Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Chesapeake Energy Shares UP 9.4% on News McClendon is Leaving (CHK)

We collect these CEO departs/stock jumps stories.*
From the Wall Street Journal:

Chesapeake CEO McClendon to Exit 
Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK +0.21% said founder and Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon will leave the company on April 1, ending a 24 year run as the oil and natural gas driller's top executive.

Mr. McClendon, whose personal financial dealings with Chesapeake have come under scrutiny, will step down even though Chesapeake said its review of alleged conflicts of interest involving Mr. McClendon so far had found no improper conduct.

Shares jumped 10% to $20.60 in after-hours trading.

Chesapeake Chairman Archie Dunham said in a statement the company needs a new leader to help develop the oil and gas assets the company has amassed under Mr. McClendon.

The 53-year-old has been the company's CEO since its inception in 1989 and was chairman until 2012. He will resign from the board when his successor is appointed and will receive his full compensation and other benefits to which he is entitled under the terms of his employment agreement, Chesapeake said.

"While I have certain philosophical differences with the new board, I look forward to working collaboratively with the company and the board," Mr. McClendon said in a statement....MORE
Last I saw the stock was up $1.79 at $20.76.

*Back in 2009 I wrote:
Occidental buys Citi firm Phibro for $250 million (OXY)
This has got to be a plus for OXY.
As more details come out I'll probably be writing about the Al Gore/Occidental connection, Armand Hammer and the Russians, the market's reaction to Mr. Hammer's death, anecdotes from Phibro etc.... 
It took me almost three years to get around to one part of that promise:

Symantec CEO Departs. Stock Gets Two Upgrades. Shares Jump 13% (SYMC)
Ouch.
From Barron's Tech Trader Daily blog:
Shares of Symantec (SYMC) are up $1.76, or 13.4%, at $14.94 after the company this morning said its CEO, Enrique Salem, stepped down after the board of directors decided it was best to have an executive change given that the company is “underperforming against its opportunity,” in the words of incoming CEO Steve Bennett, who is the company’s chairman and formerly CEO of Intuit (INTU)....MORE 
One of the few CEO-related stock moves that was nastier was Gulf+Western (now Paramount Communications).
The day CEO Charles Bluhdorn died in 1983 the stock closed at $9.
 One week later: $12.375.

Occidental Petroleum used to trade up every time CEO Armand Hammer got sick.
As the New York Times reported the day after of Hammer's 1990 death:
...Reflecting a belief that any changes would benefit the company's flagging stock price, shares of both Occidental and IBP rose in heavy trading after the news of Dr. Hammer's death. [ Obituary, page D20. ]
Occidental's shares rose $1.875 on the New York Stock Exchange today, to $22.625. The issue was the most active of the day, with 8.1 million shares changing hands...
That was $500,000,000 in market cap back when a half-billion was real money.
Still, it's not 13%.