Cheniere Energy Inc. shareholders delivered a rebuke to the best-paid U.S. executive, saying in a vote that they opposed his $142 million pay package.

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

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

Cheniere's shares rose 0.9 percent to 84.29 at the close in New York Wednesday.