经济学人51:囚住野猫 切萨皮克能源

　　Business

　　商业

　　Chesapeake energy

　　切萨皮克能源

　　Caging a wildcat

　　囚住野猫

　　Shareholders² curb³ Aubrey McClendon

　　股东限制奥布里·麦克兰登的权力

　　"WILDCAT" was once American slang for risky⁴ business; then it was applied⁵ specifically to drilling for oil or gas in virgin⁶ land. Either way, it fits Aubrey McClendon, the boss of Chesapeake Energy. Since co-founding the firm in 1989, the tall Oklahoman has overseen⁷ the acquisition of vast tracts⁸ of land and found oodles of natural gas under it. As Chesapeake became America's second-largest natural-gas producer, Mr McClendon became the face of fracking, a gas-extraction technique hated by greens.

　　"野猫"本是美国俚语，意指高风险商业活动。后来专指在未开垦的土地上开采石油或天然气。这两种解释都适用于切萨皮克能源公司奥布里?麦克兰登。自从1989年与合伙人一同创立该公司，这个高大的俄克拉荷马州人就一直监管土地收购业务，使公司获得了大量土地并在地下发现了丰富油气资源。随着切克披萨成长为美国第二大天然气生产企业，Mr McClendon也成为"水力压裂"形象代言人，这是一项令环保人士痛恨的天然气提取技术。

　　More recently Mr McClendon has enraged⁹ shareholder¹ activists¹⁰. On May 1st they clipped his wings. While remaining chief executive, Mr McClendon will give up the chair of Chesapeake to someone independent. Shareholders hope this will stiffen¹¹ the spine¹² of a boss-friendly board. Mr McClendon will also negotiate the scrapping¹³, by 2014, of a programme by which he was allowed to buy a 2.5% stake in every new well drilled by his company.

　　最近，Mr McClendon触怒了股东中的激进分子。 这些人于5月1日剥夺了Mr McClendon对公司的控制权。尽管保住了首席执行官的位子，Mr McClendon还是要将董事长职位让位于某个独立的第三方。股东们希望此举能够让原本对总裁过于友好的董事会可以挺起脊梁 。同时，Mr McClendon将商议于2014年废除一向（激励）项目，在该项目中Mr McClendon有权在公司开采的所有新油井中占有2.5%的股份。

　　Mr McClendon has long argued that this unusual arrangement was in the best interests of shareholders. "You could say I'm the only CEO in America who truly participates alongside his company in the day-to-day business activity on the same basis as the company," he told Forbes last year. Presumably he believes that his incentives¹⁴ will now become less well-aligned. Many shareholders disagree.

　　一直以来，Mr McClendon坚持认为这项不寻常的安排是为了实现股东的最大利益。去年在福布斯的采访中，Mr McClendon说"你可是说我是美国唯一一个真正参与公司日常商业事务，并与公司站在同一立场的CEO。"事到如今，大概他也认为这项激励措施使他与公司的立场并不一致。（可是）许多股东对这一点并不认可。

　　As Chesapeake has grown, so has Mr McClendon's appetite for debt to finance his stakes in wells. (To avoid cherry-picking, he was obliged to invest in all of each year's new ones, or none at all.) In the first year of the programme, according to the Wall Street Journal, the firm drilled 19 wells; last year it was around 1,700, and Mr McClendon had to stump¹⁵ up over $457m.

　　切萨皮克能源公司的逐步发展，Mr McClendon对资本的胃口也越来越大，他不断通过借贷来为购买油井股票融资。（为了避免挑选行为惹人注目，他不得不对每年的新开发的天然气井全部投资或者全都不投）。据华尔街日报报道，在该项激励计划实施的第一年，公司开发了19个天然气井，到2011年，公司天然气井数量约为1700个，Mr McClendon为此需要支付4.57亿美元。

　　He did this mostly by borrowing: he admits to personal debts of $846m. In 2008, as natural-gas prices plunged¹⁶ along with the firm's market capitalisation, he had to sell most of his shares in Chesapeake to repay debts. The following June, the board gave him a special $75m bonus to invest in the well programme, while suspending the requirement that he own shares in the firm worth five times his annual salary. This generous move was what first stoked the ire of shareholder activists.

　　Mr McClendon主要靠借贷来支付这笔钱，他承认自己负有高达8.46亿美元的个人债务。2008年，随着市值缩水天然气价格大跌，他不得不卖掉自己持有的大部分公司股票来偿还债务。2009年6月，董事会拨给他价值7500万美元的特殊津贴来投资天然气井项目，同时，他必须持有相当于其年工资五倍的公司股票的这一强制要求也被取消。这种大方的举动第一次激怒了股东中的激进分子。

　　Hedge funds short-selling Chesapeake's shares talk of "red flags" that suggest trouble ahead. For example, the board is looking into reports that Mr McClendon borrowed money from financial firms that had a business relationship with Chesapeake. The firm also disclosed that the taxman was looking at the well programme as part of an audit¹⁷. On May 2nd, Mr McClendon complained that "a great deal of misinformation" has been published.

　　对冲基金卖空切萨皮克股票被人们视为"前方危险"的警告。例如，董事会正在调查的一份报告指出：Mr McClendon从一些与切萨皮克公司有业务关系的金融公司借款。切萨皮克公司也披露税务部门正打算将油气井激励计划（涉及的资产）纳入审计范围。5月2日，McClendon对此表示不满，声称公开报道中含有"大量虚假信息"。

　　To have a boss with such big debts looks risky. Did the board know the details? This much is clear: neither the board nor shareholders can claim they were unaware¹⁸ of the programme that let Mr McClendon invest in new wells, which has existed since the firm went public in 1993.

　　公司总裁负债累累，这看上去不妙。董事会是否了解其中细节？答案很明显：董事会和股东都无法宣称他们对这项允许McClendon投资新油井的激励计划毫不知情,(事实上)自从1993年公司上市，该计划就已经存在了。

　　As the forthcoming flotation of Facebook may show, investors¹⁹ are often willing to overlook weak corporate²⁰ governance when offered the chance to buy shares in a newly listed firm run by a brilliant entrepreneur. The turmoil²¹ at Chesapeake should remind them:caveat emptor.

　　FACEBOOK上市前的一系列事件也许可以反映出投资者的误区——当一家由天才企业家经营的公司刚刚上市时，投资者在获得机会购买该公司股票的同时却忽视了公司管理中的薄弱之处。发生在切萨皮克能源公司的混乱局面也是对这类投资者们的提醒：一经出售，概不负责。

1 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

2 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

7 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

8 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

9 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 stiffen   

v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬

参考例句：

• The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen.当肌肉变得僵硬时，皮肤的供血量就减少了。
• I was breathing hard,and my legs were beginning to stiffen.这时我却气吁喘喘地开始感到脚有点僵硬。

12 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

13 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

14 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

15 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

16 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

17 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

18 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

19 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

20 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

21 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。