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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Filed by the Registrant  x                             Filed by a party other than the Registrant  ¨

Check the appropriate box:

Cheniere Energy, Inc.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

Notes:

Reg. §240.14a-101.

SEC 1913 (3-99)

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CHENIERE ENERGY, INC.

700 Milam Street, Suite 1900

Houston, Texas 77002

(713) 375-5000

Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

909 Texas Avenue

Houston, Texas 77002

http://www.cheniere.com/2016AnnualMeeting

By order of the Board of Directors

Sean N. Markowitz

Corporate Secretary

April 21, 2016

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CHENIERE ENERGY, INC.

700 Milam Street, Suite 1900

Houston, Texas 77002

(713) 375-5000

PROXY STATEMENT

Shareholder Voting Matters

General Information

Why did I receive these proxy materials?

We are providing these proxy materials in connection with the solicitation by the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Cheniere Energy, Inc. (“Cheniere,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”), a Delaware corporation, of proxies to be voted at our 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Meeting”) and any adjournment or postponement thereof.

You are invited to attend the Meeting on June 2, 2016, beginning at 9:00 a.m., Central Daylight Time. The Meeting will be held in the Crystal Ballroom at the Post Rice Lofts, 909 Texas Avenue, Houston, Texas 77002.

This Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement, proxy card and 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, are being mailed to shareholders on or about April 21, 2016.

Do I need a ticket to attend the Meeting?

You will need proof of ownership and valid identification to enter the Meeting.

If your shares are held beneficially in the name of a bank, broker or other holder of record and you plan to attend the Meeting, you must present proof of your ownership of Cheniere stock, as of April 4, 2016, such as a bank or brokerage account statement, to be admitted to the Meeting.

If you have any questions about attending the Meeting, you may contact Investor Relations at info@cheniere.com or 713-375-5100.

Shareholders also must present a valid government-issued picture identification in order to be admitted to the Meeting.

No cameras, recording equipment, electronic devices, large bags, briefcases or packages will be permitted at the Meeting.

Who is entitled to vote at the Meeting?

Holders of Cheniere common stock at the close of business on April 4, 2016 (the “Record Date”), are entitled to receive this Notice and to vote their shares at the Meeting. As of April 4, 2016, there were 235,645,999 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote. Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote on each matter properly brought before the Meeting.

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What is the difference between holding shares as a shareholder of record and as a beneficial owner?

If your shares are registered directly in your name with Cheniere’s transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A., you are considered the “shareholder of record” of those shares. The Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement, proxy card and 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, have been sent directly to you by Cheniere. If your shares are held in a stock brokerage account or by a bank or other holder of record, you are considered the “beneficial owner” of such shares held in street name. The Notice of Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement, proxy card and 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, have been forwarded to you by your broker, bank or other holder of record, who is considered the shareholder of record of those shares. As the beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your broker, bank or other holder of record on how to vote your shares by using the voting instruction card included in the mailing or by following their instructions for voting by telephone or on the Internet.

How do I vote?

You may vote using any of the following methods:

By mail

You may submit your proxy vote by mail by signing a proxy card if your shares are registered or, for shares held beneficially in street name, by following the voting instructions included by your broker, trustee or nominee, and mailing it in the enclosed envelope. If you provide specific voting instructions, your shares will be voted as you have instructed. If you do not indicate your voting preferences, your shares will be voted as recommended by the Board; provided, however, if you are a beneficial owner, your bank, broker or other holder of record is not permitted to vote your shares on the following proposals if your bank, broker or other holder of record does not receive voting instructions from you: Proposal 1 to elect directors and Proposal 2 to approve, on an advisory and non-binding basis, the compensation awarded to the Company’s named executive officers for fiscal year 2015 as disclosed in this Proxy Statement.

By telephone or on the Internet

If you have telephone or Internet access, you may submit your proxy vote by following the instructions provided on your proxy card or voting instruction form. If you are a beneficial owner, the availability of telephone and Internet voting will depend on the voting processes of your broker, bank or other holder of record. Therefore, we recommend that you follow the voting instructions in the materials you receive.

In person at the Meeting

If you are the shareholder of record, you have the right to vote in person at the Meeting. If you are the beneficial owner, you are also invited to attend the Meeting. Since a beneficial owner is not the shareholder of record, you may not vote these shares in person at the Meeting unless you obtain a “legal proxy” from your broker, bank or other holder of record that holds your shares, giving you the right to vote the shares at the Meeting.

Can I revoke my proxy?

If you are a shareholder of record, you can revoke your proxy before it is exercised by:

If you are a beneficial owner of shares, you may submit new voting instructions by contacting your bank, broker or other holder of record. You may also vote in person at the Meeting if you obtain a legal proxy as described in the answer to the preceding question.

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What shares are included on the proxy card?

If you are a shareholder of record, you will receive a proxy card for the shares you hold in certificate form or in book-entry form. If you are a beneficial owner, you will receive voting instructions from your bank, broker or other holder of record.

Is there a list of shareholders entitled to vote at the Meeting?

The names of shareholders of record entitled to vote at the Meeting will be available at the Meeting and for ten days prior to the Meeting for any purpose germane to the Meeting. The list will be available between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time, at our offices at 700 Milam Street, Suite 1900, Houston, Texas 77002, by contacting the Corporate Secretary of the Company.

What are the voting requirements to elect the directors and to approve each of the proposals discussed in this Proxy Statement?

The presence in person or by proxy of the holders of a majority in voting power of the outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote at the Meeting is necessary to constitute a quorum. In the absence of a quorum at the Meeting, the Meeting may be adjourned from time to time without notice, other than an announcement at the Meeting, until a quorum shall be present. Abstentions and “broker non-votes” represented by submitted proxies will be included in the calculation of the number of the shares present at the Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. “Broker non-votes” occur when a bank, broker or other holder of record holding shares for a beneficial owner does not vote on a particular proposal because that holder does not have discretionary voting power for that particular item and has not received instructions from the beneficial owner.

Proposal 1—Directors are elected by a majority of the votes cast with respect to such director nominee at the Meeting, meaning that the number of votes cast “for” a director must exceed the number of votes cast “against” that director. If you are a beneficial owner, your bank, broker or other holder of record may not vote your shares with respect to Proposal 1 without specific instructions from you as to how to vote with respect to the election of each of the ten nominees for director. Abstentions and broker non-votes represented by submitted proxies will not be taken into account in determining the outcome of the election of directors.

Proposal 2—To be approved, Proposal 2 regarding the compensation awarded to the Company’s named executive officers for the fiscal year 2015 must receive the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority in voting power of the shares entitled to vote on the matter, present in person or by proxy at the Meeting. Because your vote is advisory, it will not be binding on the Board or the Company. If you are a beneficial owner, your bank, broker or other holder of record may not vote your shares with respect to Proposal 2 without specific instructions from you. Abstentions will be counted “against” Proposal 2. Broker non-votes will not count as shares entitled to vote on the matter.

Proposal 3—To be approved, Proposal 3 to ratify the appointment of KPMG LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 must receive the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority in voting power of the shares entitled to vote on the matter, present in person or by proxy at the Meeting. If you are a beneficial owner, your bank, broker or other holder of record has the authority to vote your shares on Proposal 3 if you have not furnished voting instructions within a specified period of time prior to the Meeting. Abstentions will be counted “against” Proposal 3.

What if a director nominee does not receive a majority of votes cast?

Our Amended and Restated Bylaws (“Bylaws”) require directors to be elected by the majority of the votes cast with respect to such director (i.e., the number of votes cast “for” a director must exceed the number of votes cast “against” that director). If a nominee who is serving as a director is not elected at the Meeting and no one else is elected in place of that director, then, under Delaware law, the director would continue to serve on the Board as a “holdover director.” However, under our Bylaws, the holdover director is required to tender his or her resignation to the Board. The Governance and Nominating Committee of the Board then would

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consider the resignation and recommend to the Board whether to accept or reject the tendered resignation, or whether some other action should be taken. The Board would then make a decision whether to accept the resignation, taking into account the recommendation of the Governance and Nominating Committee. The director who tenders his or her resignation will not participate in the Governance and Nominating Committee’s or the Board’s decision. The Board is required to disclose publicly (by a press release and a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)) its decision regarding the tendered resignation and, if the tendered resignation is rejected, the rationale behind the decision within 90 days from the date of the certification of the election results.

Could other matters be decided at the Meeting?

As of the date of this Proxy Statement, we do not know of any matters to be raised at the Meeting other than those referred to in this Proxy Statement. If other matters are properly presented for consideration at the Meeting, the persons named in your proxy card will have the discretion to vote on those matters for you.

Who will pay for the cost of this proxy solicitation?

We will pay for the cost of soliciting proxies. Proxies may be solicited on our behalf by directors, officers or employees in person or by telephone, electronic transmission and facsimile transmission. We have hired D. F. King & Co., Inc., 48 Wall Street, 22^nd Floor, New York, NY 10005, to solicit proxies. We will pay D.F. King a fee of $15,000 plus expenses for these services.

Who will count the vote?

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., an independent third party, will tabulate the votes.

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the 2016 Annual Meeting to be held on June 2, 2016

The Proxy Statement, including the Notice of Annual Meeting and 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, are available on our website at http://www.cheniere.com/2016AnnualMeeting. Please note that the Notice of Annual Meeting is not a form for voting, and presents only an overview of the more complete proxy materials, which contain important information and are available on the Internet or by mail. We encourage our shareholders to access and review the proxy materials before voting.

NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Proxy Statement contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, business strategy, performance and expectations for project development. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements and should review the sections captioned “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for important information about these statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from the assumptions, expectations, and projections expressed in any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and other than as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments or otherwise.

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Corporate Governance at a Glance

Shareholder Outreach

The Company has been involved in extensive discussions with shareholders during the past two years regarding compensation and governance matters. At our 2015 Annual Meeting, our say-on-pay proposal received support from shareholders owning approximately 63% of the Company’s shares represented at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter. Following our 2015 Annual Meeting, members of our Board and management had extensive dialogue with shareholders representing approximately 60% of our outstanding common stock, through both in person and telephonic meetings.

The Board believes that its current system of corporate governance oversight enables the directors to be prudent stewards of shareholder capital and represent the long-term interests of the Company and our shareholders. In addition, the Board is responsive to changes in the general corporate governance environment.

Key Themes from Our Shareholder Outreach

Many of our shareholders have different methodologies and processes for evaluating compensation and governance programs. However, a number of common themes emerged during our discussions with shareholders, which included:

• Request for implementation of Proxy Access. Many of our shareholders expressed a desire for the Company to implement proxy access. In connection with our 2015 Annual Meeting, a shareholder proposal regarding proxy access received support

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from shareholders holding approximately 63% of the Company’s shares represented at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter. Our Board approved a Proxy Access Bylaw Amendment on December 9, 2015 which provided for a shareholder (or group of up to 20 shareholders) holding 3% or more of the common stock of the Company for a period of 3 years to nominate up to 20% of the number of directors serving on the Company’s Board, and such nominees shall be included with the Board’s nominees in the Company’s proxy materials. During our shareholder outreach, our shareholders generally expressed support for the 20 shareholder group and up to 20% of the board formulation.

