Chesapeake CEO McClendon Agrees to Changes as Shareholder Suits Mount

OKLAHOMA CITY - Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon has agreed to relinquish his title as board chairman and end a private well participation agreement early after news reports spawn shareholder suits and questions about whether full disclosure was made to investors.

Chesapeake announced May 1 that company founder McClendon had agreed to relinquish the chairmanship upon appointment of an "independent, Non-Executive Chairman" in the near future, and that he also agreed with the board's decision to end his contractual right to purchase a 2.5 percent personal interest in new wells developed by Chesapeake every year.

In 2005, …