Frederick Whittemore, a director of the company from 1993 to 2011, loaned money to McClendon against his personal interests in the Chesapeake wells in 1998, according to an Oklahoma County filing.

Trusts benefiting siblings of another previous board member, Breene Kerr, were paid $6.39 million by Chesapeake in 2007 for oil and gas royalty interests on more than 5,750 net mineral acres. Kerr could not be reached for comment.

Question Of Independence

While none of these relationships are illegal or exceed the rules set by the New York Stock Exchange, they raise doubts about the board's independence, said Charles Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware in Newark.

"The modern trend is to avoid such questions," Elson said. "Directors shouldn't be in a position where they have to be asked" about their objectivity.

Chesapeake remains confident of the board's independence, said Michael Kehs, a company spokesman. Chesapeake is handling all requests for comment from directors, Kehs has said.

"Each of Chesapeake's directors has built a superb reputation based on impeccable credentials, independent judgment and unwavering integrity. We take great pride in our board."

Above-Average Pay

Even after cutting their own pay by 20 percent, directors will continue to be steeply paid. The company's new plan, announced Friday, rewards directors 34 percent more than the average $260,752 in compensation received last year by board members at 15 other exploration and production companies on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Only three of the 16 companies, Apache Corp., Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and EOG Resources Inc., paid more to their board members in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Chesapeake directors now will receive $100,000 in cash and $250,000 in stock, and will no longer be allowed 40 hours of personal jet travel at company expense. The reported cost of non-cash or stock compensation to directors, including the jet travel, was $1.09 million in 2011, according to a company filing.