• Request for additional detail regarding the experience and expertise of our directors with a focus on Board refreshment. Several of our shareholders have expressed interest in understanding the core competencies of our Board, particularly as we transition from a development company into an LNG operator. We have included tabular disclosure regarding the qualifications of our directors on page 8 of this Proxy Statement. Our Governance & Nominating Committee continues to review the qualifications of the Board for any gaps and is currently in the process of searching for a new Chief Executive Officer (who is also expected to serve as a director) with operational experience as well as strategic vision. In addition, in August of 2015, the Board appointed two new directors, Samuel Merksamer and Jonathan Christodoro, in connection with a Nomination and Standstill Agreement entered into as of August 21, 2015 among the Company, Icahn Capital LP and certain affiliates of Icahn Capital LP. In December 2015, the Company split the CEO and Chairman of the Board roles.

See page 33 of this Proxy Statement for a discussion regarding additional matters addressed with our shareholders in connection with our shareholder outreach program.

Actions Taken as a Result of Our Shareholder Outreach

Following our shareholder outreach in 2015 and 2016, the Governance and Nominating Committee and the Board reviewed and considered our shareholders’ feedback as part of its review and adoption of changes to our governance structure. The Board then took the following actions:

See page 32 of this Proxy Statement for a discussion regarding actions taken by our Board with respect to compensation matters as a result of shareholder outreach.

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PROPOSAL 1—ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Directors and Nominees

This year, there are ten nominees standing for election as directors at the Meeting. Below is a summary of our director nominees, including their committee memberships as of January 31, 2016. The Board, with assistance from the Governance and Nominating Committee, will evaluate and reassign committee memberships as needed following the Meeting and election of the director nominees. Detailed information about each director’s background, skills and expertise is provided below.

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Summary of Director Core Competencies

The following chart summarizes the core competencies currently represented on our Board.

There are ten nominees standing for election as directors at the Meeting. Each nominee, if elected, will hold office for a one-year term expiring at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and will serve until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal.

Each of the director nominees currently serves on the Board and has consented to serve as a director if elected or re-elected. Each of the director nominees was elected by the Company’s shareholders, other than Messrs. Christodoro and Merksamer, who were appointed in connection with a Nomination and Standstill Agreement entered into on August 21, 2015 among the Company, Icahn Capital LP and certain affiliates of Icahn Capital LP.

Directors are elected by a majority of votes cast with respect to such director nominee. Unless your proxy specifies otherwise, it is intended that the shares represented by your proxy will be voted for the election of these ten nominees. If you are a beneficial owner, your bank, broker or other holder of record is not permitted to vote your shares on Proposal 1 to elect directors if the bank, broker or other holder of record does not receive voting instructions from you. Proxies cannot be voted for a greater number of persons than the number of nominees named. The Board is unaware of any circumstances likely to render any nominee unavailable.

The Board recommends a vote FOR the election of the ten nominees as directors of the Company to hold office for a one-year term expiring at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are duly elected and qualified.

Director Nominations and Qualifications

Director Nomination Policy and Procedures. Our Director Nomination Policy and Procedures is attached to the Governance and Nominating Committee’s written charter as Exhibit A, which is available on our website at www.cheniere.com. The Governance and Nominating Committee considers suggestions for potential director nominees to the Board from any source, including current members of the Board and our management, advisors and shareholders. The Governance and Nominating Committee evaluates potential nominees by reviewing their qualifications and any other information deemed relevant. Director nominees are recommended to the Board by the Governance and Nominating Committee.

The full Board will select and recommend candidates for nomination as directors for shareholders to consider and vote upon at the annual shareholders’ meeting. The Governance and Nominating Committee reviews and considers any candidates submitted by a shareholder or shareholder group in the same manner as all other candidates.

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Qualifications for consideration as a director nominee vary according to the particular areas of expertise being sought as a complement to the existing Board composition. However, minimum criteria for selection of members to serve on our Board include the following:

Practices for Considering Diversity. The minimum criteria for selection of members to serve on our Board are designed to ensure that the Governance and Nominating Committee selects director nominees taking into consideration that the Board will benefit from having directors that represent a diversity of experience and backgrounds. Director nominees are selected so that the Board represents a diversity of experience in areas needed to foster the Company’s business success, including experience in the energy industry, finance, consulting, international affairs, public service, governance and regulatory compliance. Each year the Board and each committee participates in a self-assessment or evaluation of the effectiveness of the Board and its committees. These evaluations assess the diversity of talents, expertise, and occupational and personal backgrounds of the Board members.

Shareholder Nominations for Director. A shareholder of the Company who was a shareholder of record at the time the notice provided for below is delivered to the Corporate Secretary, who is entitled to vote at the meeting of shareholders called for the election of directors and upon such election or proposed business and who complies with the notice procedures set forth in our Bylaws may nominate candidates for election to the Board. Nominations made by a shareholder must be made by giving timely notice in writing to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at the following address: Corporate Secretary, Cheniere Energy, Inc., 700 Milam Street, Suite 1900, Houston, Texas 77002. To be timely, a shareholder’s notice must be delivered not later than the close of business on the 90th day, nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day, prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting. However, if (and only if) the date of the annual meeting is more than 30 days before or more than 70 days after such anniversary date, notice by the shareholder must be delivered not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such annual meeting or the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the Company. In no event will the public announcement of an adjournment or postponement of an annual meeting of shareholders commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a shareholder’s notice as described above. A shareholder’s notice must include information about the shareholder and the nominee, as required by our Bylaws, which are available on our website at www.cheniere.com.

Director Nominations for Inclusion in Proxy Statement (Proxy Access). The Board recently amended our Bylaws to allow a shareholder, or group of up to 20 shareholders, owning at least 3% of the Company’s common stock for at least the prior three consecutive years (and meeting the other requirements set forth in our Bylaws), to nominate for election to our Board and inclusion in our proxy statement for our annual meeting of shareholders up to 20% of the number of directors serving on our Board. Notice must include all information formally stated in our Bylaws, which is available on our website at www.cheniere.com. In addition to complying with the other requirements set forth in our Bylaws, an eligible shareholder must provide timely notice in writing to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at the following address: Corporate Secretary, Cheniere Energy, Inc., 700 Milam Street, Suite 1900, Houston, Texas 77002. To be timely for purposes of Proxy Access, a shareholder’s notice must be delivered not later than the close of business on the 120th day, nor earlier than the close of business on the 150th day, prior to the first anniversary of the date that the Company first mailed its proxy statement to shareholders for the prior year’s annual meeting of shareholders. However, if (and only if) the annual meeting is not scheduled to be held within a period that commences 30 days before such anniversary date and ends 30 days after such anniversary date (an annual meeting date outside such period being referred to herein as an “Other Meeting Date”), notice must be given in the manner provided in our Bylaws by the later of the close of business on the date that is 180 days prior to such Other Meeting Date and the tenth day following the date on which public announcement of such Other Meeting Date is first made.

Director Qualifications. The Board has concluded that, in light of our business and structure, each of our director nominees possesses relevant experience, qualifications, attributes and skills and should continue to serve on our Board as of the date of this Proxy Statement. The primary qualifications of our directors are further discussed under “Director Biographies” below.

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Director Retirement Policy. The Board has adopted a mandatory director retirement policy that requires each director who has attained the age of 75 to retire from the Board at the annual meeting of shareholders of the Company held in the year at which his or her current term expires unless the Board determines such mandate for a particular director is not at the time in the best interests of the Company. The Board believes this policy will ensure a healthy rotation of directors, which will promote the continued influx of new ideas and perspectives to the Board.

Director Biographies

Neal A. Shear is the Interim Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company. Mr. Shear is currently a partner of Silverpeak Partners LP, a private investment company. Since December 2015, Mr. Shear has served as Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Cheniere Energy Partners GP, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and the general partner of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P., a publicly-traded limited partnership that is operating the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. Since December 2015, Mr. Shear has also served as Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer and President of Cheniere Energy Partners LP Holdings, LLC, a publicly-traded subsidiary of Cheniere. Mr. Shear is also a manager and Chief Executive Officer of the general partner of Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. and Chief Executive Officer of Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC. Mr. Shear was the Chief Executive Officer of Higgs Capital Management, a commodity focused hedge fund until September 2014. Prior to Higgs Capital Management, Mr. Shear served as Global Head of Securities at UBS Investment Bank from January 2010 to March of 2011. From May 2008 to December 2009, Mr. Shear was a Partner at Apollo Global Management, LLC, where he served as the Head of the Commodities Division. Prior to Apollo Global Management, Mr. Shear spent 26 years at Morgan Stanley serving in various roles including Head of the Commodities Division, Global Head of Fixed Income, Co-Head of Institutional Sales and Trading, and Chair of the Commodities Business. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of Green Key Technologies, a financial Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology company. Mr. Shear received a B.S. from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business Management in 1976 and an M.B.A. from Cornell University, Johnson School of Business in 1978.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Shear brings a unique financial and trading perspective to our Board based on his more than 30 years of experience managing commodity activity and investments.

G. Andrea Botta is the Chairman of the Board and a member of our Audit Committee. Mr. Botta has served as President of Glenco LLC, (“Glenco”) a private investment company since February 2006. Prior to joining Glenco, Mr. Botta served as Managing Director of Morgan Stanley from 1999 to February 2006. Before joining Morgan Stanley, he was President of EXOR America, Inc. (formerly IFINT-USA, Inc.) from 1993 until September 1999 and for more than five years prior thereto, Vice President of Acquisitions of IFINT-USA, Inc. He currently serves on the board of directors of Graphic Packaging Holding Company. Mr. Botta earned a degree in Economics and Business administration from the University of Torino in 1976.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Botta brings a unique international perspective to our Board and significant financial expertise. He has over 30 years of investing experience primarily in private equity investing.

Vicky A. Bailey is the Chairman of our Governance and Nominating Committee and a member of our Audit Committee. Since November 2005, Ms. Bailey has been President of Anderson Stratton International, LLC, a strategic consulting and government relations company in Washington, D.C. She was a partner with Johnston & Associates, LLC, a public relations firm in Washington, D.C., from March 2004 through October 2005. Prior to joining Johnston & Associates, LLC, Ms. Bailey served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy and International Affairs from 2001 through February 2004. From 2000 until May 2001, she was President and a director of PSI Energy, Inc., the Indiana electric utility subsidiary of Cinergy Corp. Prior to joining PSI Energy, Ms. Bailey was a Commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission beginning in 1993. Ms. Bailey currently serves as a director of EQT Corporation, a publicly-traded integrated energy company and Cleco Corp., a publicly-traded energy services company. In January 2010, Ms. Bailey was appointed as a member of the Secretary of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. She received a B.S. in industrial Management from Purdue University and completed the Advanced Management Program at The Wharton School in 2013.

