Shari Withem
About Shari Withem
Shari Withem is Co-Chief Accounting Officer, Co-Treasurer, and Co-Controller of Blue Owl Capital Corporation (OBDC) and the other Blue Owl BDCs. She is 42, a Managing Director at Blue Owl, and joined Owl Rock (predecessor to Blue Owl’s Credit platform) in March 2018 after prior roles at Sixth Street Specialty Lending (TSLX), MCG Capital, and Deloitte; she holds a B.S. in Accounting from James Madison University and is a licensed CPA in Virginia . During her tenure as an officer (since 2021), OBDC delivered strong company-level performance including a 2023 total shareholder return over 40% and record dividends, followed by 2024 dividends of $1.72 per share and ROE over 12% (company-level metrics, not attributed to any single executive) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Owl/Owl Rock (Credit platform) | Managing Director; Co-CAO, Co-Treasurer, Co-Controller (OBDC and other Blue Owl BDCs) | 2018–present | Oversees accounting, financial reporting, treasury, and internal controls across Blue Owl BDCs . |
| Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. (TSLX) | Vice President | Pre-2018 | Led accounting, financial reporting, treasury, and internal controls at a listed BDC . |
| MCG Capital Corporation | Accounting/Finance roles | Prior to TSLX | Accounting and controls at a former publicly traded BDC . |
| Deloitte | Audit & Assurance | Early career | Public accounting with focus on assurance . |
External Roles
No external public-company directorships or board committee roles are disclosed for Ms. Withem in OBDC’s proxy biographies .
Fixed Compensation
OBDC is externally managed; it has no employees and does not directly compensate executive officers. Compensation for executives comes from the Adviser (Blue Owl Credit Advisors LLC) or its affiliates; OBDC reimburses only an allocable portion of compensation for the CCO and CFO (not CAO) under the Administration Agreement .
| Item | Disclosure at OBDC | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Not paid by OBDC | Paid by Adviser; no salary disclosed at OBDC level . |
| Target bonus % / Actual bonus | Not paid by OBDC | Incentive comp (if any) would be through Adviser; not disclosed by OBDC . |
| Benefits/perquisites | Not disclosed | OBDC does not report officer perquisites since officers are Adviser employees . |
Performance Compensation
OBDC does not grant equity or cash incentives to executive officers (no company-paid incentive programs). Any variable compensation for Ms. Withem would be determined by the Adviser and is not disclosed by OBDC. The Adviser’s compensation comes from management and incentive fees at the OBDC level; members of the Adviser’s investment committee share in Adviser profits, but Ms. Withem is not identified as an investment committee member in OBDC filings .
| Metric/Plan | Weighting | Target | Actual/Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company officer incentive plan (cash/equity) | N/A | N/A | Not applicable at OBDC (officers compensated by Adviser) | N/A . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | As of Mar 25, 2024 | As of Mar 28, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership (OBDC common shares) | None reported | None reported |
| Ownership as % of outstanding | — | — |
| Vested vs. unvested shares | Not applicable (no OBDC equity disclosed) | |
| Options (exercisable/unexercisable) | None disclosed | None disclosed |
| Shares pledged as collateral | Prohibited by policy for directors/officers and Adviser/administrator personnel with respect to OBDC securities |
Additional alignment policies:
- Hedging/short sales prohibited for directors and officers of the Company and any director, officer or employee of the Company’s investment adviser or administrator with respect to OBDC securities .
Section 16 compliance:
- OBDC reports all directors and executive officers (including Ms. Withem) had timely Section 16 filings in 2023 and 2024, with no reported delinquencies .
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| OBDC/officer appointment | Appointed Co‑Treasurer and Co‑Controller effective Sep 1, 2021; later Co‑Chief Accounting Officer across Blue Owl BDCs . |
| Employer of record | Adviser (Blue Owl Credit Advisors LLC) or affiliates; OBDC has no employees . |
| Contract term/expiration, non-compete, severance, change-of-control | Not disclosed by OBDC; such terms, if any, would be with the Adviser and are not included in OBDC filings . |
| Clawbacks/tax gross-ups | Not disclosed by OBDC (no company-paid executive compensation) . |
| Hedging/pledging | Prohibited for Company’s directors/officers and Adviser/administrator personnel with respect to OBDC securities . |
Company Performance Context During Tenure
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Dividends per share | $1.59 | $1.72 |
Additional context:
- 2023 total shareholder return >40% (price appreciation plus dividends) .
- 2024 return on equity over 12% .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Pledging/hedging: Prohibited—reduces alignment risk related to hedging or margin pledging .
- Related-party/Adviser conflicts: Standard for externally managed BDCs; allocation and co-invest policies in place under SEC exemptive order .
- Insider trading filings: No reported Section 16 filing delinquencies in 2023–2024 .
- Equity alignment: No OBDC share ownership reported for Ms. Withem as of the 2024 and 2025 record dates, indicating limited direct OBDC equity alignment .
Compensation Committee & Governance Notes
- OBDC has a Compensation Committee, but because executive officers are compensated by the Adviser, OBDC does not produce a typical CD&A and does not pay executive compensation .
- Independent director fee schedule and governance structure are disclosed; not applicable to Ms. Withem as she is not a director .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance link at OBDC is indirect: Ms. Withem’s compensation and retention incentives reside with the Adviser, not OBDC, limiting direct alignment with OBDC-specific metrics like NII/NAV or TSR; however, Adviser fees (and thus overall platform economics) tie to OBDC assets and performance, creating platform-level alignment rather than individual officer equity alignment at OBDC .
- Insider selling pressure appears minimal: no OBDC share ownership reported for Ms. Withem across two consecutive proxies (2024, 2025), and hedging/pledging prohibitions further reduce transactional pressure signals .
- Retention risk is centered at the Adviser: Employment terms and incentives are set by Blue Owl; OBDC provides no visibility into her compensation agreements, severance, or change-of-control economics—an information gap typical of externally managed BDCs .
- Execution track record in finance/controls roles across multiple BDCs (TSLX, MCGC, Blue Owl platform) supports operational reliability in core reporting, treasury, and controls—key for sustaining dividend capacity and valuation confidence in BDCs .