Hess Corp. agreed to split the chairman and CEO roles yesterday, caving to pressure from billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer.
Yesterday, the Texas oil and gas giant said Chairman and CEO John Hess would relinquish his chairmanship following the company’s annual meeting set for Thursday in Houston.
Hess, the son of the company’s founder and former owner of the New York Jets, Leon Hess, has held both roles since 1995.
The company said that the chairmanship will go to John Krenicki, a former vice chairman of GE, if he is elected to the board next week.
Krenicki is one of six new names the company put forth to serve on the board amid criticisms that some of its current directors have been on the board too long and have too many ties to the Hess family.
Singer’s Elliot Capital Management has been the most vocal detractor and is fighting to have five of its own nominees elected to the board next week.