Skills and Qualifications: Ms. Bailey has extensive knowledge of the energy industry, including significant experience with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and government and public relations. She brings a diverse perspective to our Board based on her experience as a strategic consultant, a former energy executive and having served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy and International Affairs.

Nuno Brandolini is the Chairman of our Compensation Committee. Mr. Brandolini was a general partner of Scorpion Capital Partners, L.P., a private equity firm organized as a small business investment company, until June 2014. Prior to forming Scorpion Capital and its predecessor firm, Scorpion Holding, Inc., in 1995, Mr. Brandolini served as Managing Director of Rosecliff, Inc., a

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leveraged buyout fund co-founded by Mr. Brandolini in 1993. Prior to 1993, Mr. Brandolini was a Vice President in the investment banking department of Salomon Brothers, Inc., and a Principal with the Batheus Group and Logic Capital, two venture capital firms. Mr. Brandolini began his career as an investment banker with Lazard Freres & Co. Mr. Brandolini currently serves as a director of Lilis Energy, Inc., an oil and gas exploration and production company. Mr. Brandolini received a law degree from the University of Paris and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Brandolini brings a unique financial perspective to our Board based on his extensive experience as an investment banker and having actively managed private equity investments for almost 20 years.

Jonathan Christodoro is a member of our Governance and Nominating Committee. Mr. Christodoro has served as a Managing Director of Icahn Capital LP since July 2012. He currently serves as a director on the boards of PayPal Holdings, Inc., Herbalife Ltd., Lyft, Inc., American Railcar Industries, Inc., and Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Christodoro brings experience to our Board as a Managing Director of Icahn Capital LP, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises L.P.

David I. Foley is a director of the Company. Mr. Foley is a Senior Managing Director in the Private Equity Group of The Blackstone Group L.P., an investment and advisory firm (“Blackstone”), and Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Energy Partners L.P. Prior to joining Blackstone in 1995, Mr. Foley was an employee of AEA Investors Inc., a private equity investment firm, from 1991 to 1993 and a consultant with The Monitor Company, a business management consulting firm, from 1989 to 1991. Mr. Foley currently serves as a director of Kosmos Energy Ltd. and previously served on the board of directors of PBF Energy, Inc. Mr. Foley’s appointment to the Board was made pursuant to an Investors’ and Registration Rights Agreement that was entered into by the Company, Cheniere Energy Partners GP, LLC (“Cheniere Partners GP”), Blackstone CQP Holdco, LP (“Blackstone Holdco”) and various other related parties in connection with Blackstone Holdco’s purchase of Class B units in Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (“Cheniere Partners”). Mr. Foley received a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Foley brings a unique financial perspective to our Board based on his extensive experience having actively managed private equity investments for over 20 years.

David B. Kilpatrick is a member of our Governance & Nominating Committee and Compensation Committee. Mr. Kilpatrick previously served as our Lead Director from June 2015 to January 2016. Mr. Kilpatrick has over 30 years of executive, management and operating experience in the oil and gas industry. He has been the President of Kilpatrick Energy Group, which invests in oil and gas ventures and provides executive management consulting services, since 1998. Mr. Kilpatrick has served on the board of directors and is Chairman of the Compensation and Governance Committee of the general partner of Breitburn Energy Partners, L.P., since 2008. Since 2011, Mr. Kilpatrick has served on the Board of Managers of Woodbine Holdings, LLC, a privately held company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas properties in Texas. In May 2013, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Applied Natural Gas Fuels, Inc., a publicly-traded producer and distributor of liquefied natural gas fuel for the transportation and industrial markets. He also served on the board of directors of PYR Energy Corporation, a publicly-traded oil and gas exploration and production company, from 2001 to 2007 and of Whittier Energy Corporation, a publicly-traded oil and gas field exploration services company, from 2004 to 2007. He was the President and Chief Operating Officer for Monterey Resources, Inc., an independent oil and gas company, from 1996 to 1998 and held various positions as Santa Fe Energy Resources, an oil and gas production company, from 1983 to 1996. Mr. Kilpatrick received a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Geology and Physics from Whittier College.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Kilpatrick has over 30 years of executive, management and operating experience in the oil and gas industry and brings significant executive-level and consulting experience in the oil and gas industry to our Board.

Samuel Merksamer is a member of our Compensation Committee and Audit Committee. Mr. Merksamer has served as a Managing Director of Icahn Capital LP, since May 2008. He currently serves as a director on the boards of Transocean Partners LLC, Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., Transocean Ltd. and Navistar International Corporation.

Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Merksamer brings experience to our Board as a Managing Director of Icahn Capital LP, a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises L.P.

Donald F. Robillard, Jr. is the Chairman of our Audit Committee. Mr. Robillard is the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., a private holding company with interests in oil and gas exploration and production, refining, real estate development, private equity investments and ranching. Mr. Robillard began his association with Hunt Consolidated in 1983 and has held his current position since July 2015. Mr. Robillard is currently on the board of directors of Helmerich & Payne, Inc., a publicly-traded oil and gas drilling company. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. Robillard received a B.B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin.

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Skills and Qualifications: Mr. Robillard has over 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and over 25 years of senior management experience. Mr. Robillard brings significant executive-level experience in the oil and gas industry, including experience with project financing for LNG facilities.

Heather R. Zichal is a member of our Governance and Nominating Committee and Compensation Committee. Ms. Zichal is currently an independent energy consultant. Ms. Zichal previously served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change from January 2009 to November 2013. Prior to serving as Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, Ms. Zichal served as the Energy and Environmental Policy Director to the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. She previously served as the Legislative Director to Senator John Kerry after managing energy and environmental issues in his 2004 presidential campaign. Prior to this, Ms. Zichal served as Legislative Director for Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Rush Holt (D-NJ). Ms. Zichal received a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Science from Rutgers University.

Skills and Qualifications: Ms. Zichal has extensive knowledge of the domestic and global energy markets as well as the U.S. regulatory environment. She brings a diverse perspective about the energy industry to our Board, having served in significant government positions during her career.

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GOVERNANCE INFORMATION

Corporate Governance Overview

Cheniere is committed to the values of effective corporate governance and high ethical standards. Our Board believes that these values are conducive to strong performance and creating long-term shareholder value. Our governance framework gives our highly experienced directors the structure necessary to provide oversight, advice and counsel to Cheniere.

Listed below are facts about our Board and governance structure.

Corporate Governance Highlights

Proxy Access

In December 2015, our Board amended our Bylaws to provide for proxy access, enabling eligible Cheniere shareholders to include their own director nominee in the Company’s proxy materials along with candidates nominated by our Board. Our Board adopted the amendments following thoughtful discussions with shareholders regarding the evolving role of proxy access and shareholder approval of a non-binding proposal requesting amendment of our Bylaws to adopt proxy access.

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Board Committee Membership

The following chart shows the fiscal year 2015 membership and chairpersons of our Board committees, committee meetings held, and committee member attendance as a percentage of meetings eligible to attend. The current Chair of each Board committee is indicated in the chart below.

Director Independence

The Board determines the independence of each director and nominee for election as a director in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and the NYSE MKT LLC independence standards, which are listed below. The Board also considers relationships that a director may have:

The NYSE MKT LLC independence standards state that the following list of persons shall not be considered independent:

As of March 2016, the Board determined that Messrs. Botta, Brandolini, Christodoro, Kilpatrick, Merksamer and Robillard, and Mses. Bailey and Zichal are independent, and none of them has a relationship that may interfere with the exercise of his or her independent judgment. Mr. Shear was independent until he became our Interim CEO and President in December 2015.

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Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight

Board Leadership Structure. Mr. Botta serves as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Shear serves as Interim CEO and President.

Prior to splitting the CEO and Chairman of the Board roles in December 2015, Mr. Souki served in the combined role of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. The Company has in place strong governance mechanisms to ensure the continued accountability of the Chief Executive Officer to the Board and to provide strong independent leadership, including the following:

The Board believes that its leadership structure assists the Board’s role in risk oversight. See the discussion on the “Board’s Role in Risk Oversight” below. The Board determined to separate the role of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board in December 2015.

Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. In December 2015, the Board split the roles of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the Board. The Non-Executive Chairman of the Board position is now held by G. Andrea Botta, an independent director. The Board has appointed the independent Chairman of the Board to provide independent leadership to the Board. The Non-Executive Chairman of the Board role provides for the Board to operate independently of management with the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board providing an independent leadership contact to the other directors. The responsibilities of the Lead Director were formally adopted by the Board and have now been assumed by the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. The responsibilities of the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board are set out in a Non-Executive Chairman of the Board Charter (adopted by the Board in March 2016). These responsibilities include the following:

Board’s Role in Risk Oversight. Risks that could affect the Company are an integral part of Board and committee deliberations throughout the year. The Board has oversight responsibility for assessing the primary risks (including liquidity, credit, operations and regulatory compliance) facing the Company, the relative magnitude of these risks and management’s plan for mitigating

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these risks. In addition to the Board’s oversight responsibility, the committees of the Board consider the risks within their areas of responsibility. The Board and its committees receive regular reports directly from members of management who are responsible for oversight of particular risks within the Company. The Audit Committee discusses with management the Company’s major financial and risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including the Company’s risk assessment and risk management policies. The Board and its committees regularly discuss the risks related to the Company’s business strategy at their meetings.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Political Contributions

Health, Safety and the Environment

At Cheniere, sustainability and social responsibility are core requirements for the success of our business. It is Cheniere’s policy to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors, visitors, and host community residents as well as prevent impacts to the environment in all aspects of executing our business strategy. Our commitment to promote the health and safety of contractors and employees, to preserve the environment, and to contribute to the long-term strength of the communities where we do business (otherwise known as our License to Operate), and our commitment to sustainable operations and development will ensure strong economic value for all stakeholders. Cheniere’s management accomplishes this objective by providing a clear strategic plan that integrates occupational health and safety, process safety, integrity management, and environmental stewardship into all business decisions and operations. Below are some examples of the steps we have taken towards upholding these values:

Political Contributions

It is Cheniere’s policy that Company funds or assets shall not be used to make a political contribution to any political party or candidate, unless approval has been given by a compliance officer.

The Cheniere Energy, Inc. Political Action Committee (“Cheniere PAC”) is a forum for employees to voluntarily contribute to a fund that supports the election of candidates to Congress that support the principles of free enterprise, good government, a fair and reasonable business environment for the energy industry and that share the Company’s philosophy that energy diversity advances overall energy security. Decisions about contributions to specific federal candidates are made by members of the Cheniere PAC board, with input from the Company’s government affairs staff in Washington, D.C. Cheniere employees, through the Cheniere PAC, contributed $180,900 in 2015 to the election of candidates from both parties to Congress.

