Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) said May 12 it has appointed Jack A. Fusco as its president and CEO.

Effective immediately, Fusco will succeed Neal A. Shear, who had replaced Charif Souki, the Houston-based company's co-founder, as president and CEO on an interim basis.

In December 2015, Cheniere’s board terminated Souki after 19 years at the company, and months after activist investor Carl Icahn took a big stake in the company. Andrea Botta also replaced Souki as chairman.

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Fusco joins Cheniere from Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN), where he most recently served as executive chairman of the board of directors. He had previously served as Calpine's CEO from 2008 to 2014.

He has a career of more than 30 years in the energy industry, which began with his employment at Pacific Gas & Electric Co. upon graduation from California State University, Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1984.

Cheniere has granted one-time employee inducement awards of 236,381 restricted shares to Fusco as of May 12.

Under his employment agreement with the company, Fusco has agreed to purchase $10 million worth of Cheniere's common shares by no later than year-end 2016.