Energy Transfer (ET): Kelcy Warren bought $55 million of units in 12 months, and no insider sold

Energy Transfer is one of the largest U.S. pipeline companies, organized as a limited partnership: investors hold units, not shares, and receive distributions rather than dividends. In the twelve months to October 6, 2026, its insiders filed 15 Form 4s with 25 transaction lines. Five of them were open-market purchases, and none was an open-market sale.

Kelcy Warren’s two rounds

Kelcy Warren is executive chairman of the board of Energy Transfer’s general partner and was its chief executive from 2007 to 2020, according to the 10-K filed on February 19, 2026; on the Form 4 he appears only as a director. He bought 3.0 million units for $55.0 million, at an average of $18.34, in two rounds.

The money came from entities he owns: the November units were bought by Kelcy Warren Partners III, LLC and the August units by Kelcy Warren Partners, LP, which the filings describe as “a limited liability company owned by Mr. Warren” and “a limited partnership owned by Mr. Warren.” The August Form 4 lists 308.4 million units in accounts tied to him, about $6.4 billion at $20.74 — a figure that includes his estimated share of two holding entities, ET Company Ltd. and LE GP, LLC. The filings do not say why he bought.

One more Form 4 line for Warren, on May 8, 2026, shows $22 million of units, but it is not a purchase. It carries code A, and the footnote says “a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP acquired a business entity owned by Kelcy L. Warren in exchange for $22,000,000 of ET common units.” He received units as payment for a business, so it is not counted above.

Rick Perry and everyone else

Director James R. (Rick) Perry — governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 and U.S. secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019, according to the 10-K — bought $250,000 of units on August 7, 2026, at $20.23. The other 20 lines are 10 grants of units to executives and directors, 6 withholdings of units by the company to cover taxes on vesting ($14.5 million), 3 gifts of 10 units each, and Warren’s May line.

Two small notices of proposed sales (Form 144) were filed in the period — 3,116 units ($60,000) by Oscar Alvarez in June 2026 and 1,334 units ($25,000) by Rick Perry in March — but no Form 4 reporting either sale appears at the SEC, so they are notices, not confirmed sales.

The units over 12 months

The units went from $16.66 to $20.74 in the twelve months to October 6, 2026, a gain of 24.5%. The low was $16.21 on December 18, 2025, almost a month after Warren’s November purchase at $16.88; the high was $21.73 on September 10, 2026, and the units closed 4.6% below it. The last four distributions added up to $1.346 per unit ($0.333, $0.335, $0.338 and $0.340), or 6.5% of the October 6 price.

A new state and a new exchange

• On July 6, 2026, Energy Transfer changed its state of formation from Delaware to Texas (8-K12B).
• It moved its listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), keeping the ET ticker. Its 8-K of September 10, 2026 put the last NYSE trading day on October 2 and the first TXSE day on October 5.
• Co-chief executive Mackie McCrea will retire by December 31, 2026, leaving Tom Long as sole chief executive (8-K of June 3, 2026).

These are company events from the period, and nothing in the filings links them to the insider purchases. Daily prices, distributions and every insider filing are on the Energy Transfer page; the largest purchases across the market are on the insider activity page. Not investment advice.