internal
Willie Chiang
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
Executive
7 yr
15 reports
Plains GP Holdings, L.P. ·PAGP
Single operating CEO team governs both PAGP and PAA
Energy · Fortune #92 · Holding structure · 4K employees · Houston, Texas
View as of:
5
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 10)
3.5
Avg span
moderate
3
Max depth
3 levels
6 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
100%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$44.3B
Operating income
$1.4B
Net income
$260M
Total assets
$31.3B
Shares out
198M
Sourced from Plains GP Holdings, L.P. DEF 14A · filed 2026-04-10 ↗ View on SEC
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Plains GP Holdings, L.P. organizational chart
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Single operating CEO team governs both PAGP and PAA, with all executives employed by the operating GP. This page details Plains GP Holdings’ lean enterprise structure, executive team, compensation, governance, recent changes, and peer comparison.
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 Harry Pefanis changed role as President
Retired as President effective June 1, 2025; role not replaced, further flattening structure.
Source · See change logScenario views in the chart
- Add Chief AI & Data Officer Introduce a CAIO reporting to the CEO to accelerate analytics, optimization, and automation across operations and commercial teams.
- Reintroduce President Role Add a President role to separate day-to-day operations from strategic oversight by the CEO.
Atlas work this supports
- Connect Workday or UKG Get these analytics for YOUR org — tenure, span of control, headcount, automatically from your HRIS.
- Connect Salesforce Map your target accounts like this. Import contacts, visualize decision chains, plan multi-threading.
- Plan a Reorg Use this as a starting point. Model scenarios, compare structures, present options to your board.
The people
Who's running this
5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.
internal
Chris Chandler
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Operations
6 yr
3 reports
internal
Al Swanson
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Finance
6 yr
3 reports
internal
Jeremy Goebel
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
Commercial
6 yr
3 reports
internal
Richard McGee
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Legal
6 yr
2 reports
The pay
Executive compensation
From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 5 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.
Willie Chiang $12.3M
- Base salary
- $888K
- Stock awards
- $8.44M
- Non-equity incentive
- $2.95M
- Other
- $22K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Al Swanson $3.2M
- Base salary
- $565K
- Stock awards
- $1.44M
- Non-equity incentive
- $1.12M
- Other
- $22K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Richard McGee $3.3M
- Base salary
- $580K
- Stock awards
- $1.50M
- Non-equity incentive
- $1.16M
- Other
- $22K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Chris Chandler $9.1M
- Base salary
- $619K
- Stock awards
- $7.19M
- Non-equity incentive
- $1.23M
- Other
- $22K
- Fiscal year
- FY2025
- Source
- SEC DEF 14A ↗
Jeremy Goebel $11.6M
- Base salary
- $619K
- Stock awards
- $9.75M
- Non-equity incentive
- $1.23M
- Other
- $22K
- 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
6×CEO base salary
3×NEO base salary
5×Director cash retainer
Equity ownership guidelines require executives to hold multiples of base salary in company equity.
The businesses
How Plains GP Holdings, L.P. divides the work
4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.
Finance
300 employees
Executive Vice President & CFO (Al Swanson)
Oversees financial strategy, capital allocation, treasury, and accounting across Plains.
Operations
2K employees
Executive Vice President & COO (Chris Chandler)
Responsible for pipeline, terminal, and logistics operations, including HSE and engineering.
Commercial
800 employees
Executive Vice President & CCO (Jeremy Goebel)
Leads crude oil and NGL marketing, business development, and commercial strategy.
Legal & Governance
200 employees
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary (Richard McGee)
Manages legal, regulatory, governance, and HR oversight functions.
The thesis
Why this org is unusual
Single operating CEO team governs both PAGP and PAA, an uncommon structure among large midstream firms.
All Named Executive Officers are employed by GP LLC and manage the operating partnership, with PAGP functioning as a holding entity. This results in a tightly centralized executive group with five direct reports to the CEO and no separate divisional CEOs.
The org chart shows a classic enterprise functional model: finance, operations, commercial, and legal all report directly to Willie Chiang. There is no separate president role after Harry Pefanis’s 2025 retirement, further flattening the structure. The COO and CCO have unusually broad remits covering operations, HSE, engineering, and all commercial strategy.
Compared with peers, Plains runs with a smaller C-suite and fewer layers, reflecting its governance simplification and focus on efficiency, cost discipline, and centralized capital allocation.
