General Mills management check
GIS · Consumer Staples · Packaged Foods & Meats · CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening
Filings as of
3 good · 2 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2022 grew to $65, against $88 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.64 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
Paid in a loss-making year$14.0m of reported pay in fiscal 2026, a year the company lost $85.0m.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are selling3 insiders sold $1.2m in the last six months and none bought.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -3.7% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.4% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
11 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Jeffrey L. Harmening. 11 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 Consumer Staples.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 17 | 31 | |
| Pay for performance | 82 | 84 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 40 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 65 |
| Dilution | 96 | 60 | |
| Stable leadership | 70 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Packaged Foods & Meats, by management score. General Mills is 21st of 33 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed August 13, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Jeffrey L. Harmening | $14.0m | $764k | $4.1m | $65 | $88 | −$85.0m |
| 2025 | Jeffrey L. Harmening | $12.5m | −$751k | $4.0m | $97 | $95 | $2.3bn |
| 2024 | Jeffrey L. Harmening | $16.1m | −$2.7m | $3.8m | $119 | $104 | $2.5bn |
| 2023 | Jeffrey L. Harmening | $16.4m | $33.1m | $4.6m | $142 | $116 | $2.6bn |
| 2022 | Jeffrey L. Harmening | $12.3m | $27.7m | $3.6m | $115 | $105 | $2.7bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Organic Net Sales Growth. Its other key measures: Adjusted Operating Profit, Cumulative Operating Cash Flow, Relative Total Shareholder Return.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Jeffrey L Harmening (Chairman of the Board & CEO) held 454,169.32 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jul 6, 2026.
3 insiders sold $1.2m in the last six months and none bought.
- SoldJacqueline Williams-RollChief Human Resources Officer$682kMay 13, 2026
- SoldRicardo FernandezSegment President$276kMay 12, 2026
- SoldPankaj Mn SharmaSegment President$197kOct 1, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Sep 30, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 6, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 4, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 27, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 19, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 5, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 4, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 13, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 7, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 30, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 6, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 5, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Oct 2, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $12.5bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 124% of net income, and $476.8m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $19.0bn | $20.1bn | $19.9bn | $19.5bn | $18.4bn |
| Net income | $2.7bn | $2.6bn | $2.5bn | $2.3bn | −$85.0m |
| Stock-based pay | $98.7m | $111.7m | $95.3m | $91.7m | $79.4m |
| Buybacks | $876.8m | $1.4bn | $2.0bn | $1.2bn | $500.3m |
| Dividends | $1.2bn | $1.3bn | $1.4bn | $1.3bn | $1.3bn |
| Diluted shares | 613m | 601m | 580m | 558m | 538m |
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.