Chesapeake Directors To Take Pay Cut

Chesapeake Energy is cutting the pay of it board members.

Facing criticism for director compensation packages that were reportedly among the highest in the country, Chesapeake's Board announced Friday that it would be reducing the value of those packages by about 20 percent, effective immediately.

Members of the company's board, which include former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, OSU President Burns Hargis, and former U.S. Senator Don Nickles, were receiving compensation that ranged from $385,000 (Charles Maxwell) to $650,000 (Louis Simpson).

In most cases, cash payments made up about $150,000 of the total, with the rest coming in the form of stock awards and use of the company's fractionally owned jets.

Under the compensation plan, the Board says outside directors will all receive $350,000 in total -- $100,000 in cash and $250,000 in equity. Directors will no longer be allowed access to Chesapeake's fractionally owned aircraft.

In the release announcing the changes in Board compensation, the company also announced that the search for a new Chairman of the Board is "progressing."

Earlier this month, the Board decided to replace current Chairman, Aubrey McClendon, with an independent, non-executive Chairman. McClendon will remain Chesapeake's Chief Executive Officer.

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