Meetings and Committees of the Board

Our operations are managed under the broad supervision and direction of the Board, which has the ultimate responsibility for the establishment and implementation of the Company’s general operating philosophy, objectives, goals and policies. Pursuant to delegated authority, certain Board functions are discharged by the Board’s standing Audit, Governance and Nominating and Compensation Committees. Members of the Audit, Governance and Nominating and Compensation Committees for a given year are selected by the Board following the annual shareholders’ meeting. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, our Board held 11 meetings. Each incumbent member of the Board attended or participated in at least 75% of the aggregate number of (i) Board meetings and (ii) committee meetings held by each committee of the Board on which the director served during the period for which each director served. Although directors are not required to attend annual shareholders’ meetings, they are encouraged to attend such meetings. At the 2015 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 12 of the 13 members of the Board then serving were present.

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Committee Membership (* indicates Chairman of Committee) as of January 31, 2016:

Audit Committee

Each member of the Audit Committee has been determined by the Board to be “independent” as defined by the NYSE MKT LLC listing standards and by the SEC, and as of March 2016, the Board has determined that Mr. Botta and Mr. Robillard are each an “audit committee financial expert”, as defined in Item 407(d)(5)(ii) of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC. The Audit Committee held 8 meetings during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.

The Audit Committee has a written charter, which is available on our website at www.cheniere.com. The Audit Committee is appointed by the Board to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of the Company and the audits of the Company’s financial statements. The Audit Committee assists the Board in overseeing:

The Audit Committee maintains a channel of communication among the independent auditor, principal financial and accounting officers, director-internal audit, compliance officer and the Board concerning our financial and compliance position and affairs. The Audit Committee has and may exercise all powers and authority of the Board in connection with carrying out its functions and responsibilities and has sole authority to select and retain the independent auditor and authority to engage and determine funding for independent legal, accounting or other advisers. The Audit Committee’s responsibility is oversight, and it recognizes that the Company’s management is responsible for preparing the Company’s financial statements and complying with applicable laws and regulations.

Governance and Nominating Committee

Each member of the Governance and Nominating Committee has been determined by the Board to be “independent” as defined by the NYSE MKT LLC listing standards and by the SEC. The Governance and Nominating Committee held 5 meetings during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.

The Governance and Nominating Committee has a written charter, which is available on our website at www.cheniere.com. The Governance and Nominating Committee is appointed by the Board to develop and maintain the Company’s corporate governance policies. The Governance and Nominating Committee also oversees our Director Nomination Policy and Procedures. The Governance and Nominating Committee has the following duties and responsibilities, among others:

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Compensation Committee

Each member of the Compensation Committee has been determined by the Board to be “independent” as defined by the NYSE MKT LLC listing standards and by the SEC. The Compensation Committee held 9 meetings during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. The Compensation Committee reviews and approves the compensation policies, practices and plans of the Company pursuant to a written charter, which is available on our website at www.cheniere.com. The Chairman of the Compensation Committee, in consultation with other Compensation Committee members, members of management and the independent compensation consultant, determines the agenda and dates of Compensation Committee meetings.

The Compensation Committee’s charter is reviewed annually. Changes to the charter must be approved by the Board on the recommendation of the Compensation Committee. The charter provides that the Compensation Committee has the sole authority to retain, oversee and terminate any compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser engaged to assist in the evaluation of compensation of directors and executive officers of the Company, including the sole authority to approve such adviser’s fees and other retention terms. Pursuant to the charter, the Compensation Committee has the following duties and responsibilities, among others:

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Review of Compensation Risk

The Compensation Committee considered the risks associated with our compensation policies and practices in 2015. The Compensation Committee concluded that our compensation policies and practices were not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company and did not include risk-taking incentives or encourage our employees, including our executive officers, to take excessive risks in order to receive larger awards. As part of this analysis, the Compensation Committee considered the individual components of our executive officers’ compensation, the performance measures required to be achieved to earn cash bonus and equity awards and the vesting schedule of the equity awards. In concluding that our incentive plans do not promote excessive risk, the Compensation Committee considered the following factors, among others:

Code of Conduct and Ethics and Corporate Governance Guidelines

Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which is applicable to all directors, officers and employees of the Company, is available on the Company’s website at www.cheniere.com.

Our Board adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines in March 2016. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines set out the material corporate practices that the Board has implemented which serve the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines are available on the Company’s website at www.cheniere.com.

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Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

Mr. Shear served as a member of our Compensation Committee prior to and up until his appointment as an officer of Cheniere in December 2015. None of our executive officers serves as a member of the compensation committee of any other company that has an executive officer serving as a member of our Board. None of our executive officers serves as a member of the board of directors of any other company that has an executive officer serving as a member of our Compensation Committee.

Director Compensation

The compensation earned by or paid to our directors for the year ended December 31, 2015, is set forth in the following table:

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During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Board approved annual compensation to each non-employee director for his or her service for the period from the 2015 Annual Meeting of Shareholders through the Meeting. The Board also awarded the Chairman of the Audit Committee, the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and the Lead Director additional compensation of $20,000 each and the Chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee additional compensation of $10,000 for the additional time required to perform their responsibilities. For 2015, the non-employee directors’ annual compensation was payable on June 11, 2015, the date of the 2015 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. In order to provide the directors some flexibility on the type and timing of the compensation, directors were given the option to elect payment of such amounts 100% in restricted stock or 50% in restricted stock and 50% in cash. Cash payments are made quarterly. The number of shares of restricted stock issued was determined based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock as reported by the NYSE MKT LLC on the date payable (for June 11, 2015: $72.31). The directors’ restricted stock vests on the earlier of (i) the day immediately prior to the date of the Company’s regular annual meeting of shareholders in the calendar year next following the calendar year in which the date of the grant occurs and (ii) the first anniversary of the date of grant. In December 2015 in connection with their appointments, the Board awarded (i) Mr. Botta $75,000 for a partial year of service as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, (ii) Mr. Brandolini $10,000 for a partial year of service as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and (iii) Mr. Souki $90,000 for a partial year of service as a non-employee director (which amount was prorated as a result of Mr. Souki’s resignation as a director on February 12, 2016), in each case for service through the Meeting.

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MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers

The following table sets forth the names, ages and positions of each of our executive officers, as of April 4, 2016, all of whom serve at the request of the Board and are subject to annual appointment by the Board:

Neal A. Shear is currently Interim Chief Executive Officer and President. Further information regarding Mr. Shear is provided above under “Director Biographies.”

Meg A. Gentle has served as Executive Vice President-Marketing since February 2014 and served as Senior Vice President-Marketing from June 2013 to February 2014. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from March 2009 to June 2013. Prior to March 2009, she served as Senior Vice President-Strategic Planning & Finance since February 2008. Prior to February 2008, she served as Vice President of Strategic Planning since September 2005 and Manager of Strategic Planning since June 2004. Prior to joining Cheniere, Ms. Gentle spent eight years in energy market development, economic evaluation and long-range planning. She conducted international business development and strategic planning for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, a publicly-traded integrated energy company, from January 1998 to May 2004 and energy market analysis for Pace Global Energy Services, an energy management and consulting firm, from August 1996 to December 1998. Ms. Gentle is currently a director of Cheniere Partners GP and Cheniere Energy Partners LP Holdings, LLC (“Cheniere Holdings”). Ms. Gentle received a B.A. in Economics and International Affairs from James Madison University in May 1996 and an M.B.A. from Rice University in May 2004.

R. Keith Teague has served as Executive Vice President-Asset Group since February 2014 and served as Senior Vice President-Asset Group from April 2008 to February 2014. Prior to April 2008, he served as Vice President-Pipeline Operations since May 2006. Mr. Teague has also served as President of CQH Holdings Company, LLC (formerly known as Cheniere Pipeline Company), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, since January 2005. Mr. Teague began his career with the Company in February 2004 as Director of Facility Planning. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Teague served as the Director of Strategic Planning for the CMS Panhandle Companies from December 2001 until September 2003. He began his career with Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation where he managed pipeline operations and facility expansion. Mr. Teague is currently a director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cheniere Partners GP and a director of Cheniere Holdings. Mr. Teague is also President of the general partner of Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. and a manager and President of Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC and is responsible for the development, construction and operation of the Company’s LNG terminal and pipeline assets. Mr. Teague received a B.S. in civil engineering from Louisiana Tech University and an M.B.A. from Louisiana State University.

Jean Abiteboul has served as Senior Vice President-International since November 2007. Since February 2006, Mr. Abiteboul has also served as Executive Director of Cheniere LNG Services S.A.R.L., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. From 1975 until February 2006, he held different positions within Gaz de France, a publicly-traded natural gas distribution company, including Secretary to the board of directors from 2004 until 2006; International Executive Vice President from 2003 to 2004; Executive Vice President, Gas Supply, Trading and Marketing from 2002 until 2003; and Executive Vice President, Gas Supply from 1998 to 2003. He also served on the board of directors of Tejas Power Corporation (USA), Gas Metropolitan (Canada), Sceptre Resources (Canada) and other affiliated companies of Gaz de France in Europe. Mr. Abiteboul graduated as an Engineer from Ecole Centrale de Lyon and obtained a Diploma in Economics from Université de Lyon.

Anatol Feygin has served as Senior Vice President-Strategy and Corporate Development since March 2014. Prior to joining Cheniere, Mr. Feygin worked with Loews Corporation from November 2007 to March 2014, most recently as their Vice President, Energy Strategist and Senior Portfolio Manager. Prior to joining Loews, Mr. Feygin spent three years at Bank of America as Head of

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Global Commodity Strategy. Mr. Feygin began his career at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. as Senior Analyst, Natural Gas Pipelines and Distributors. Mr. Feygin earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at NYU.

Katie Pipkin has served as Senior Vice President-Business Development and Communications since February 2014. Ms. Pipkin previously served as Vice President of Finance & Investor Relations since June 2010. Ms. Pipkin began her career with the Company in September 2007 as Vice President of Investor Relations. Prior to joining the Company, she was an analyst at Lehman Brothers in the regulated and unregulated natural gas sector. Ms. Pipkin earned a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas.

Greg W. Rayford has served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Company since March 2011. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Rayford served as a corporate partner of Andrews Kurth LLP with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate and commercial transactions from July 2007 to February 2011. Prior to July 2007, he served as corporate counsel at Science Applications International Corporation, a scientific, engineering and technology applications company. Prior to that, Mr. Rayford was a corporate partner of Kirkland & Ellis LLP where his experience included various strategic and leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations, divestitures, venture capital and minority investments, and public and private offerings of debt and equity securities. Mr. Rayford earned a law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a B.B.A. in Finance Investment and Banking from the University of Wisconsin.

