“Don’t Cry For Me Oklahoma!”

Aubrey McClendon’s compensation package, one of the largest for any corporate executive last year, included a one-time $75 million bonus, a $975,000 base salary, and $32.7 million in stock.

We’ve taken some flack over the years for our criticism of Chesapeake CEO and founder Aubrey McClendon on the way he and his company does business. After reading this article yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, we now feel justified. We agree with the Chesapeake investor who says in the piece that MClendon’s compensation package, in light of the company’s recent struggles, is “shameful.”

* Siteowner is a shareholder of Chesapeake Energy Corp.

By Ben Casselman

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and its directors are under fire from shareholders for paying Chairman and Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon $112 million last year even as the company’s stock price tumbled.

The compensation package, one of the largest for any corporate executive last year, included a one-time $75 million bonus, a $975,000 base salary, and $32.7 million in stock, according to the company’s proxy statement.

Chesapeake, one of the biggest U.S. producers of natural gas, also disclosed several transactions involving Mr. McClendon or companies in which he has an interest, including a deal to buy Mr. McClendon’s collection of maps and artwork for $12.1 million.

“I have never seen a more shameful document than the Chesapeake proxy statement,” investor Jeffrey Bronchick wrote in a letter to Chesapeake’s board. “If I could reduce it to one page, I would frame and hang it on my office wall as a near perfect illustration of the complete collapse of appropriate corporate governance.”

Related:

OKPNS (2/6/09) WSJ: Is Aubrey McClendon Selling Off His Prized Wine?