Settlement Approved in Chesapeake Energy Shareholder Derivative Case

On January 30, 2012, Oklahoma County District Judge Dan Owens approved the proposed settlement in the Chesapeake Energy (CHK) shareholder derivative case, In re Chesapeake Shareholder Derivative Litigation, Case No. CJ-2009-3983 (D.C. Oklahoma County).

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey K. McClendon will pay Chesapeake Energy ("the Company") $12.1 million plus interest. The settlement represents the value of an antique map collection McClendon sold to the Company in December 2008. In addition, the Company has agreed to adopt and implement a variety of corporate governance measures.

Pomerantz commenced the lawsuit on behalf of the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System ("MPERS") to recoup an extraordinary $75 million bonus awarded McClendon when the company's earnings plummeted 50% and stock price tumbled 60%.

The Wall Street Journal described this settlement as "a rare concession for the 52-year-old executive, who has run the company largely by his own rules since he co-founded it in 1989." (The Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2011).