Michael J. Wortley has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since January 2014. Prior to January 2014, he served as Vice President, Strategy and Risk of the Company since January 2013. Prior to January 2013, he served as Vice President-Business Development and President of Corpus Christi Liquefaction, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, since September 2011. Prior to September 2011, Mr. Wortley served as Vice President-Strategic Planning since January 2009 and Manager-Strategic New Business since August 2007. Prior to joining the Company in February 2005, Mr. Wortley spent five years in oil and gas corporate development, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, a publicly-traded oil and gas exploration and production company. Mr. Wortley began his career as an Internal Auditor with Union Pacific Resources Corporation, a publicly-traded oil and gas exploration and production company subsequently acquired by Anadarko. Mr. Wortley is currently a director and the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cheniere Partners GP, and a director and the Chief Financial Officer of Cheniere Holdings. Mr. Wortley is also Chief Financial Officer of the general partner of Sabine Pass LNG, L.P. and a manager and Chief Financial Officer of Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC. Mr.  Wortley received a B.B.A. in Finance from Southern Methodist University.

Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Our Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Bylaws provide that the Company shall indemnify its directors and officers to the fullest extent possible under Delaware law. These indemnification provisions require the Company to indemnify such persons against certain liabilities and expenses to which they may become subject by reason of their service as a director or officer of the Company or any of its affiliated enterprises. The provisions also set forth certain procedures, including the advancement of expenses, that apply in the event of a claim for indemnification.

We have also entered into an Indemnification Agreement with members of our Board and certain officers of the Company. The Indemnification Agreement provides for indemnification for all expenses and claims that a director or officer incurs as a result of actions taken, or not taken, on behalf of the Company while serving as a director, officer, employee, controlling person, agent or fiduciary of the Company, or any subsidiary of the Company, with such indemnification to be paid within 25 days after demand. The Indemnification Agreement provides that no indemnification will generally be provided (1) for claims brought by the director or officer, except for a claim of indemnity under the Indemnification Agreement, if the Company approves the bringing of such claim, or if the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware requires providing indemnification because the director or officer has been successful on the merits of such claim, (2) for claims under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), (3) if the director or officer did not act in good faith or in a manner reasonably believed by the director or officer to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company, (4) if the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful in a criminal proceeding, or (5) if the director or officer is adjudged liable to the Company. Indemnification will be provided to the extent permitted by law, the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and Bylaws, and to a greater extent if by law the scope of coverage is expanded after the date of the Indemnification Agreement. In all events, the scope of coverage will not be less than what is in existence on the date of the Indemnification Agreement.

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SECURITY OWNERSHIP

As of April 4, 2016, there were 235,645,999 shares of common stock outstanding. The information provided below summarizes the beneficial ownership of directors, nominees for director, named executive officers set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table” and owners of more than 5% of outstanding common stock. “Beneficial Ownership” generally includes those shares of Company common stock that a person has the power to vote, sell or acquire within 60 days. It includes shares of Company common stock that are held directly and also shares held indirectly through a relationship, a position as a trustee or under a contract or understanding.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table provides information about our compensation plans as of December 31, 2015. The equity compensation plans approved by our shareholders include the Cheniere Energy, Inc. Amended and Restated 2003 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2003 Plan”) and the Cheniere Energy, Inc. 2011 Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2011 Incentive Plan”).

In 2011, the Company established the 2011 Incentive Plan. The 2011 Incentive Plan is a broad-based incentive plan, which allows for the issuance of stock options, stock appreciation rights and awards of bonus stock, phantom stock, restricted stock and performance awards and other stock-based awards to employees, consultants and non-employee directors. The following awards have been granted under the 2011 Incentive Plan and remain outstanding as of December 31, 2015: 7,131,437 shares of restricted stock. Vesting of restricted stock under the 2011 Incentive Plan depends on whether the restricted stock was granted as a new hire award, the equity portion of the long-term bonus award for construction of Trains 1 and 2 at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal, or a Milestone Award or Stock Price Hurdle Award for construction of Trains 3 and 4 at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. New hire awards typically vest in four equal annual installments. The vesting schedules for the equity portion of the long-term bonus award for construction of Trains 1 and 2 at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal and the Milestone Awards and Stock Price Hurdle Awards are described in the CD&A of this Proxy Statement. The term of any award under the 2011 Incentive Plan may not exceed a period of ten years.

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Directors and Executive Officers

The following table sets forth information with respect to shares of common stock of the Company owned of record and beneficially as of April 4, 2016 by each director and named executive officer set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table” and by all directors and executive officers of the Company as a group. On April 4, 2016, the directors and executive officers of the Company beneficially owned an aggregate of 7,174,421 shares of common stock (approximately 3.0% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote at the time).

The table also presents the ownership of common units of Cheniere Partners and common shares of Cheniere Holdings owned of record or beneficially as of April 4, 2016, by each director and named executive officer set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table” and by all directors and executive officers of the Company as a group. The Company owns a majority interest in Cheniere Holdings, and Cheniere Holdings owns a majority interest in Cheniere Partners. As of April 4, 2016, there were 57,103,598 common units, 135,383,831 subordinated units, 145,333,334 Class B units and 6,893,811 general partner units of Cheniere Partners outstanding and 231,700,000 common shares of Cheniere Holdings outstanding.

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Owners of More than Five Percent of Outstanding Stock

The following table shows the beneficial owners known by us to own more than five percent of our voting stock as of April 4, 2016.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

This Compensation Discussion and Analysis (“CD&A”) describes the material elements of the compensation of our Named Executive Officers (“NEOs”), including our former CEO and Interim CEO, and factors considered in making compensation decisions. Our NEOs for fiscal year 2015 were the following individuals:

This CD&A is organized as follows:

Executive Summary

Business Overview

Cheniere is a market leader in the development and commercialization of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) facilities in the United States.

We own and operate the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana which includes operational regasification facilities with existing infrastructure of five LNG storage tanks with capacity of approximately 16.9 Bcfe, two docks that can accommodate vessels with nominal capacity of up to 266,000 cubic meters and vaporizers with regasification capacity of approximately 4.0 Bcf/d.

We are currently constructing and developing natural gas liquefaction facilities at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal adjacent to the existing regasification facilities (the “SPL Project”). We are also constructing and developing a second natural gas liquefaction and export facility in Texas at the Corpus Christi LNG terminal (the “CCL Project”). We continue to evaluate additional development opportunities.

Each terminal includes a number of planned liquefaction trains (“Trains”), which convert natural gas into LNG so that it can be transported more economically across long distances. We expect to invest approximately $30 billion in the aggregate for the construction and development of the seven Trains we currently have under construction or completed. These projects are being constructed under lump-sum turnkey contracts, and financing has been obtained to fund construction.

For the SPL Project, we are developing up to six Trains, each with an expected nominal production capacity of approximately 4.5 million tonnes per annum (“mtpa”) of LNG, adjacent to our existing regasification facilities. The Trains are in various stages of development, with Train 1 complete and undergoing commissioning, four Trains under construction and Train 6 permitted. Train 1 is producing LNG, and the first commissioning cargo was exported in late February 2016. Commissioning for Train 2 has also commenced. The remaining Trains under construction are expected to commence commissioning on a staggered basis thereafter.

For the CCL Project, we are developing up to three Trains, each with an expected nominal production capacity of approximately 4.5 mtpa of LNG, near Corpus Christi, Texas. The Trains are in various stages of development with the first two Trains under construction and the third Train permitted. Commissioning for Train 1 is expected to commence as early as late 2018.

In addition, we have begun the permitting process for a fourth and fifth Train at the Corpus Christi LNG terminal adjacent to the CCL Project. The permitting process is expected to be complete in 2017.

Our management team creates value for our shareholders through diligent construction and development of these facilities, the achievement of ambitious key milestones, and disciplined capital allocation. The Compensation Committee of the Board (the

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“Compensation Committee”) considers progress against these goals when it designs Cheniere’s executive compensation program for the NEOs.

Cheniere’s Business Model—First Mover in U.S. LNG Exports

In 2008, Cheniere completed construction of the regasification facilities at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in order to import natural gas. This timing coincided with a seismic shift in the U.S. energy sector, where innovation in drilling technologies enabled large supplies of unconventional gas—particularly shale gas—to be developed at low costs. As a result of this new supply, the price of domestic natural gas declined precipitously, largely displacing the need to source natural gas globally for import to the U.S. Due to these unfavorable market conditions for U.S. LNG imports, Cheniere began assessing other strategic options in order to optimize shareholder value.

In 2010, Cheniere was the first to announce plans to pursue the development of an LNG export facility in the contiguous U.S., the SPL Project. Historically the U.S. has not been a meaningful exporter of natural gas. However, Cheniere decided to pursue the development of an LNG export facility in response to the vast transformation of the U.S. natural gas markets and the abundance of natural gas supply expected for years to come. When the SPL Project is completed, it will be the first LNG export facility built in North America in over 50 years.

We are the first mover in this sector, and construction of the SPL Project is nearly two years ahead of any other U.S. liquefaction project. We expect to be the largest LNG exporter in the U.S. beginning in 2016 and one of the three largest LNG exporters in the world by 2020, representing approximately nine percent of the global LNG market.

Liquefaction Projects Underpinned with Long-Term 20-Year Contracts, Limiting Exposure to Commodity Prices

Approximately 87% of the expected aggregate nominal production capacity across the seven Trains under construction or completed has been sold under long-term 20-year sale and purchase agreements (“SPAs”), equating to approximately 27.4 mtpa of LNG and approximately $4.3 billion annually in fixed fees. Having such a significant portion of the expected aggregate nominal production capacity sold under long-term contracts with a portion of the LNG contract sales price based on a fixed fee substantially limits our exposure to fluctuating commodity prices. Under the SPAs, LNG pricing includes two components—(1) 115% of the Nymex Henry Hub index for the month in which a cargo is scheduled plus (2) a fixed fee. We will purchase natural gas based on the applicable Henry Hub price and sell the LNG to the customer priced on the same index plus a fee. This fee covers our costs and shareholders’ return. We expect to generate a significant amount of predictable, stable cash flows annually, over the lives of the contracts, as the fixed fees are required to be paid even if customers elect to cancel or suspend deliveries of LNG cargoes.

For the volumes not contracted under long-term SPAs, we have developed a marketing business that is expected to have access to approximately 4.1 mtpa of the excess LNG available from the seven Trains under construction or completed at the SPL and CCL Projects, which we will sell on a shorter-term, more opportunistic basis. Cheniere Marketing, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Cheniere Marketing”) has entered into sales agreements totaling over 522 million MMBtu of volumes sold on a short-term basis with deliveries expected to be made in the 2016 to 2023 timeframe.

We believe our contracting efforts were successful primarily as a result of Cheniere differentiating itself in the LNG market by offering global LNG buyers more attractive features and contract terms, including (1) an alternative pricing mechanism, basing LNG prices on a natural gas index as opposed to a traditional crude-based index, (2) destination flexibility, allowing customers to determine delivery points, as opposed to the traditionally restricted delivery locations and (3) customers have the ability to cancel or suspend deliveries of LNG cargoes with notice, subject to payment of the fixed fees.

