internal
Thomas S. Gayner
Chief Executive Officer
Executive
3 yr
5 reports
Leadership change Simon Wilson was promoted to CEO, Markel Insurance (from Insurance executive) · DEF 14A, 2026-04-02
Markel Group Inc. ·MKL
No COO: insurance, ventures CEOs report directly to Gayner
Financials · Fortune #251 · Holding structure · 22K employees · Glen Allen, Virginia
View as of:
5
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 8)
1.25
Avg span
tight
2
Max depth
2 levels
2.2 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
80%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2022 · period end 2022-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$5.2B
Operating income
$3.2B
Net income
$2.1B
Total assets
$68.9B
Shares out
13M
Sourced from Markel Group Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2026-04-02 ↗ View on SEC
Interactive org chart
Markel Group Inc. organizational chart
Explore the executive structure, reporting layers, and scenario-ready operating model from public filings.
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No COO: insurance and ventures CEOs report directly to the group CEO. This page maps Markel Group’s holding-company structure, highlighting direct CEO span, executive tenure, recent leadership changes, and how Markel compares structurally with other large P&C insurers.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Latest signal Michael R. Heaton departed as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Departed effective Feb 21, 2026; separation date March 23, 2026.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add a Group COO Introduce a COO to coordinate insurance and ventures operations, adding a centralized operating layer.
- Create Group President Layer Insert a Group President between the CEO and operating CEOs to reduce CEO span.
Atlas work this supports
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The people
Who's running this
6 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Simon Wilson
Executive Vice President & CEO, Markel Insurance
Insurance
1 yr
0 reports
internal
Andrew G. Crowley
Executive Vice President & President, Markel Ventures
Ventures
0 yr
0 reports
Brian J. Costanzo
Chief Financial Officer
Finance
3 yr
0 reports
internal
Richard R. Grinnan
Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary
Legal
4 yr
0 reports
internal
Steven A. Markel
Chairman of the Board
Board
6 yr
0 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Thomas S. Gayner $14.1M
- Base salary
- $1.10M
- Bonus
- $9.23M
- Stock awards
- $3.74M
- Other
- $58K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
The skin in the game
Beneficial ownership
Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.
Stock ownership requirements
5×CEO base salary
1×NEO base salary
Stock ownership guidelines expressed as multiples of base salary.
The businesses
How Markel Group Inc. divides the work
3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Markel Insurance
12K employees
EVP & CEO, Markel Insurance (Simon Wilson)
Core specialty insurance operations underwriting hard-to-place risks globally.
$9.4B rev $1.4B op inc 14.7% margin +4.1% YoY FY2025
Markel Ventures
6K employees
EVP & President, Markel Ventures (Andrew G. Crowley)
Portfolio of majority-owned industrial, consumer, and service businesses.
Corporate Finance
500 employees
Chief Financial Officer (Brian J. Costanzo)
Capital management, financial reporting, and treasury functions.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Markel Group operates without a Chief Operating Officer, an unusual choice for a multi-segment insurer of its size.
Instead, the CEO directly oversees the leaders of Markel Insurance and Markel Ventures, reinforcing a decentralized, holding-company model. This structure pushes accountability to business CEOs rather than through a centralized operating layer.
The org chart shows Markel Insurance and Markel Ventures as parallel power centers, each led by an EVP reporting directly to Thomas Gayner. Corporate functions—finance and legal—remain lean, reflecting Markel’s philosophy of empowering operating companies while the parent focuses on capital allocation and governance.
- No COO role
- Parallel Insurance and Ventures CEOs
The comparison
How Markel Group Inc. stacks up
Compared with peers like Chubb or Travelers, Markel is structurally flatter at the corporate center. Many peers retain a COO or group president to integrate insurance operations. Markel instead relies on long-tenured executives and cultural norms (“The Markel Style”) to coordinate across businesses. This model aligns …
C-suite size
Reporting depth
Markel Group Inc.
