8220359,040018,9821,219,844
Executive Vice President, Chief Exploration Officer
Phillip Feiner369,1670205,2970314,160022,222910,846
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Rocky Kwon255,925094,0780155,585015,428521,016
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Former Interim Chief Financial 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 officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY2024→2025
Paul McKinney$2,884,957$3,403,046$3,762,729↓ −518,089
Travis Thomas2,696,3321,355,2161,189,765↑ +1,341,116
Alexander Dyes1,310,9091,355,2311,189,765↓ −44,322
James Parr1,219,844———
Phillip Feiner910,846449,546—↑ +461,300
Rocky Kwon521,016———

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

The Company's pay-for-performance philosophy focuses on delivering a significant portion of executive compensation in the form of long-term equity incentive awards to align executives' interests with stockholders. The program is designed to incentivize and reward NEOs for achieving long-term objectives, with a majority of compensation being 'at-risk' and performance-based.

CEO STI target (% of salary)—
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingtrue
Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Paul McKinneyPSU2025-04-29—743,790—1,487,580$693,696
James ParrPSU2025-04-29—225,576—451,152210,383
Travis ThomasPSU2025-04-29—225,576—451,152210,383
Paul McKinneyRSU2025-02-12——595,122—779,610
James ParrRSU2025-02-12——180,488—236,439
Travis ThomasRSU2025-02-12——180,488—236,439
Alexander DyesRSU2025-02-12——180,488—236,439
Phillip FeinerRSU2025-02-12——82,927—108,634
Phillip FeinerPSU2025-04-29—103,643—207,28696,663
Rocky KwonRSU2025-02-12——71,815—94,078
Alexander DyesPSU2025-04-29—225,576—451,152210,383

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Paul McKinney$779,610$693,696$047.1%
James Parr236,439210,383047.1%
Travis Thomas236,439210,383047.1%
Alexander Dyes236,439210,383047.1%
Phillip Feiner108,63496,663047.1%
Rocky Kwon94,078000.0%

% 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

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Phillip FeinerPSU103,643—$90,169
Rocky KwonRSU118,293—102,915
Phillip FeinerRSU133,994—116,575
James ParrPSU225,576—196,251
James ParrRSU235,821—205,164
Alexander DyesRSU294,602—256,304
Alexander DyesPSU414,765—360,846
Paul McKinneyRSU1,009,536—878,296
Paul McKinneyPSU1,365,412—1,187,908
Director compensation
DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Anthony B. PetrelliIndependent · Lead Independent Director · Audit · Compensation · Nominating, Environmental, Social and Governance$100,000$119,817———$219,817
Thomas L. MitchellIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Compensation95,000119,817———214,817
John A. CrumIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Nominating, Environmental, Social and Governance90,000119,817———209,817
Richard E. HarrisIndependent · Audit · Nominating, Environmental, Social and Governance75,000119,817———194,817
David S. HabachyIndependent · Audit · Compensation75,000119,817———194,817
Regina RoesenerIndependent · Audit · Nominating, Environmental, Social and Governance (Chair) · Departed during FY34,863119,817———154,680
Carla T. TharpIndependent · Audit · Nominating, Environmental, Social and Governance (Chair) · Newly elected62,73969,725———132,464

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$75,000
Annual equity retainer—
Per board meeting fee—
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)20,000 / 15,000 / 15,000
Stock ownership guideline$5

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$532,602
Equity awards (grant-date value)$788,627
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,321,229

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

Peer group, and who names Ring Energy as a peer

Companies that benchmark against REI

10 companies name REI as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses REI 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 REI 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 Ring Energy 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.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1SilverBow Resources, Inc.2025M. Jay Allison$1,039,500$16,549,171$0$2,013,512$21,934,257
2Talos Energy, Inc.2025Paul Goodfellow819,5556,513,94801,870,7819,351,093
3Vital Energy, Inc.2024Jason Pigott828,2696,404,7900868,6478,141,620
4Gulfport Energy Corporation2025John Reinhart919,7265,277,43701,098,9007,323,707
5W&T Offshore, Inc.2025Tracy Krohn800,0004,317,2890967,2006,183,187
6Riley Exploration Permian, Inc.2025Bobby Riley675,0003,914,7250742,0005,782,259
7Diversified Energy Company2025Robert Hutson806,9232,795,23401,359,0564,996,277
8Granite Ridge Resources, Inc.2025Tyler Farquharson477,5004,039,73955,84604,956,370
9Amplify Energy Corp.2025Martyn Willsher542,0001,657,665003,944,707
10Ring Energy2025Paul McKinney626,6671,473,3060753,9842,884,957
11HighPeak Energy, Inc.2025Michael Hollis1,200,0000002,823,992
—Mach Natural Resources LP——————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

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Ring Energynot disclosedPSU 60 · RSU 40not disclosedMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Amplify Energy Corp.not disclosedPSU 50 · RSU 50not disclosedMeridian
Diversified Energy Companynot disclosedRSU 70 · PSU 30not disclosedMercer Limited
Granite Ridge Resources, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedDana Krieg
Gulfport Energy Corporationnot disclosedPRSU 60 · RSU 40not disclosedWTW
HighPeak Energy, Inc.not disclosedRSU 100not disclosedPearl Meyer & Partners, LLC
Mach Natural Resources LPnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosednot disclosed
Riley Exploration Permian, Inc.not disclosedRSU 70 · PRSU 30not disclosedMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
SilverBow Resources, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedMeridian Compensation Partners, LLC
Talos Energy, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 50not disclosedMeridian
Vital Energy, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PSU 50not disclosedWillis Towers Watson
W&T Offshore, Inc.121.88%PSU 60 · RSU 40Yes — TSRMeridian

