Williams Stock Falls On Back Of Chairman's Resignation

Williams Companies President and CEO Alan Armstrong commented, "Frank's contributions to Williams over the years have been instrumental to our growth and he has personally been a trusted counselor to me."

He added, "Frank has indicated that, due to personal reasons, he does not believe that he can dedicate the time and attention he believes necessary to fulfill the role of Chairman as Williams pursues a standalone strategy. On behalf of the entire Williams team, we send him our deepest gratitude for his many years of service."

Related Link: Goldman Sachs Weighs In On Williams, Energy Transfer Merger

The company said it recognized the interests of the stockholders and the company to focus on the future. Therefore, its board of directors evaluated its leadership structure and determined that Alan Armstrong is the right person to be the CEO for Williams as it works to continue enhancing stockholder value.

Other Changes

As a result, a few other directors like Ralph Izzo, Eric Mandelblatt, Keith Meister, Steven Nance and Laura Sugg decided to resign from the board effective immediately. The company disclosed that it would assess the appropriate size, as well as, the composition of the board in line with its standard nominating and governance procedures.

Its board also issued statement reposing confidence in Alan, who has been with the company since 2011. The company believes it became a best-in-class to meet the rapidly growing demand for natural gas and experience significant fee-based growth.

Going forward, Williams expects continued growth from its portfolio of big scale demand driven projects and a fully contracted natural gas transmission business coming on in the remainder of the current year, 2017 and 2018.

The company indicated that more details on its tactical plan would be disclosed in the upcoming weeks.

Following this, the stock dropped 5.8 percent on Friday.