A corporate battle comes to a quiet end.
As protesters cursed outside, a corporate battle came to a quiet end
Rob McNally’s day, during which he would lose his job as CEO of the nation’s largest oil and gas company, started with a middle- of- the- night protest near the driveway of his Marshall home. Masked pipeline opponents crashed cymbals, beat drums and unfurled a banner that read “people over pipelines.”
As he prepared to surrender control over a company he fought hard to lead, half a dozen police officers were dispatched to the disturbance outside of his house.
A few hours later the same group, Appalachians Against Pipelines -- whose members have previously chained themselves to oil and gas company equipment to disrupt construction -- stood in front of EQT Plaza Downtown. They chanted poems that cannot be reprinted here.
walked past them on his way into the building. He wore a gray suit, a tie patterned with tiny drilling rigs, and brown cowboy boots.
The protesters did not appear to recognize that Mr. Rice was now effectively in charge of the company they sought to disrupt.
But the shareholders waiting for him inside a second- floor meeting room had all heard the news. Still, there was an air of anticipation.
cially at EQT, tend to be uneventful, sparsely attended quickies. Last year, only one shareholder showed up — Ohio dairy farmer Larry Cain, who had formed a close relationship with the Rice brothers and wanted to check out how things were run at EQT after the company bought Rice Energy Inc. in 2017. He was not impressed.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cain took a seat toward the back of the room wearing an irrepressible smile. Several other shareholders, including former Rice and EQT executives, came to witness the show — a wresting of the torch by dissident shareholders.
Just after 8 a. m., Mr. McNally came into the room, slid his glasses halfway up his nose, and began to read the rules of the meeting. The results were already known — EQT and the Rice team had drafted a joint press release announcing them the night before — but the corporate rules dictated that he go through the motions.
Did anyone wish to vote in person, he asked. Jim Crockard raised his hand.
Mr. Crockard is a former EQT executive- turned- oil- and- gas- companyCEO who sold his first solo venture to Rice Energy in 2017, then formed another company and leased a bunch of acreage in EQT’s current territory. He is now suing EQT over lease disputes on that land. The Rice team will now inherit that lawsuit.
The room looked on as Mr. Crockard cast the last ballot in the proxy fight.
He voted for the Rice slate, because, “When in Rome …” he reasoned.
Mr. McNally adjourned the meeting shortly afterward and took out a prepared statement giving polite gratitude to his employees.
He had come to Pittsburgh in 2016 to be EQT’s CFO with the expectation that he would be considered for the top post when it became available next. Leading an energy company has been his goal since the beginning of his career, Mr. McNally has said. He took the reins of EQT in November and spent his entire brief tenure fighting off the Rice challenge.
“This contest has never been personal,” Mr. McNally read from his statement, his voice cracking at times. “... and I wish the Rice Team, the new board, our employees and our shareholders continued success in the years to come.”
He walked out of the meeting room, about $ 3 million in severance payments waiting for him. The executive team he had assembled over the past nine months followed, unsure about their own futures.
Mr. Rice stayed behind in the meeting room absorbing the win. He shook hands and accepted congratulations from those who remained. He took a few questions from reporters, thanked shareholders for their “overwhelming” support, and vowed to meet every one of EQT’s 850 or so employees.
The protesters outside had dispersed and so had the newly elected EQT directors.
“I think I have a board meeting I’ve got to go to,” Mr. Rice said.