{"id":6384,"date":"2012-05-08T10:28:15","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T15:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=6384"},"modified":"2012-05-08T10:48:49","modified_gmt":"2012-05-08T15:48:49","slug":"reuters-chesapeake-board-gave-aubrey-mcclendon-permission-to-trade-for-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2012\/05\/08\/reuters-chesapeake-board-gave-aubrey-mcclendon-permission-to-trade-for-himself\/","title":{"rendered":"Reuters: Chesapeake Board Gave McClendon Permission to Trade, Banned Him From Running Hedge Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Scott Detrow \/ StateImpact Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>

Aubrey McClendon\u2019s latest employment contract gave the CEO permission to do what he was already doing: trading commodities for himself, Joshua Schneyer and Jeanine Prezioso with Reuters report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Giving the CEO explicit license to play the markets represented an extraordinary incentive that enhanced one of corporate America’s most generous compensation plans and reinforced the unique treatment afforded to McClendon by Chesapeake.<\/p><\/blockquote>

The 2009 contract banned the CEO from taking an active role in a hedge fund, Reuters reports, but the agreement came months after McClendon\u2019s personal hedge fund shut down.<\/p>

<\/p>\n

The contract raises new questions about what Chesapeake board members knew of McClendon’s personal investments, and whether his dealings might be at odds with his fiduciary responsibilities as head of the second-largest natural gas producer in the United States.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Such trading isn\u2019t usually allowed at energy companies because of potential conflicts of interest.<\/p>

The 2009 contact extends five years and is the first to specifically mention hedge funds or commodity market investment, according to Reuters. McClendon and two board members wouldn\u2019t comment to the news service, and it\u2019s unclear why the company changed the CEO\u2019s contract.<\/p>\n

The revisions could indicate they were aware of McClendon’s personal hedge fund and worried that such a side business might run afoul of shareholders, according to legal experts who reviewed McClendon’s current and prior contracts.<\/p><\/blockquote>

From 2004-2008, McClendon and Chesapeake co-founder Tom Ward \u2014 now CEO of SandRidge Energy \u2014 ran the $200 million Heritage Management Company LLC hedge fund from within the natural gas giant\u2019s Oklahoma City headquarters, Retuers reported <\/a>last week.<\/p>\n

Chesapeake’s board hasn’t said whether it knew about Heritage or whether it vetted the hedge fund’s trading for any conflicts. Ward said he couldn’t recall whether the fund was disclosed. Even though the company still allows McClendon to trade in commodities, the 2009 agreement does signal that it was tightening its grip to some degree.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aubrey McClendon\u2019s latest employment contract gave the CEO permission to do what he was already doing: trading commodities for himself, Joshua Schneyer and Jeanine Prezioso with Reuters report. Giving the CEO explicit license to play the markets represented an extraordinary incentive that enhanced one of corporate America’s most generous compensation plans and reinforced the unique […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[301],"tags":[360,275,276,365],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6384"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}