All of the SPAs have been entered into with investment grade parent companies as counterparties or guarantors. The SPAs are “take-or-pay” style agreements, meaning that the fixed fee component of the LNG price would still be required to be paid whether or not the customer elects to purchase the LNG. The SPAs have initial terms of twenty years and do not have price reopeners. A portion of the fixed fee component escalates with inflation as specified in each SPA. Revenue generally will commence under the SPAs as each applicable Train reaches the date of first commercial delivery (“DFCD”).

2015 Performance and Developments

2015 was a year of transition for Cheniere. Amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment, we made significant progress on our development and construction goals for our SPL and CCL Projects. In February 2016, the first of our Trains at the SPL Project began producing LNG, and the first LNG commissioning cargo was exported.

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On the governance front, the Board decided to replace our Chairman, CEO and President, Charif Souki, who had served at Cheniere for 19 years. The Board split the roles of Chairman and CEO with G. Andrea Botta serving as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board and Neal Shear serving as the Interim CEO and President. The changes were made at a time when Cheniere was beginning its transformation from a development company into an LNG operator, with a strategy intent on creating and sustaining shareholder value while continuing to explore more focused growth initiatives. Cheniere has established itself as a first mover in the domestic LNG export market and is well positioned to become a significant player in the global LNG market.

Operating Developments

This year has been challenging for the oil and gas industry as a result of significant global oil and gas price declines and economic slowdowns in certain major global markets. We believe Cheniere’s stock price has been impacted by these global factors. Our SPL and CCL Projects, however, continue to progress. We believe that the excellent progress we have made in the development and construction of our LNG facilities is one of the primary reasons our stock price has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by approximately 479% over the past five years ending December 31, 2015.

The development and construction of the SPL and CCL Projects advanced as planned in 2015. As we continue to develop these projects and increase LNG production, Cheniere will transition into an LNG operator with expected stable and growing positive cash flow underpinned by long-term SPAs with investment grade energy companies worldwide.

CEO and Board Changes

In December 2015, the Board terminated the employment of our former Chairman, CEO and President, Charif Souki. Neal Shear, an independent director who joined the Board in 2014, was named Interim CEO and President. The Board formed a Special Committee made up of four independent directors to facilitate an orderly leadership transition. A search for a new permanent CEO is underway. Concurrently, independent director G. Andrea Botta was appointed as our new Non-Executive Chairman of the Board and has assumed the responsibilities of the Lead Director position in addition to the functions of the Chairman of the Board.

The CEO transition followed a number of changes to the composition of our Board. At our 2015 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2015 Annual Meeting”), four directors did not stand for reelection. Our Board size was reduced from 13 to 9 members immediately following the 2015 Annual Meeting. In August 2015, we increased the board size to 11 and added two directors to the Board—Jonathan Christodoro and Samuel Merksamer—as part of a Nomination and Standstill Agreement with Icahn Capital LP and certain of its affiliates.

Compensation Committee Changes

The Compensation Committee was reconstituted following the departure of directors and Compensation Committee members Messrs. Carney and Foutch. Samuel Merksamer, who joined the Board in August 2015, was appointed to the Compensation Committee in August 2015. Heather Zichal was appointed to the Compensation Committee in September 2015. In December 2015, the Board appointed Nuno Brandolini as Chairman of the Compensation Committee, and David Kilpatrick was reappointed to the Compensation Committee in January 2016.

Development and Construction Milestones

Timely construction of the SPL and CCL Projects remain critical to our success, and we have met the key construction goals for 2015. The following table shows the key milestones for these projects and our progress toward achieving them.

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Building Liquefaction Facilities

Key Milestones for the

Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi Projects

As of March 31, 2016, development of our liquefaction facilities was as follows:

SPL Project:

CCL Project:

2015 Shareholder Outreach

Key Compensation Themes from Our Shareholder Outreach

At our 2015 Annual Meeting, our say-on-pay proposal received support from shareholders owning approximately 63% of the shares represented at the meeting and entitled to vote on the matter. Though this was a significant increase in support from our say-on-pay results at our 2014 annual meeting, the Board recognizes the need to continually engage with our shareholders and modify our compensation program to address any significant shareholder concerns.

Following the results of our 2015 Annual Meeting, the Board embarked on a broad-based shareholder outreach program to directly seek feedback from our shareholders regarding what they would like to see in our compensation program. The significant changes made to our program in 2015 resulted in large part from the discussions and feedback we received in these meetings, which the Board believes was reflected in the meaningful year over year increase in support for our say-on-pay proposal. In the months leading up to our 2015 Annual Meeting, we engaged with shareholders representing approximately 53% of our outstanding common stock. In the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016, members of our Board and management reached out to, and had extensive dialogue with, shareholders representing approximately 60% of our outstanding common stock, through both in person and telephonic meetings.

These meetings with our shareholders were immensely valuable to the Board and management, and we have acted on many of the governance and compensation changes discussed at these meetings. For example, in response to the governance discussions, since our 2015 Annual Meeting, the Board implemented proxy access, eliminated a third party director disqualification provision in our Bylaws, and split our CEO and Chairman of the Board roles. The specific changes to our compensation program that further align it to our business strategy and shareholders’ interests are detailed below. The process is ongoing, and we will continue to incorporate shareholder outreach as a standard business practice in the future. We are committed to maintaining an open dialogue with our shareholders to ensure the successful evolution of our executive compensation program in 2016 and beyond.

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Compensation Actions Taken as a Result of Shareholder Outreach

Following our shareholder outreach in 2014 and 2015, the Compensation Committee and the Board approved the following changes, many of which are directly responsive to the feedback we received from our shareholders:

Key Governance Themes from Our Shareholder Outreach

Many of our shareholders have different methodologies and processes for evaluating compensation and governance programs. However, a number of common themes emerged during our discussions with shareholders, including the following:

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Additional Actions Taken as a Result of Shareholder Outreach

Since the 2015 Annual Meeting, we have continued to engage with our shareholders to ensure shareholder views are considered for incorporation into our compensation program design and governance framework. The Board is currently evaluating the design of the compensation program going forward after discussions and engagement with our shareholders. Additional changes to our executive compensation program and our governance practices that have been implemented are included below:

2015 Compensation Design

The Compensation Committee is committed to creating a performance-based compensation structure that is strongly aligned with the interests of our shareholders and incentivizes management with long-term performance goals. Historically, both our short-term and long-term performance awards have been 100% performance-based.

2015 compensation was comprised of the following components:

Base Salary

In 2015, our former Chairman, CEO and President received a base salary of $1. His entire compensation package was provided under the 2014-2018 LTIP and was 100% performance based. The base salaries of our NEOs were generally targeted to the median of the market, other than the former CEO whose base salary was below the median.

Annual Cash Bonus

For 2015, our NEOs’ annual cash bonuses were based on rigorous, near-term developmental, operating and corporate goals that coincided with our key milestones and spanned eight strategic areas: (1) operations; (2) construction; (3) development projects; (4) marketing; (5) financial/budget; (6) human resources; (7) risk management; and (8) critical business systems. The achievement of these goals resulted in cash bonuses in 2015 with payments at 100% of target for our NEOs. Our former CEO did not participate

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in the program in 2015. Mr. Shear assumed the role of Interim CEO and President effective December 12, 2015 and did not receive a cash bonus in 2015.

These goals are discussed in greater detail beginning on page 35 of this Proxy Statement.

Long-Term Performance Incentive Award: 2014-2018 LTIP

The Board believes long-term incentive awards establish strong long-term alignment between NEOs and shareholders and, as such, are an important component of a strong compensation structure.

On April 21, 2015, the Compensation Committee recommended and the Board approved the 2014-2018 LTIP. The 2014-2018 LTIP reflects feedback we received from our shareholder outreach program and provides for the grant of phantom units settled in cash. The 2014-2018 LTIP is 100% performance-based.

The 2014-2018 LTIP rewards growth in our market capitalization, measured by growth in total shareholder value, above certain thresholds. There are two pools from which phantom units are granted: a senior executive pool and a general pool. The maximum percentage of growth in total shareholder value that can be used to fund the senior executive pool for each performance period is 2%, and 4% for the general pool. Our former CEO’s compensation was targeted at 50% of the senior executive pool. The amount of phantom units granted from the senior executive pool for each performance period is capped at an annual maximum amount equal to 1.5% of our common shares outstanding.

Once phantom units are granted for each performance period, they will be subject to a three-year vesting schedule, with one-third of the phantom units vesting and becoming payable on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the date of grant (with the exception of the initial grant for the 2014 performance period which vest and become payable on each of February 1, 2016, February 1, 2017 and February 1, 2018). The phantom units will be settled in cash at the end of each vesting period. The 2014-2018 LTIP is described in further detail beginning on page 38 of this Proxy Statement.

2015 Results under the 2014-2018 LTIP

In 2015, we did not meet our annual TSR hurdle under the 2014-2018 LTIP for the 2015 performance period which began November 1, 2014 and ended October 31, 2015. As such, no phantom units were awarded for the 2015 performance period.

Compensatory Arrangement with Interim Chief Executive Officer and President

In connection with the removal of Mr. Souki as Chairman, CEO and President, the Board asked Mr. Shear, an independent director of our Board, to serve as Interim CEO and President while we search for a permanent CEO. The Company and Mr. Shear entered into a letter agreement dated December 18, 2015 which includes the terms of his arrangement. In appointing Mr. Shear as Interim CEO and President, among other things, the Board determined that Mr. Shear was best positioned to effectively identify and execute on strategic priorities.

The Compensation Committee, in consultation with Pearl Meyer, the compensation consultant to the Compensation Committee, determined to pay Mr. Shear an annualized base salary of $1,000,000 for his service as Interim CEO and President. Mr. Shear shall receive a bonus of $1,500,000 on June 15, 2016. In addition, Mr. Shear was granted 36,330 phantom units that vest in full on June 15, 2016, subject to certain limitations and acceleration provisions. Subsequent to his appointment as Interim CEO and President, Mr. Shear did not receive additional director fees and will not receive director fees for his service as a member of the Board while he serves as an executive officer of the Company.

Compensation Governance Practices

The Board and the Compensation Committee are committed to implementing best practice compensation governance practices that further strengthen the alignment of our compensation program with our shareholders’ interests, which include the following:

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Executive Compensation Philosophy & Objectives

Philosophy and Objectives

The Board and the Compensation Committee are committed to a pay-for-performance compensation structure that aligns our executive compensation with the key drivers of long-term growth and creation of shareholder value. Our executive compensation programs and objectives are designed to ensure we attract, retain and motivate executives with the talent and experience necessary for us to achieve our strategic business plan.

