FirstEnergy board shake-up, executive team review coming as part of settlement deal
Six of 16 people on the FirstEnergy Corp. board of directors will be ousted under the terms of deal struck to settle multiple shareholder lawsuits.
The Akron-based utility announced the settlement Thursday after the markets closed.
Six directors who have been on the board for five or more years – Michael J. Anderson, Donald T. Misheff, Thomas N. Mitchell, Christopher D. Pappas, Luis A. Reyes and Julia L. Johnson – will not stand for reelection at FirstEnergy's annual shareholder meeting in May.
Two FirstEnergy board members who represent the interests of activist billionaire Carl Icahn will remain on the board.
More: Icahn's FirstEnergy directors now shareholders in Akron utility
The agreement, which is subject to court approval, seeks to settle multiple lawsuits that were filed in state and federal courts after federal prosecutors alleged FirstEnergy was involved in a $60 million bribery scheme.
The settlement also calls for a review of the current executive team and more board oversight of the company's political and lobbying activities.
FirstEnergy fired Chuck Jones as its chief executive officer and named Steven E. Strah as his replacement shortly after two men pleaded guilty in 2020 in the bribery investigation.
Senior Vice Presidents Mike Dowling and Dennis Chack also were fired.
Pension funds, unions and others that own FirstEnergy stock filed multiple lawsuits against FirstEnergy executives, alleging they failed to do their duty. These are called shareholder derivative lawsuits.
FirstEnergy is at the center of a public corruption case that broke open in July 2020. Federal prosecutors charged five men, including then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, with racketeering. They allege Householder ran a criminal enterprise that took $60 million in bribes funneled through dark money groups to gain political power and pass a nuclear power plant bailout bill for FirstEnergy.
In July 2021, FirstEnergy signed a deferred prosecution agreement, paid $230 million fine and admitted it bribed Householder and others.
Householder, who was expelled from the Ohio House, has pleaded not guilty.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: FirstEnergy board of directors shake up coming under settlement deal
