Andrew J. O’Neill
About Andrew J. O’Neill
Andrew J. O’Neill is Vice President at Central Securities Corporation (CET). He joined CET in 2009 and was elected Vice President in 2011; he is 52 per the 2025 proxy . Prior to CET, he was a Vice President and Senior Analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC . CET’s investment performance context over the last year shows net asset value (NAV) per share increased from $46.49 to $54.26 and net assets rose from $1.320B to $1.570B as of December 31, 2024 .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC | Vice President and Senior Analyst | pre-2009 | Sell-side research experience relevant to CET’s investment analysis |
External Roles
- No public company directorships or external roles disclosed for O’Neill in CET’s recent proxy statements .
Fixed Compensation
- CET discloses aggregate compensation (salary, bonus, equity if any, and company retirement contributions) rather than itemizing base salary and bonus for executives. O’Neill’s aggregate compensation was $1,026,750 in 2024 (with $51,750 in 401(k) plan contributions) and $999,500 in 2023 (with $49,500 in 401(k) plan contributions) .
- CET maintains a 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan: the company contributes at least 3% (immediately vested) and contributed 15% of employee compensation for 2024 and 2023 (amounts above 3% vest fully after three years, subject to IRS limits) .
Multi-year compensation snapshot (aggregate)
| Metric | 2013 | 2014 | 2017 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aggregate Compensation ($) | 804,250 | 804,250 | 826,918 | 999,500 | 1,026,750 |
| 401(k) Contributions ($) | 38,250 | 39,000 | 40,500 | 49,500 | 51,750 |
| Stock Awards – Grant-date Fair Value ($) | 104,250 | 102,120 | 76,903 | — | — |
Notes: CET’s recent proxies (2023–2024) do not itemize base salary vs. bonus nor list equity grant values separately for those years; they report a single “Aggregate Compensation” figure and pension/retirement contributions .
Performance Compensation
- Plan structure and metrics: CET does not disclose formulaic annual incentive metrics (e.g., revenue, EBITDA, TSR) or weightings for O’Neill; the Compensation and Nominating Committee reviews and approves officer compensation .
- Equity awards history: earlier disclosures show unrestricted CET common stock grants (i.e., not subject to vesting restrictions) under the 2012 Incentive Compensation Plan (5,000 shares in 2013; 4,255 shares in 2014), with the associated grant-date fair values shown below .
Equity award history (select years)
| Year | Instrument | Shares Granted | Grant-date Fair Value ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Unrestricted CET common stock | 5,000 | 104,250 |
| 2014 | Unrestricted CET common stock | 4,255 | 102,120 |
| 2017 | Equity award (per proxy table) | — | 76,903 |
No performance share units (PSUs), options, or explicit performance metric targets/weightings for O’Neill are disclosed in recent proxies .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Beneficial ownership: O’Neill owned 88,381 CET shares as of December 31, 2024 (less than 1% of shares outstanding) versus 84,039 shares as of December 31, 2023 (less than 1%) .
- Pledging/hedging: No pledging or hedging disclosures for O’Neill are provided in CET’s recent proxies .
- Ownership guidelines: No executive stock ownership guideline disclosures are provided in the proxy .
Beneficial ownership (multi-year)
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Shares Beneficially Owned | 84,039 | 88,381 |
| Ownership % of Outstanding | <1% | <1% |
Employment Terms
- Role and tenure: Joined CET in 2009; elected Vice President in 2011; age 52 per 2025 proxy .
- Term/renewal: Executive officers serve until successors are elected; no fixed employment term disclosed .
- Severance, change-in-control, non-compete, clawbacks, tax gross-ups: Not disclosed in CET’s recent proxies .
- Retirement/defined contribution: CET 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan contributions at 15% of eligible compensation for 2024 and 2023; amounts above 3% vest after three years (3% minimum contribution is immediately vested) .
- Section 16(a) compliance: CET states all required insider reports were filed on a timely basis for 2024 and 2023 .
Performance & Track Record Context (Company-level)
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| NAV per common share ($) | 46.49 | 54.26 |
| Net assets ($) | 1,319,864,836 | 1,569,940,654 |
| Shares outstanding | 28,387,828 | 28,935,676 |
CET’s 2024 annual report release indicates improved NAV/share and net assets year over year; CET does not disclose executive-specific performance scorecards for incentive pay .
Compensation Committee and Governance Touchpoints
- The Compensation and Nominating Committee (independent directors Blackford, Browning, Calder, Poppe) reviews and approves officer compensation; it met once in 2024 and operates under a charter available on CET’s website . The same committee composition and responsibilities were disclosed in 2023 .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance transparency: CET’s aggregation of executive pay (without base/bonus split, targets, or payouts) limits visibility into incentive alignment. Absence of disclosed performance metrics or PSUs/options in recent years makes incentive rigor opaque; investors should press for clearer performance frameworks tied to NAV/TSR or realized investment results .
- Retention and selling pressure: Historical unrestricted stock grants (2013–2014) point to award structures without multi-year vesting; recent proxies do not show fresh equity awards for O’Neill, reducing near-term forced selling pressure from vesting events. Monitor Form 4s for any selling given his 88k-share stake; CET reports timely Section 16 filings .
- Alignment via ownership: O’Neill’s beneficial stake is meaningful in absolute terms (88,381 shares) but small as a percentage (<1%); no pledging disclosed and no ownership guidelines disclosed—both are areas for engagement to strengthen alignment .
- Contractual risk: No severance, change-in-control, or restrictive covenant disclosures—suggesting limited parachute risk but creating uncertainty on retention protections. Clarifying employment terms and any double-trigger protections would help assess retention risk through cycles .
- Oversight: Compensation is approved by a fully independent committee, which is a positive governance marker; however, investors may seek more detail on metric design and year-over-year rigor .