As the first mover in our industry, we face fierce competition for our executive officers, business leaders and engineers, and we seek to hire the highest caliber executives available in the global LNG marketplace. We remain focused on retaining our talent and our incentive program reflects our need to retain key leaders.

Our compensation structure is performance-based, long-term oriented and currently aligns with our primarily event-driven business objectives to build liquefaction facilities. This structure ensures our executive officers are motivated and incentivized to create long-term value for our shareholders.

Components of Our Executive Compensation Program

Base Salary

Base salaries provide the fixed compensation necessary to attract and retain key executives. The base salaries of our NEOs are designed to be comparable to positions in the marketplace from which we recruit executive talent. The base salaries of our NEOs in 2015 were generally considered in line with the median of the market, with the exception of our former CEO, Mr. Souki, whose base salary was considered below the median of the market.

On December 17, 2014, the Compensation Committee recommended and the Board approved a change in the annual base salary for our former Chairman, CEO and President, Mr. Souki. Effective December 15, 2014, Mr. Souki’s base salary was reduced to $1, and he agreed to forego his annual cash bonus beginning in 2015 and through the rest of the term of the 2014-2018 LTIP. In 2015, Mr. Souki’s compensation was based on long-term incentive awards that were 100% performance-based.

For 2016, the Compensation Committee also reviewed the base salaries of our other NEOs. On December 18, 2015, the Compensation Committee recommended and the Board approved 3% base salary adjustments effective January 11, 2016 for our

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other NEOs. The increases were considered in line with planned increases by other energy companies based on market data. The following table provides the 2015 and 2016 base salaries of our NEOs.

Annual Incentive Program

Our annual incentive program is 100% performance-based and is delivered as a cash bonus. This performance-based structure incentivizes our NEOs to achieve near-term developmental, operating and corporate goals that support the creation of long-term shareholder value.

2015 Annual Incentive Program

In 2015, the Compensation Committee reviewed several near-term developmental, operating and corporate goals and achievements to determine annual incentive program funding and awards, including the following items highlighted below:

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The Compensation Committee discussed with management its performance against the near-term developmental, operating and corporate goals that were approved in March 2015. Each of the goals had been achieved.

As a result of our performance, in December 2015, the Compensation Committee recommended and the Board determined the Company had met performance targets, and it should pay annual cash bonuses at 100% of target payout for executives. The following annual cash bonuses under our Annual Cash Bonus Plan were approved for 2015.

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Long-Term Performance Incentive Program (“LTIP”)

2014 and 2015 Awards

During 2014, prior to implementing the 2014-2018 LTIP, no long-term incentive awards were granted other than new hire award grants. The Compensation Committee and the Board used 2014 to solicit feedback from shareholders and designed the 2014-2018 LTIP to appropriately incentivize our executive officers while taking shareholder views into account.

For the 2014 performance period under the 2014-2018 LTIP (beginning November 1, 2013 and ending October 31, 2014), our NEOs, including our former CEO, were granted phantom units on April 21, 2015 as a result of achieving stock price performance hurdles during the initial performance period.

For the 2015 performance period under the 2014-2018 LTIP (beginning November 1, 2014 and ending October 31, 2015), our NEOs, including our former CEO, did not receive an award of phantom units because the stock price performance hurdles were not achieved.

2014-2018 LTIP Design

On April 21, 2015, the Board approved the 2014-2018 LTIP. The plan replaced the long-term incentive plan originally proposed in 2014 and reflected feedback we received from our shareholder outreach.

The 2014-2018 LTIP is 100% performance-based and is intended to reward long-term performance measured against growth in the Company’s market capitalization, referred to in the plan documents as total shareholder value (“TSV”). The Board believes TSV is directly linked to the creation of long-term value for our shareholders and can serve as an objective assessment of our progress against key milestones. We expect the further achievement of these milestones to be the key drivers of growth in TSV.

The Compensation Committee views the 2014-2018 LTIP as a “bridge” program to attract, reward, and incentivize our executive officers and employees while we transition from a development-focused company to an LNG operator. As we transition to an operating company, the Compensation Committee expects to re-evaluate our long-term incentive plan and consider more traditional financial metrics.

Summary of Plan Design

For each performance period, a senior executive pool and a general pool will be funded up to a certain percentage of the growth in TSV provided that certain performance hurdles are met. Each pool will then be converted into phantom units based on the average 30-day stock price at the end of the performance period, which will be granted to our executive officers and employees. The 2014-2018 LTIP will be administered by the Compensation Committee.

Performance Periods

The term of the 2014-2018 LTIP commenced November 1, 2013 and consists of five consecutive annual performance periods ending October 31, 2018. Each performance period will begin on November 1 and end on October 31.

The Compensation Committee and the Board included 2014 performance as part of the 2014-2018 LTIP. The Compensation Committee and the Board considered goals and expectations discussed in 2013 during the initial design of the plan. As discussed below, based on the terms of the 2014-2018 LTIP, the Company granted an award for the 2014 performance period in order to recognize the Company’s strong performance in 2014. With respect to the second performance period, the performance hurdles were not met, resulting in no grant of phantom unit awards in 2016 for that period.

Performance Hurdles

In each performance period, the Company will measure its annual total shareholder return (“TSR”) and annualized cumulative TSR since the beginning of the performance period.

A minimum annual TSR and annualized cumulative TSR performance hurdle of 8% must be achieved each performance period for the pools to be funded. The maximum annual TSR and annualized cumulative TSR performance hurdles were set at 9%. The annual TSR and annualized cumulative TSR performance hurdles were set based on the expected average annual growth rate of

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similar companies in order to incentivize outperformance relative to the market. The definition of TSV Growth acts as a ‘high water mark’ that ensures awards are not granted on the same appreciation repeatedly. In addition to the annual and cumulative performance hurdles mentioned above, this ensures the funding of the phantom unit pool for any annual performance period is based only on appreciation over the highest TSV achieved in any prior performance period for which awards were paid.

The initial TSV that was used to calculate the annualized cumulative TSR was $8,362,445,350. For the first performance period that ended October 31, 2014 the TSV was $16,881,586,848 ($71.29 per share). Thus, the annual and annualized cumulative TSRs in the first performance period were 101.9%.

For the second performance period that ended October 31, 2015, the TSV was $11,591,267,296 ($49.11 per share). While the annualized cumulative TSR for the second period was met with growth of 17.7%, the annual TSR growth was not met, resulting in no phantom unit pool awarded for the 2015 performance period.

Maximum Compensation Caps

In order to respond to shareholder feedback about pay magnitude and concerns with incentive caps, the amount of the total senior executive pool potential was reduced, capped and is subject to downward adjustment at the discretion of the Compensation Committee.

The total percentages of growth in TSV that can be awarded are 2% of TSV growth for the senior executive pool and generally between 2% and 4% for the general pool. Our former CEO’s compensation was targeted at 50% of the senior executive pool. Additionally, the senior executive pool for each performance period is capped at an annual maximum amount equal to 1.5% of our common shares outstanding.

Funding of Pool

For each performance period, the plan will fund an aggregate phantom unit pool allocable to plan participants. Subject to the maximum caps described above, this pool will be denominated in a number of phantom units equal to:

TSV is defined as:

TSV Growth is the difference between the TSV for a performance period plus any TSV Growth carried over from a prior performance period as a result of the cap, if any, minus the highest TSV achieved in any prior performance period.

Average Closing Stock Price is the average of the closing stock prices on each day of trading that occurs during a period of 30 consecutive calendar days that ends on and includes the day immediately prior to the last day of the applicable performance period (October 30). It does not include any prices for weekends or holidays.

Phantom Units for the 2015 Performance Period

For the performance period from November 1, 2014 to October 31, 2015, the Compensation Committee determined that the performance hurdles were not met, and no phantom unit awards were made.

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Example—Multi-Year Scenarios for the Senior Executive Pool for the November 2015-October 2018 Performance Periods

Multi-year payout scenarios for the 2015 through 2018 performance periods are shown below assuming constant rates of increase in TSV of 15%, 25% and 35%, respectively. A 15% constant annual increase in TSV over the period beginning November 1, 2015 through October 31, 2018 would result in a total of approximately 1.85 million phantom units being granted ratably from the senior executive pool over the period. A 35% constant annual increase in TSV would result in approximately 3.68 million phantom units being granted ratably from the senior executive pool over the period. The estimated phantom units to be issued based on 15% and 35% growth scenarios would represent approximately .78% and 1.56%, respectively, of our total shares outstanding as of December 31, 2015.

Due to the fact that the annual TSR performance hurdle was not met as of the end of the second performance period, there were no annual awards made in 2016 in respect of the November 2014 through October 2015 performance period.

The Company’s stock price on the NYSE MKT LLC (“NYSE MKT”) at the beginning of the third performance period (11/1/2015) was $49.11 (a market capitalization of $11.59 billion). In order to receive an award under the 2014-2018 LTIP for the third performance period (November 1, 2015 to October 31, 2016), our stock price would need to appreciate to in excess of $71.29 per share (a market capitalization of $16.88 billion) by October 31, 2016, which would require an approximately 45% increase in TSV during the third performance period. This is due to a high water mark established in the 2014-2018 LTIP to ensure phantom units could not be granted on the same appreciation in value repeatedly.

Vesting Schedule

Phantom units to the extent earned under the 2014-2018 LTIP will be granted at the end of each performance period and will be settled in cash upon vesting. The phantom units awarded for each performance period will vest in three installments, with one-third of the phantom units vesting and becoming payable on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the date of grant. For the awards granted for the 2014 performance period, one-third of the phantom units vested and became payable on February 1, 2016; one-third will vest and become payable on February 1, 2017, and the remaining one-third will vest and become payable on February 1, 2018. No phantom units will be granted under the 2014-2018 LTIP in 2016 with respect to the 2015 performance period since all of the performance hurdles were not achieved.

Except as described below, plan participants will forfeit any unvested phantom units if the participant’s employment with the Company terminates for any reason prior to the applicable vesting dates. Any unvested phantom units will immediately vest and be payable to participants if (i) the Company terminates the participant’s employment without Cause or, in the case of executive officers, the executive officer terminates his or her employment with Good Reason (as defined under “Narrative to the Potential Payments upon Termination or Change-in-Control—Cash and Restricted Stock Awards”), (ii) the participant dies or incurs a Disability before such awards are fully vested, (iii) except in the case of a participant in the United Kingdom, the participant retires after age 65, or (iv) a Change of Control occurs (with each of these terms other than “Good Reason” as defined in the 2015 Long-Term Cash

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Incentive Plan). The following table shows the measurement periods, potential grant date and potential vesting schedules of the phantom units.

2015 Long-Term Performance Awards

A minimum annual TSR and annualized cumulative TSR performance hurdle of 8% must be achieved each performance period for the pools to be funded. While our Annualized Cumulative TSR growth was 17.7%, our Annual TSR was negative for the second performance period ending October 31, 2015. Due to the fact that all of these performance hurdles were not met as of October 31, 2015, there were no awards made in 2016 with respect to the second performance period.

