Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE MKT: LNG) shareholders delivered a rebuke to the best paid U.S. executive, saying in a vote that they opposed his $142 million pay package, Bloomberg said Sept. 17.

Shareholders of Cheniere, the natural gas export company whose value has more than doubled over the last year, cast nonbinding votes against CEO Charif Souki’s 2013 compensation plan during an annual meeting on Sept. 11, the company said in a Sept. 17 filing. Souki was awarded 6.3 million stock units valued at $133 million that, along with his other compensation, made him the highest-paid executive of a publicly traded U.S. company last year.

The vote of more than 87 million shares against the compensation, vs. almost 76 million supporting it, was nonbinding, making it little more than a barometer of shareholder sentiment toward the pay plan. Cheniere is expected to make the first export shipments of LNG from the U.S. shale boom beginning next year.

Cheniere rose 0.9% to 84.29 at the close in New York Sept. 17.