FirstEnergy management check
FE · Utilities · Electric Utilities · CEO Brian X. Tierney
Filings as of
2 good · 4 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $180, against $144 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of -0.17 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Watch
What does the CEO cost owners?
1.1% of net income$13.4m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $1.3bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 1.8 years of payThe CEO holds 523,810.372 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 1.8 years of pay. No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.3% a year over the last three fiscal years.
- Flag
Is leadership stable?
3 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Steven E. Strah, John W. Somerhalder II, Brian X. Tierney. 7 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Utilities.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 81 | 53 | |
| Pay for performance | 42 | 81 | |
| CEO cost | 48 | 50 | |
| Skin in the game | 48 | 45 | |
| Dilution | 46 | 37 | |
| Stable leadership | 10 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Electric Utilities, by management score. FirstEnergy is 25th of 30 in its sector.
- 30CEGConstellation Energy84
- 62VSTVistra Corp.79
- 143EIXEdison International72
- 145PPLPPL Corporation72
- 252EVRGEvergy64
- 254PEGPublic Service Enterprise Group64
- 270ETREntergy63
- 285LNTAlliant Energy62
- 338EXCExelon59
- 354ESEversource Energy58
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 1, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Brian X. Tierney | $13.4m | $17.9m | $3.4m | $180 | $144 | $1.3bn |
| 2024 | Brian X. Tierney | $11.9m | $10.7m | $2.9m | $153 | $129 | $1.1bn |
| 2023 | Brian X. Tierney, John W. Somerhalder II | $26.5m | $30.9m | $4.5m | $135 | $108 | $1.2bn |
| 2022 | John W. Somerhalder II, Steven E. Strah | $9.3m | $4.5m | $3.2m | $148 | $118 | $439.0m |
| 2021 | Steven E. Strah | $10.7m | $11.4m | $4.4m | $142 | $117 | $1.3bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Core Earnings. Its other key measures: 3-Year Cumulative Core EPS, Total Shareholder Return.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Brian X Tierney (Chairman, President and CEO) held 523,810.372 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jun 1, 2026, roughly $24.0m at that filing's price.
No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
Leadership and governance on file
- Feb 12, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 29, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 20, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 25, 2024Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Feb 16, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 11, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 21, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 24, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 27, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 19, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 15, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 17, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 20, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $4.6bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 97% of net income, and $0 of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $11.1bn | $12.5bn | $12.9bn | $13.5bn | $15.1bn |
| Net income | $1.3bn | $406.0m | $1.1bn | $978.0m | $1.0bn |
| Stock-based pay | — | — | — | — | — |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | $849.0m | $891.0m | $906.0m | $970.0m | $1.0bn |
| Diluted shares | 546m | 572m | 574m | 577m | 578m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.