Patrick de La Chevardière

About Patrick de La Chevardière

Former CFO of TotalEnergies (2008–2019) with 37 years at the company; independent director at SLB since 2019 and current Audit Committee Chair, also serving on the Finance Committee . Age 67, six years of SLB board tenure as of 2025; engineering degree (Diplôme d’Ingénieur) from École Centrale de Paris . Designated an “audit committee financial expert” under SEC rules .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Committee assignments: Audit Committee Chair; Finance Committee member .
• Independence: Board determined he is independent under NYSE standards; all Audit/Comp/Nom-Gov members meet heightened independence rules .
• Attendance: SLB Board/committees averaged 98% attendance in 2024; no director below 75% .
• Executive sessions: Independent Chair led one or more executive sessions at each 2024 Board meeting .
• Audit oversight: Audit Committee (chaired by de La Chevardière) reviewed financial statements, internal controls, PwC independence; recommended inclusion of audited financials in 2024 Form 10-K .

Fixed Compensation (Director)

Performance Compensation (Director Equity Grants)

Directors do not have performance-based pay; equity is time-based. Annual grant details:

SLB granted 4,001 shares to each non-employee director (6,107 to the independent Board Chair) on May 1, 2024 . Amounts reflect grant-date fair value per accounting standards .

Other Directorships & Interlocks

• Current public company board: Michelin (Audit Committee Chair) .
• Prior public boards: Sanofi-Aventis; Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG) .
• Related-party transactions: Board reviews related person transactions; none identified involving de La Chevardière. Vista transactions render Mr. Galuccio non-independent (not related to de La Chevardière) .

Expertise & Qualifications

• Finance, accounting, capital allocation; energy operations across upstream, refining, trading, marketing, and new energies .
• Audit committee financial expert designation .
• International business leadership; engineering education (École Centrale de Paris) .

Equity Ownership

Policy alignment:

• Director stock ownership guideline: 5x annual cash retainer within five years; all non-employee directors with ≥5 years service are in compliance .
• Anti-hedging/pledging: Directors are prohibited from hedging or pledging SLB stock; beneficial ownership table indicates no pledges .

Insider Trades (2024)

Section 16(a) timeliness: Two Form 4s (May 2024 and Sep 2024 sales) were not timely; both were filed on Dec 20, 2024 .

Governance Assessment

• Strengths

  • Deep finance expertise; audit financial expert; chairs Audit Committee overseeing financial reporting, SOX controls, and cybersecurity risk reviews .
  • Independence affirmed; robust attendance culture (98% average); executive sessions led by independent Chair support board effectiveness .
  • Strong alignment policies: director stock ownership guideline (5x retainer), anti-hedging/pledging; no pledges disclosed .
  • External audit leadership at Michelin enhances cross-industry governance perspective .

• Watch Items / RED FLAGS

  • Late Section 16 filings for two 2024 sales—procedural lapse; subsequently cured (Dec 20, 2024). Monitor future timeliness and compliance discipline .
  • Regular stock sales in 2024 reduced holdings; while directors receive annual stock grants and are prohibited from pledging/hedging, continued sales warrant monitoring against ownership guideline compliance (currently indicated as compliant for ≥5-year directors) .

• Overall implications for investors

  • As Audit Chair and financial expert, de La Chevardière is central to SLB’s financial oversight, internal control rigor, and audit firm independence—supportive of investor confidence .
  • Independence, committee breadth (Audit Chair; Finance member), and external audit leadership indicate strong governance capability; minor procedural timeliness issue noted but remedied .

Director Compensation Structure Notes

• Cash components: $115k annual retainer; $10k per committee membership; $20k per committee chair (in lieu of membership fee); $100k supplement for independent Board Chair (not applicable to de La Chevardière) .
• Equity: Annual common stock grant valued at ~$190k to directors (4,001 shares on May 1, 2024 for non-employee directors) .
• No recent increases: Director cash retainer, committee fees, and annual stock grant values not increased since 2017 (apart from separating Chair/CEO roles in 2019) .
• Director deferral: May elect to defer stock/cash into stock units or investment options under the Directors Stock Plan .

Related Party Transactions & Conflicts

• Policy: Nominating and Governance Committee reviews and approves related person transactions >$120,000; approves only those in the best interests of SLB and shareholders .
• Board independence review: Ordinary course relationships with entities affiliated with directors remained below Board’s materiality thresholds; exception disclosed for Kosmos Energy (not involving de La Chevardière) .
• No related-party transactions disclosed involving de La Chevardière .

Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback Context

• 2024 say-on-pay approval exceeded 97%; Compensation Committee engages with shareholders and embeds feedback into program design (context for SLB governance culture) .

Working Policies Relevant to Directors

• Securities transaction policy and insider trading compliance framework; policy included in 2024 10-K exhibits .
• Corporate Governance Guidelines publicly available; Board refreshment and tenure limits (age 75 or max 10 years for non-executive directors) .

Citations: All bracketed references correspond to SLB’s 2025 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A) and Special Meeting proxy. Insider transactions reference the specific SEC Form 4 URLs.