Velarion · Company Intelligence
Compensation Brief
Fiscal year 2025 · Filings through 2026-07-02

World Kinect (WKC)

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.

$6,430,180
Michael Kasbar total, FY2025
Executive Chairmanhighest-paid officer; CEO Ira Birns: $3,359,625
CEO (Ira Birns) pay percentile vs peers
CEO-to-median pay ratio
92.68%
Say-on-pay support, latest vote
Companies that benchmark against WKC
1 company names WKC as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses WKC 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 WKC in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

01

Summary Compensation Table — fiscal year 2025

Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Michael Kasbar$1,000,000$0$4,500,022$0$867,409$6,091$56,658$6,430,180
Executive Chairman
Ira Birns700,00002,250,0380371,747037,8413,359,625
Chief Executive Officer
John Rau700,00002,250,0380371,747030,4403,352,224
President
Mike Tejada473,438315,000525,01400054,0731,367,525
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 FY20242025
Michael Kasbar$6,430,180$6,704,733$6,802,243−274,553
Ira Birns3,359,6252,774,7842,823,311+584,841
John Rau3,352,2242,770,5452,820,431+581,679
Mike Tejada1,367,525

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

02

Equity transactions since the proxy statement was filed

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

04

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Michael KasbarRSU51,040$1,195,867
Michael KasbarPSU102,0802,391,734
Michael KasbarPSU96,5672,262,565
Michael KasbarPSU64,3781,508,377
Michael KasbarRSU48,2841,131,282
Michael KasbarPSU45,3691,062,996
Ira BirnsPSU35,161823,822
John RauPSU35,161823,822
Ira BirnsPSU33,262779,329
John RauPSU33,262779,329
Ira BirnsPSU25,446596,200
Ira BirnsRSU25,446596,200
John RauPSU25,446596,200
John RauRSU25,446596,200
Michael KasbarPSU25,032586,500
Ira BirnsPSU22,175519,560
John RauPSU22,175519,560
Ira BirnsRSU17,581411,911
John RauRSU17,581411,911
Ira BirnsRSU16,631389,664
John RauRSU16,631389,664
Ira BirnsPSU15,628366,164
John RauPSU15,628366,164
Mike TejadaPSU11,253263,658
Mike TejadaRSU11,253263,658
Ira BirnsPSU8,622202,013
John RauPSU8,622202,013
Mike TejadaPSU6,299147,586
Mike TejadaPSU5,131120,219
Mike TejadaPSU4,413103,397
Mike TejadaPSU2,28153,444
Mike TejadaPSU2,10049,203
Mike TejadaPSU1,38832,521
Mike TejadaRSU1,14126,722
Mike TejadaRSU1,05024,602
05

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

Our executive compensation program is designed to attract and retain our executives and motivate them to deliver results that support our growth strategy. We structure our executive compensation program to help directly align our compensation levels with current and future performance that creates value for our shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders.

CEO STI target (% of salary)
CEO LTI target (% of salary)
Independent consultantCompensation Strategies, Inc.
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingtrue
06

Say-on-pay — recent advisory votes

Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-06-1841,333,7003,262,774185,22592.68%Passed
20252025-06-0547,716,6672,270,91269,25395.46%Passed
20242024-06-0647,319,2994,711,774297,05590.94%Passed
20232023-06-1627,044,34626,945,124865,36650.09%Passed
20222022-05-1750,178,8564,003,27096,40892.61%Passed
20212021-05-2151,428,6014,720,905268,62891.59%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
20262026-06-1892.68%a
20252025-06-0595.46%b
20242024-06-0690.94%c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

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.

08

Director compensation — fiscal year 2025

DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Ken BakshiIndependent · Compensation (Chair) · Governance · Nominating Subcommittee (Chair)$175,000$205,005$380,005
Jorge L. BenitezIndependent · Lead Independent Director · Audit · Governance · Nominating Subcommittee180,389195,018375,407
Sharda CherwooIndependent · Audit · Governance145,000195,018340,018
Jill B. SmartIndependent47,056047,056
Ira M. BirnsEmployee director · Newly elected0
Michael J. KasbarEmployee director · Board Chair0
09

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$100,000
Annual equity retainer$175,000
Per board meeting fee
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)35,000 / 30,000 / 20,000
Stock ownership guideline$500,000
09b

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$547,445
Equity awards (grant-date value)$595,041
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$1,142,486

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

10b

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
1World Kinect2025Ira Birns$700,000$2,250,038$0$371,747$3,359,625

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.

11

Source register

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.

#SupportsDocumentFiledAccessionLocation in document
1Section 01, Michael KasbarDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Executive Compensation Tables”. As printed: 6,430,180. Filing ↗machine: r24 · c29 · span 2285145–2285154
2Section 01, Ira BirnsDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Executive Compensation Tables”. As printed: 3,359,625. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c29 · span 2113004–2113013
3Section 01, John RauDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Executive Compensation Tables”. As printed: 3,352,224. Filing ↗machine: r12 · c29 · span 2178808–2178817
4Section 01, Mike TejadaDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Executive Compensation Tables”. As printed: 1,367,525. Filing ↗machine: r19 · c29 · span 2241955–2241964
5Section 08, Ken BakshiDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 380,005. Filing ↗machine: span 1020356–1020554
6Section 08, Jorge L. BenitezDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 375,407. Filing ↗machine: span 1031550–1031748
7Section 08, Sharda CherwooDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 340,018. Filing ↗machine: span 1042742–1042940
8Section 08, Jill B. SmartDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 47,056. Filing ↗machine: span 1107555–1107752
9Section 08, Ira M. BirnsDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
10Section 08, Michael J. KasbarDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. Filing ↗
11Section 06, 2026 voteForm 8-K2026-07-020001193125-26-294559Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 92.68% (votes for as printed: 41,333,700). Filing ↗
12Section 06, 2025 voteForm 8-K2025-06-110001193125-25-139149Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 95.46% (votes for as printed: 47,716,667). Filing ↗
13Section 06, 2024 voteForm 8-K2024-06-100001193125-24-158343Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 90.94% (votes for as printed: 47,319,299). Filing ↗
14Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed)ComputedcomputedΔ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.machine: formula: Δ = FY(n) − FY(n−1)
15Section 09b board cost (computed)ComputedcomputedCash 547,445 + equity 595,041 + all other 0 = 1,142,486, summed across the director compensation table rows.machine: formula: Σ = 1,142,486
16World Kinect (subject), Section 10b CEO totalDEF 14A2026-04-280001193125-26-187092CEO total compensation as printed in World Kinect's own proxy. As printed: 3,359,625. Filing ↗machine: r5 · c29 · span 2113004–2113013