2014 Long-Term Performance Awards (granted in April 2015)

Based on our TSR of 101.9% and TSV Growth of $8.519 billion for the first performance period ending October 31, 2014, the Compensation Committee recommended and the Board approved the following awards for 2014 performance. The phantom units were granted on April 21, 2015, and vest in three installments, with one-third of the phantom units which vested and became payable on February 1, 2016, one-third vesting and becoming payable on February 1, 2017 and the remaining one-third vesting and becoming payable on February 1, 2018.

Compensation and Benefits

We provide a limited number of other benefits to our NEOs that make our total compensation program competitive with the market.

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Benefits

We offer the same benefits package to all of our employees and executive officers.

We do not offer a defined benefit pension plan to any of our employees or executive officers.

Perquisites

Perquisites are not a significant part of our compensation program and are provided to the executive officers on a limited basis. Because our executive officers’ duties require them to spend a significant amount of time traveling, the Company occasionally pays for charter flights for business purposes and owns a corporate plane. Our executive officers’ personal guests were permitted to fly with them on these flights on limited occasions in 2015 at nominal or no incremental cost to the Company. In addition, Mr. Souki occasionally used the corporate plane for personal reasons. We pay for the costs of overseas assignments for all of our employees, including Ms. Gentle who has been assigned to our London office.

Compensation Arrangements for Overseas and Foreign NEOs

Given the nature of our business, it is important to have key leaders working outside of the U.S. and these positions require certain compensation arrangements.

Outside of arrangements with overseas or foreign employees and a letter agreement with our Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, we do not have employment agreements with our NEOs.

Ms. Gentle currently serves as Executive Vice President-Marketing of the Company and President of Cheniere Marketing. She began serving as Senior Vice President-Marketing of the Company and President of Cheniere Marketing in June 2013. On July 24, 2013, the Compensation Committee approved an Assignment Letter for Ms. Gentle to assign her to the London office, effective August 19, 2013 with an end date of August 15, 2015. On June 10, 2015, the Compensation Committee approved an extension to her assignment to the London office, to extend the term until August 18, 2016, unless it is terminated earlier on three months’ written notice or extended by mutual agreement. Ms. Gentle’s assignment may also be terminated if any required visa or work permit in the U.K. is withdrawn or refused. Ms. Gentle remains an at-will employee of the Company at all times during her assignment, subject to the existing terms and conditions of her employment. Ms. Gentle also continues to be eligible to participate in the Company’s annual cash bonus program and long-term incentive plan. We have agreed to a tax equalization arrangement so that Ms. Gentle will receive the same amount of compensation, after taxes, while on assignment as she would have received had she remained a resident in the U.S. Ms. Gentle will also receive certain allowances in connection with her assignment. Additional information about Ms. Gentle’s Assignment Letter is provided below in the “Narrative to the Summary Compensation & Grants of Plan-Based Awards Tables.”

Change of Control Agreements

In 2008, the Compensation Committee approved Change of Control Agreements for certain employees of the Company, including the NEOs, which provide for a potential cash payment payable upon a change-in-control of the Company.

The Change of Control Agreements were adopted in recognition that the possibility of a change-in-control existed and that such possibility, and the uncertainty it may create, may result in the distraction or departure of employees to the detriment of the Company and its shareholders. The Change of Control Agreements were designed to ensure that certain employees designated by management and confirmed by the Compensation Committee were not unduly distracted by the circumstances attendant to the possibility of a change-in-control and to encourage their continued attention and dedication to our necessary operations.

The Change of Control Agreements provide for the same formula for all participating employees. Specifically, upon a change-in-control, a cash payment in an amount equal to one times (1x) the employees’ base salaries in effect at or immediately prior to the change-in-control will be payable to participating employees.

The cash payments are payable within 30 days of the effective date of the change-in-control. A cessation of an employee’s employment at the previously designated level (including as a result of death or disability) for any reason, a termination of an employee other than for Cause (as defined in the Change of Control Agreements) and a termination by the employee for good

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reason that occurs not more than three months prior to a change-in-control will be deemed to be a termination of employment pursuant to a change-in-control, provided the employee demonstrates that such cessation or termination of employment was at the request of a third party who has taken steps reasonably calculated to effect a change-in-control or the employee’s termination otherwise arose in connection with or in anticipation of a change-in-control.

The Change of Control Agreements expire on December 31 of each calendar year, but are automatically extended for an additional year each January 1 unless the Compensation Committee determines, and the Company provides notice to employees, that the Change of Control Agreements will not be extended. The Compensation Committee intends to review the Change of Control Agreements in 2016 prior to their extension.

Compensation Process

The Compensation Committee, with the support of an independent compensation consultant and management, handles the development and implementation of our executive compensation program. The Compensation Committee makes recommendations to the Board regarding our executive officers’ compensation for the Board’s final approval.

Role of the Compensation Committee and Board

The Compensation Committee reviews and approves the performance goals established by management which are required to be achieved in order for our executive officers to earn performance-based compensation. The performance goals are consistent with the strategic business plan of the Company. The Compensation Committee reviews and recommends to the Board for approval the annual compensation, including the competitiveness of each component of the total compensation package, for our CEO and each executive officer. Key components of this process include:

Role of Management

Management and the Human Resources department support the Compensation Committee’s process.

Role of the Independent Compensation Consultant

The independent compensation consultant reports to the Compensation Committee Chairman and has direct access to Compensation Committee members. The independent compensation consultant attends Compensation Committee meetings on request and also meets with the Compensation Committee in executive session without management present.

In 2013, we engaged Pearl Meyer as our independent compensation consultant, and they served as our independent compensation consultant during 2014 and 2015.

With respect to engaging Pearl Meyer during 2015, we considered whether any conflict of interest existed under the SEC rules and NYSE MKT listing standards. We reviewed the following related to Pearl Meyer’s independence: (1) other services provided to us by Pearl Meyer; (2) fees paid by us as a percentage of Pearl Meyer’s total revenue; (3) policies or procedures maintained by Pearl Meyer that are designed to prevent a conflict of interest; (4) any business or personal relationships between the individual consultants involved in the engagement and a member of the Compensation Committee; (5) any Company stock owned by the individual consultants involved in the engagement; and (6) any business or personal relationships between our executive officers and Pearl

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Meyer or the individual consultants involved in the engagement. We concluded that there were no conflicts of interest that prevented Pearl Meyer from serving as an independent consultant to the Compensation Committee on executive compensation matters.

Peer Group and Benchmarking

Each year, the Compensation Committee, with the assistance of management and our independent compensation consultant, reviews external market data to determine the competitiveness of the total compensation package of our executive officers. The market data selected is representative of the energy industry within which we operate and includes companies with similar business activities and with which we compete for executive talent.

The Compensation Committee reviews the following components of each executive officer’s compensation relative to the amount paid to executives in similar positions within the market data: base salaries, annual cash bonuses and long-term incentive awards. The market data serves as a point of reference for measuring the compensation of each of our executive officers, but individual compensation decisions are made based on a combination of considerations, including the Company’s overall performance; the individual roles, responsibilities and performance of each of our executive officers and market competitiveness. The Compensation Committee does not adhere to a rigid benchmarking process in setting compensation; rather, information is used as a market reference for the Compensation Committee.

Survey Data & Peer Group

With assistance from management and Pearl Meyer, the Compensation Committee reviews our executive officers’ compensation against both nationally recognized published survey data, as well as proxy data from our peer group.

The following peer group was used as a market reference to our executive officers’ compensation in 2015.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Compensation Committee reviewed the Company’s peer group with its independent compensation consultant and management and determined to make adjustments to the peer group. Several factors were considered in making changes to the peer group, including market capitalization, enterprise value, public versus privately- held, industry focus, operating characteristics and stock price correlation.

AES Corp., AGL Resources Inc., Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P., EQT Corporation, NRG Energy Inc., Questar Corporation and Regency Energy Partners LP were removed from the peer group due to the size, industry, performance and/or acquisition activity. Ameren Corporation, Dominion Resources, Inc., DTE Energy Company, Enbridge Inc., Energy Transfer Equity, L.P., Enterprise Products Partners L.P., Kinder Morgan, Inc., Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P., PG&E Corporation, Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., Targa Resources Corp. and TransCanada Corporation were added to the peer group due to their similarities to the Company compared to the companies removed from the peer group.

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The following peer group was used as a market reference to our executive officers’ compensation in 2016 with the Company near the 50^th percentile in terms of market capitalization and enterprise value of the companies included therein.

Other Considerations

Stock Ownership Guidelines

Our Board believes that significant stock ownership by our executive officers strengthens their alignment with shareholders and demonstrates the executive officers’ commitment to the Company. We have implemented rigorous stock ownership guidelines as detailed below.

All non-employee directors and executive officers are expected to be in full compliance with the guidelines within five years of initial appointment to a position subject to the guidelines, with certain ownership thresholds that must be met in the interim period. If a non-employee director or executive officer is not in compliance with the guidelines, he or she is required to retain the entire after-tax value of Company stock received upon the vesting of stock awards and the exercise of stock options until the interim threshold requirements or compliance with the guidelines is achieved. The Board recognizes that there may be occasions in which the guidelines place a severe hardship on the individual and has delegated discretion to the Governance and Nominating Committee to determine whether an exemption should be granted to the individual in such instances. All of our non-employee directors and executive officers are in compliance with the guidelines.

Additional Considerations

The Compensation Committee will continue to evaluate further changes to its compensation policies and practices. We will at all times comply with SEC and NYSE MKT required compensation recoupment policies and practices, and intend to evaluate our current clawback practices and update our related policies and practices in the future.

Tax and Accounting Considerations

In designing our compensation programs, we take into account the various tax, accounting and disclosure rules associated with various forms of compensation. We also review and consider the deductibility of executive compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code and design our compensation programs with the intent that they comply with Section 409A of the

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Internal Revenue Code. We generally seek to preserve tax deductions for executive compensation but recognize that it may be beneficial to grant compensation that is not fully tax deductible when we believe it is in the best interests of the Company and our shareholders.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis required by Item 402(b) of Regulation S-K with management and, based on such review and discussions, the Compensation Committee recommended to the Board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Proxy Statement.

THE COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

Nuno Brandolini, Chairman

Heather R. Zichal

David B. Kilpatrick

Samuel Merksamer

SUMMARY COMPENSATION

The following table and narrative text sets forth the total compensation awarded to, earned by or paid to our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Chief Financial Officer and three other most highly compensated executive officers for 2015, who are referred to as our “NEOs” in the following compensation tables. Effective December 12, 2015, Charif Souki ceased to serve as our Chairman, CEO and President, and Neal Shear began serving as our Interim CEO and President. The total 2015 compensation for Messrs. Souki and Shear is reported in the below table.

Summary Compensation Table