Chesapeake chief's pay chopped

Chesapeake Energy Corp. cut Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Aubrey McClendon's compensation 15 percent last year to $17.9 million in response to shareholder concerns that he was paid too much. McClendon told the company's board of directors in September he will participate again this year in a well-ownership program that he reported lost him more than $600 million in the past three years, according to a public filing Friday. The co-founder of the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer after Exxon Mobil Corp. is facing investor criticism for taking out personal loans to help pay drilling costs associated with his ownership stake in Chesapeake wells, using the stakes as collateral. Chesapeake said last week that there is nothing improper in the loans. During the first quarter, McClendon reported $88.1 million in net losses in the wells program after accounting for capital expenses, according to the filing. Full-year losses amounted to $315.3 million, $141.9 million and $116.1 million, respectively, for 2011, 2010 and 2009. McClendon bought stakes in company wells in all but five quarters since Chesapeake became a publicly traded entity in 1993. The company doesn't loan money to McClendon and is under no obligation to repay any personal loans he obtains.