LyondellBasell management check
LYB · Materials · Specialty Chemicals · CEO Bhavesh Patel
Filings as of
2 good · 1 to watch · 3 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $66, against $122 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 0.73 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$15.6m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, a year the company lost $738.0m.
- n/a
Do they own the stock?
No recent CEO filingLight activity: no buys, $742k sold in six months.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Stock pay 0.3% of revenueStock-based pay was 0.3% of revenue in the latest year.
- Flag
Is leadership stable?
3 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Bhavesh Patel, Kenneth Lane, Peter Vanacker. 5 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 Materials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 0 | 40 | |
| Pay for performance | 87 | 77 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 40 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 38 |
| Dilution | 98 | 71 | |
| Stable leadership | 20 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Specialty Chemicals, by management score. LyondellBasell is 19th of 24 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 10, 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 | Bhavesh Patel, Kenneth Lane, Peter Vanacker | $15.6m | $1.2m | $4.2m | $66 | $122 | −$738.0m |
| 2024 | Bhavesh Patel, Kenneth Lane, Peter Vanacker | $17.0m | $6.5m | $4.9m | $104 | $124 | $1.4bn |
| 2023 | Bhavesh Patel, Kenneth Lane, Peter Vanacker | $16.5m | $21.2m | $5.2m | $126 | $124 | $2.1bn |
| 2022 | Bhavesh Patel, Kenneth Lane, Peter Vanacker | $17.0m | $14.9m | $5.8m | $104 | $112 | $3.9bn |
| 2021 | Bhavesh Patel, Kenneth Lane, Peter Vanacker | $19.0m | $1.5m | $4.6m | $105 | $126 | $5.6bn |
The board says pay is tied most to EBITDA. Its other key measures: Free Cash Flow per Share, Safety, Sustainability, Value Creation.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Light activity: no buys, $742k sold in six months.
- SoldJeffrey A KaplanEVP, Chief PC, Leg & Corp Ofc$742kMay 13, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- May 22, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 17, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 22, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 20, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 17, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 27, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 31, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 25, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 13, 2021Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 22, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $11.3bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 92% of net income, and $409.0m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $46.2bn | $50.5bn | $33.3bn | $33.4bn | $30.2bn |
| Net income | $5.6bn | $3.9bn | $2.1bn | $1.4bn | −$738.0m |
| Stock-based pay | $66.0m | $70.0m | $91.0m | $91.0m | $91.0m |
| Buybacks | $463.0m | $420.0m | $211.0m | $195.0m | $201.0m |
| Dividends | $1.5bn | $3.2bn | $1.6bn | $1.7bn | $1.8bn |
| Diluted shares | — | — | — | — | — |
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.