The Hess Corporation said on Friday that it planned to separate its chairman and chief executive roles, hoping to blunt a months-long campaign by an activist investor and assuage restive shareholders.
If its slate of directors is approved at the company’s annual meeting next week, Hess will appoint John Krenicki, a former vice chairman of General Electric, as its nonexecutive chairman. John B. Hess, the son of the company’s founder, would remain chief executive.
The move is meant to combat efforts by Elliott Management to get its five nominees on the board, part of the hedge fund’s efforts to shake up what it calls an undisciplined operator with poor oversight. Earlier this year, Hess itself replaced several of its directors, adding individuals with more experience in the oil and gas industry.
That still wasn’t enough to assuage critics like Elliott and proxy advisory firms like Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, which each recommended that shareholders vote for the hedge fund’s nominees.
Hess said that it had decided to split the two roles after consulting with shareholders, many of whom it said supported the move. Separating the roles at the top has increasingly become a move  demanded by shareholders, including at companies like JPMorgan Chase.
The driller added that it intended to continue strengthening the board’s oversight of management.
“There is tremendous value in Hess, and management is executing on a clear and measurable plan that is already unlocking that value,†Mr. Krenicki said in a statement. “Many shareholders with whom my fellow nominees and I have met over the past few months confirm and support this view.â€
