SandRidge terminates chief's employment - FT.com SandRidge Energy, the US independent oil and gas company, has confirmed the departure of its founder, chairman and chief executive Tom Ward, making him the latest victim of the wave of shareholder activism sweeping through the industry. He is leaving with a pay-off worth about $90m, after the board said it was terminating his employment "without cause" under the terms of his contract. TPG-Axon, a hedge fund that owns 7.3 per cent of SandRidge, had alleged that companies connected to Mr Ward and his family acquired oil and gas production leases that were sold on to SandRidge. The company said on Wednesday that its board's audit committee had completed its investigation of those transactions, and after reviewing hundreds of thousands of documents and interviewing more than 40 people, the non-employee members of the board had "unanimously" decided that Mr Ward's actions did not create a cause for sacking him. Instead, it said, the board had come to the view that "new leadership is desirable at this time," and so Mr Ward's ejection was deemed to be "without cause," entitling him to his full pay-off award. He is being replaced as chief executive by James Bennett, SandRidge's chief financial officer since 2011. Jeffrey Serota, the lead independent director, will serve as interim non-executive chairman. Mr Ward's departure had been expected after the company agreed in March to add four directors nominated by TPG-Axon to its board. Pressure from TPG-Axon and other shareholders followed a period of sustained underperformance for the shares, which have lost 92 per cent of their value in the past five years. Other energy executives have also succumbed to investor pressure this year, including Aubrey McClendon, who stepped down as chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, which was co-founded by Mr Ward before he left to start SandRidge in 2006. Also this year, at Occidental Petroleum, Ray Irani, the executive chairman, was voted off the board by shareholders, while at Hess, the board was forced to agree a radical overhaul and John Hess, the chief executive, surrendered the chairmanship. At Transocean, the offshore drilling contractor, shareholders voted to remove the chairman and to appoint a director nominated by Carl Icahn, the activist investor. Following the news of Mr Ward's departure, SandRidge shares closed 2 per cent higher at $5.08.