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 yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-05-2161,088,33017,921,9723,490,73277.32%Passed
20252025-05-2287,246,79322,750,2701,154,15579.32%Passed
20242024-05-2378,393,93218,613,984313,91880.81%Passed
20232023-05-2581,343,01927,765,971374,43874.55%Passed
20202020-12-1528,863,02111,026,017492,42872.36%Passed
20192019-12-1726,536,3438,002,6702,440,82176.83%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 yearMeeting dateApproval — company’s computation
20262026-05-2177.32%a
20252025-05-2279.32%b
20242024-05-2380.81%c

a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal .”.

b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal .”.

c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no effect on the outcome of 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)18 : 1
CEO total compensation$2,884,957
Median employee compensation$162,362
Insider trades since the proxy

Every insider equity transaction reported on Form 4 after the 2025 proxy statement — acquisitions, dispositions, exercises, and withholdings — and therefore not reflected in any table in that document.

InsiderRoleTransaction dateCodeSharesPriceValueSecuritySource
Sundip Singh JohlEVP, Chief Financial Officer2026-06-15A231,000$1$278,840CommonForm 4 ↗
Paul McKinneyDirector2026-06-15A50,000159,500CommonForm 4 ↗

Transaction codes per Form 4: A acquisition · S open-market sale · F tax withholding · M option exercise · G gift. Value = shares × price as reported. Dividend-equivalent and fractional-share accrual rows (derivative Class A, under $10,000 and under 2,000 shares) are aggregated per date; every row appears in full below.

Sources (51 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, Paul McKinney. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Summary Compensation Table” · page 54. As printed: 2,884,957. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Travis Thomas. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 2,696,332. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Alexander Dyes. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 1,310,909. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, James Parr. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 1,219,844. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Phillip Feiner. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 910,846. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Rocky Kwon. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Summary Compensation Table”. As printed: 521,016. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul McKinney PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, James Parr PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Travis Thomas PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Paul McKinney RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, James Parr RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Travis Thomas RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Alexander Dyes RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Phillip Feiner RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Phillip Feiner PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Rocky Kwon RSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Alexander Dyes PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Grants of Plan-Based Awards During 2025” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 18 : 1. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Anthony B. Petrelli. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 219,817. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Thomas L. Mitchell. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 214,817. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, John A. Crum. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 209,817. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Richard E. Harris. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 194,817. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, David S. Habachy. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 194,817. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Regina Roesener. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 154,680. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Carla T. Tharp. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 132,464. View filing ↗
  • Section 02, Sundip Singh Johl 2026-06-15. Form 4, filed 2026-06-16. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
  • Section 02, Paul McKinney 2026-06-15. Form 4, filed 2026-06-16. Insider equity transaction reported since the proxy statement. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-22. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 77.32% (votes for as printed: 61,088,330). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-05-22. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 79.32% (votes for as printed: 87,246,793). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-05-28. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 80.81% (votes for as printed: 78,393,932). 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).
  • Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 532,602 + equity 788,627 + all other 0 = 1,321,229, summed across the director compensation table rows.
  • SilverBow Resources, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-22. CEO total compensation as printed in SilverBow Resources, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 21,934,257. View filing ↗
  • Talos Energy, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-22. CEO total compensation as printed in Talos Energy, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 9,351,093. View filing ↗
  • Vital Energy, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2025-04-10. CEO total compensation as printed in Vital Energy, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 8,141,620. View filing ↗
  • Gulfport Energy Corporation, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A. CEO total compensation as printed in Gulfport Energy Corporation's own proxy. As printed: 7,323,707. View filing ↗
  • W&T Offshore, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-23. CEO total compensation as printed in W&T Offshore, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,183,187. View filing ↗
  • Riley Exploration Permian, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. CEO total compensation as printed in Riley Exploration Permian, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,782,259. View filing ↗
  • Diversified Energy Company, Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-24. CEO total compensation as printed in Diversified Energy Company's own proxy. As printed: 4,996,277. View filing ↗
  • Granite Ridge Resources, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-08. CEO total compensation as printed in Granite Ridge Resources, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 4,956,370. View filing ↗
  • Amplify Energy Corp., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-23. CEO total compensation as printed in Amplify Energy Corp.'s own proxy. As printed: 3,944,707. View filing ↗
  • Ring Energy (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. CEO total compensation as printed in Ring Energy's own proxy. As printed: 2,884,957. View filing ↗
  • HighPeak Energy, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-30. CEO total compensation as printed in HighPeak Energy, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 2,823,992. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Amplify Energy Corp. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Amplify Energy Corp. names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Diversified Energy Company reciprocity. DEF 14A. Diversified Energy Company names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Gulfport Energy Corporation reciprocity. DEF 14A. Gulfport Energy Corporation names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, HighPeak Energy, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. HighPeak Energy, Inc. names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, W&T Offshore, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. W&T Offshore, Inc. names Ring Energy in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
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