2 levels
Chubb
4 levels
4 levels
3 levels
4 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Has COO / Has CAIO
Markel Group Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Chubb ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most consequential change was the Feb 2026 departure of COO Michael Heaton, leaving Markel without a COO.
- departedMichael R. Heaton Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Departed effective Feb 21, 2026; separation date March 23, 2026.
Source - promotedSimon Wilson EVP & CEO, Markel Insurance
Promoted to CEO of Markel Insurance effective March 17, 2025.
Source - Date not confirmed promotedAndrew G. Crowley EVP & President, Markel Ventures
Appointed EVP and President of Markel Ventures effective Feb 23, 2026.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-04-02
- CEO
- Thomas S. Gayner
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 2 yr
COO role still present for most of FY2025.
Named executive officers (5)
- Thomas S. Gayner - CEO since 2023
- Simon Wilson - EVP & CEO, Markel Insurance since 2025
- Brian J. Costanzo - CFO since 2022
- Richard R. Grinnan - Chief Legal Officer
- Michael R. Heaton - COO
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-04-03
- CEO
- Thomas S. Gayner
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 6
- Avg tenure
- 3.1 yr
Insurance leadership transitioning.
Named executive officers (5)
- Thomas S. Gayner - CEO since 2023
- Michael R. Heaton - COO
- Brian J. Costanzo - CFO since 2022
- Richard R. Grinnan - Chief Legal Officer
- Jeremy A. Noble - President, Insurance
FY2023
10-K filed 2024-02-27
- CEO
- Thomas S. Gayner
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 6
- Avg tenure
- 4 yr
Transition to sole CEO completed in 2023.
Named executive officers (3)
- Thomas S. Gayner - Co-CEO/CEO since 2016
- Michael R. Heaton - COO
- Brian J. Costanzo - CFO since 2022
Year-over-year changes
Insurance leadership was consolidated under Simon Wilson, slightly reducing CEO span.
- CEO span: 6 → 5
- C-suite size: 6 → 5
- Avg tenure: 3.1 → 2 yr
- promoted Simon Wilson - CEO, Markel Insurance (was Insurance executive) (DEF 14A, 2026-04-02)
The COO role was eliminated following Heaton’s departure.
- CEO span: 6 → 5
- C-suite size: 6 → 5
- Avg tenure: 2 → 2.2 yr
- departed Michael R. Heaton - COO (was COO) (Form 8-K, 2026-02-26)
The board
Board of directors
2 directors. 1 of 2 independent (50%). Source: most recent DEF 14A.
Steven A. Markel
Chair Inside
Chairman, Markel Group
Michael O'Reilly
Lead Indep. Independent
Retired insurance executive
The board, organized
Board committees
1 standing committees. Audit and Compensation must be 100% independent under SEC rules; the rest vary.
Audit Committee
100% independent 7 mtgs/yr
- Michael O'Reilly
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Markel Group?
Thomas S. Gayner has served as sole CEO since January 2023.
What type of organizational structure does Markel Group use?
Markel operates as a decentralized holding company with empowered business-unit CEOs.
How many direct reports does Markel Group's CEO have?
The CEO has five direct reports, including the CEOs of Insurance and Ventures.
How has Markel Group's leadership changed recently?
In February 2026, COO Michael Heaton departed, and Andrew Crowley was elevated to EVP of Markel Ventures.
Does Markel Group have a COO?
No. Following Michael Heaton’s departure in February 2026, Markel does not have a COO.
Sources
- Form 8-K, Feb 26, 2026
- DEF 14A, Apr 2026
- SEC EDGAR: Markel Group Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Markel Group Inc. 10-K Annual Report
Reference
Cite this page
If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.
APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Markel Group Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/markel-group/MLA 9th
"Markel Group Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/markel-group/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Markel Group Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/markel-group/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Markel Group Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-04-02. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1096343/000109634326000033/mkl-20260401.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/markel-group/ · last updated 2026-04-01