- Shared PAGP/PAA executive team
- No separate president role
- Lean C-suite for Fortune 100 energy firm
The comparison
How Plains GP Holdings, L.P. stacks up
Plains GP Holdings’ structure is leaner than many midstream peers, with fewer executive layers and no segment CEOs. Companies like Enterprise Products and Kinder Morgan operate with deeper divisional hierarchies tied to asset classes, while Plains centralizes authority in functional EVPs. This supports consistent …
C-suite size
Plains GP Holdings, L.P.
5
Enterprise Products Partners
9
Reporting depth
Plains GP Holdings, L.P.
3 levels
Enterprise Products Partners
5 levels
6 levels
6 levels
6 levels
Avg C-suite tenure
Plains GP Holdings, L.P.
6 yr
Enterprise Products Partners
10 yr
8 yr
9 yr
Has COO / Has CAIO
Plains GP Holdings, L.P. ✓ COO — no CAIO
Enterprise Products Partners ✓ COO — no CAIO
Current signals
What changed recently
The most significant change was the 2025 elimination of the President role following Harry Pefanis’s retirement.
- reorgHarry Pefanis President
Retired as President effective June 1, 2025; role not replaced, further flattening structure.
Source - Date not confirmed reorgWillie Chiang CEO
Board extended CEO promotional equity grant by five years on Aug 14, 2025 to support long-term retention.
Source - Date not confirmed newJeremy Goebel Special Retention LTIP
Granted five-year special retention phantom unit award on Aug 14, 2025.
Source
Leadership Timeline
Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.
FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-04-10
- CEO
- Willie Chiang
- CEO span
- 5
- C-suite
- 5
- Avg tenure
- 6 yr
Post-president retirement, the C-suite operated with five long-tenured EVPs.
Named executive officers (5)
- Willie Chiang - CEO since 2018
- Al Swanson - CFO since 2019
- Richard McGee - General Counsel since 2019
- Chris Chandler - COO since 2019
- Jeremy Goebel - CCO since 2019
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-04-11
- CEO
- Willie Chiang
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 6
- Avg tenure
- 6 yr
President role still in place prior to mid-2025 retirement.
Named executive officers (6)
- Willie Chiang - CEO since 2018
- Harry Pefanis - President since 2001
- Al Swanson - CFO since 2019
- Richard McGee - General Counsel since 2019
- Chris Chandler - COO since 2019
- Jeremy Goebel - CCO since 2019
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-04-11
- CEO
- Willie Chiang
- CEO span
- 6
- C-suite
- 6
- Avg tenure
- 5 yr
Stable executive team with long-serving president.
Named executive officers (6)
- Willie Chiang - CEO since 2018
- Harry Pefanis - President since 2001
- Al Swanson - CFO since 2019
- Richard McGee - General Counsel since 2019
- Chris Chandler - COO since 2019
- Jeremy Goebel - CCO since 2019
Year-over-year changes
The 2024 to 2025 period saw the retirement of the President role, reducing CEO span and C-suite size.
- CEO span: 6 → 5
- C-suite size: 6 → 5
- Avg tenure: 6 → 6 yr
- departed Harry Pefanis - President (was President) (DEF 14A Apr 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the CEO of Plains GP Holdings?
Willie Chiang has served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President since October 2018.
What type of organizational structure does Plains GP Holdings use?
Plains uses a holding-company structure with a centralized enterprise executive team shared with its operating partnership, PAA.
How many direct reports does Plains GP Holdings' CEO have?
The CEO has five direct reports: the CFO, COO, Chief Commercial Officer, and General Counsel.
How has Plains GP Holdings' leadership changed recently?
In 2025, President Harry Pefanis retired and the role was not replaced, flattening the executive structure.
Does Plains GP Holdings have a COO?
Yes. Chris Chandler has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since 2019.
Sources
- DEF 14A, Apr 2025
- Form 8-K, Aug 18 2025
- SEC EDGAR: Plains GP Holdings, L.P. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
- SEC EDGAR: Plains GP Holdings, L.P. 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). Plains GP Holdings, L.P. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/plains-gp-holdings/MLA 9th
"Plains GP Holdings, L.P. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/plains-gp-holdings/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "Plains GP Holdings, L.P. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/plains-gp-holdings/.Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Plains GP Holdings, L.P.. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-04-10. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1581990/000110465926041724/tm261431-1_def14a.htmPermanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/plains-gp-holdings/ · last updated 2026-04-01