Michael A. Creel
Director at WMB
Board
About Michael A. Creel
Independent director at The Williams Companies since 2016; age 71; mandatory retirement year 2029. Education: BS in Accounting (McNeese State University) and Certified Public Accountant. Former CEO and director of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (2007–2015), with 45 years of energy experience including 20 years on large public company boards and 8 years as CEO of a publicly traded energy infrastructure company .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Products Partners L.P. | Chief Executive Officer; Director | 2007–2015 | Led large energy infrastructure company; capital allocation and operations oversight |
| EPCO, Inc. | Group Vice Chairman | Not disclosed | Executive leadership; strategic oversight |
| Duncan Energy Partners, L.P. | EVP & Chief Financial Officer | Not disclosed | Finance, accounting, NGLs transport/fractionation |
| Enterprise GP Holdings L.P. (GP) | President & Chief Executive Officer | Not disclosed | Governance of GP, strategy |
| Shell affiliates (Tejas Energy; NorAm Energy Corp.) | Executive management positions | Not disclosed | Operations, commercial roles |
External Roles
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Current public company boards | None |
| Prior public company boards (last 5 years) | None |
Board Governance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Independence | Board affirmed in Jan 2025 that Creel is independent under NYSE rules |
| Committees | Audit Committee member; Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Committee Chair |
| Audit Committee “financial expert” | Designated by the Board; one of four audit committee financial experts (Creel, Ragauss, Robeson, Tyson) |
| Attendance & engagement | Board met 5 times in 2024; each director attended at least 75% of Board and applicable committee meetings; all directors attended the 2024 annual meeting |
| Board leadership | Independent non-executive Chair (Stephen W. Bergstrom); CEO and Chair roles separated |
| Executive sessions | Regular executive sessions without management |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cash retainer | $120,000 | Paid quarterly; for non-employee directors |
| Committee chair fee (EHS) | $20,000 | Paid quarterly; Creel chairs EHS |
| FY2024 cash paid (Creel) | $138,750 | Includes $118,750 base + $20,000 EHS Chair |
| All other compensation (charitable matching) | $5,000 | Matching grants/United Way programs |
| Total FY2024 director compensation (cash + equity) | $328,760 | See Performance Compensation section for equity detail |
| Program changes | Annual retainer increased to $305,000 (cash $120,000; equity $185,000) for 2024–2025; up from $290,000 in 2022 |
Performance Compensation
| Component | Grant Value | Vesting/Deferral | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer (RSUs) | $185,000 | Granted at annual meeting; deferred until director retires; dividend equivalents reinvested until distribution | Non-employee directors receive time-based RSUs; no options; no performance-conditioned awards for directors |
| FY2024 equity value recognized (Creel) | $185,010 (grant date fair value under ASC 718) | Deferred until retirement | Equity awards accounted for at grant; distributed post-retirement |
| Meeting fees | None disclosed | Program is retainer-based with committee chair fees |
Performance metrics: Williams uses ROCE, AFFO/share, and Relative TSR modifiers for executive PSUs. Non-employee directors do not receive performance-based equity; their RSUs are time-based and deferred until retirement .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Topic | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Overboarding | Policy limits directors to ≤4 public boards and ≤3 audit committees without Board approval; Creel has no current outside public boards |
| Compensation committee interlocks | Company discloses no interlocks requiring SEC disclosure for compensation committee; Creel is not on this committee |
| Related-party transactions | None required review/approval in 2024; independence review did not cite Creel in ordinary-course counterparties list |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Skills: Capital markets, capital allocation, commodities trading; finance & accounting; corporate governance; energy industry; information technology & cybersecurity; environmental; M&A; executive leadership; strategy/risk management .
- Education & credential: BS Accounting (McNeese State University); CPA .
- Designations: Audit committee financial expert .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Direct/Indirect Shares | RSUs (vest within 60 days) | Total Beneficial | % of Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael A. Creel | 67,225 [includes 52,500 held in B and B Living Trust] | 63,653 | 130,878 | <1% |
Additional context:
- Outstanding director stock awards at 12/31/2024: Creel 63,653 RSUs .
- Ownership alignment: Directors must hold equity equal to 5x annual cash retainer; must retain 60% of distributed vested equity until guidelines met; director equity grants are mandatorily deferred until retirement .
- Hedging/pledging ban: Directors prohibited from hedging, short sales, and pledging company stock .
Insider Trades (Form 4)
| Transaction Date | Filing Date | Type | Shares | Price | Post-Transaction Ownership | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-04-29 | 2025-05-01 | Award (A) – RSU/common | 3,100 | $59.67 | 79,785 | |
| 2024-04-30 | 2024-05-02 | Award (A) – RSU/common | 4,823 | $0.00 | 58,416 |
Notes:
- RSU/director equity transactions are consistent with annual director grants; total of 7 Creel-related Form 4 records were retrieved for 2020–2025 (additional entries not shown) .
Governance Assessment
- Board effectiveness: Creel chairs the EHS Committee, overseeing process safety, asset integrity, operational risk, methane and safety metrics tied to enterprise AIP, and remediation reviews—reinforcing operational risk governance and safety culture .
- Financial oversight: Audit Committee membership and “financial expert” designation strengthen reporting integrity, internal controls, cybersecurity oversight, and auditor independence—positive for investor confidence .
- Independence & conflicts: Independence affirmed; no related-party transactions required review in 2024; independence review’s listed ordinary-course counterparty matters did not cite Creel—low conflict risk .
- Attendance & engagement: Board met 5 times in 2024; each director attended ≥75% of meetings; all attended annual meeting—acceptable engagement .
- Ownership alignment & incentives: Director equity is time-based RSUs deferred until retirement; directors must hold 5x cash retainer and retain 60% of distributed equity until guidelines met; hedging/pledging prohibited—strong alignment practices .
- Compensation mix: FY2024 Creel compensation shows balanced cash ($138,750) and equity ($185,010) with modest other comp ($5,000). Program increased total annual retainer to market ($305k), with clear chair role fees—transparent, standard midstream governance practice .
- RED FLAGS: None indicated. No outside public boards (reduces interlocks); no pledging allowed; no related-party transactions; compensation lacks discretionary awards or options repricing—clean profile .