Good morning and welcome to CONSOL Energy 's Annual Meeting Of Stockholders. I would now like to introduce the first presenter, Chairman Bill Powell.
Thank you, Danny. Good morning and welcome to the CONSOL Energy annual meeting of stockholders. I am Bill Powell, the Chairman of CONSOL Energy ' Board of Directors and Chairman of this meeting. I now call the meeting to order. Today's virtual-only meeting is a live webcast. Like last year, we made a decision to host the meeting in a virtual-only format this year due to the public health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy during this time, and thank you for participating in our virtual meeting today. We believe in engaging with our stockholders and hope that this virtual meeting will maximize the participation of stockholders regardless of their location. I would like to welcome our other board members who are in attendance today, as well as members of our management team.
At this time, I would like to introduce each of the members of the Board of Directors of CONSOL Energy Jimmy Brock, who is also our President and CEO of the company; Sophie Bergeron, who is also Chair of our Health, Safety, and Environmental Committee; John Mills, who is also Chair of our Audit Committee; Joe Platt, who chairs our Compensation Committee; and Ed Roberson, who is also Chair of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Representatives of Ernst & Young, CONSOL Energy independent auditors, are also in attendance. They are available to respond to appropriate questions and to make a statement if they desire to do so. I will call your attention to the meeting agenda and rules of conduct that we will follow for this meeting. These are made available to each stockholder by clicking on the Materials button at the lower right corner of the attendees' console.
Tony Caridio, a representative of Broadridge Financial Solutions, who is appointed to serve as the Inspector of Election at this meeting, is also in attendance. He has taken a note as the Inspector of Election, and in this capacity, he will determine the presence of a quorum and judge the voting on all matters requiring a stockholder vote at this meeting. Martha Wiegand, the General Counsel and Secretary of CONSOL Energy , will act as Secretary of this meeting. Martha will now report on the list of stockholders, the mailing of proxy materials for the annual meeting, and the quorum. Martha.
Thank you, Bill, and thanks to everyone for attending today. If you joined this meeting as a stockholder using a control number, a list of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting is available for viewing by clicking on the Materials button on the lower right corner of the attendee console and then clicking on the Registered Shareholder List button at the bottom of the Materials panel. The stockholders will be at the table during the entire meeting. Either a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or a Notice of this Annual Meeting, together with a proxy statement and form of proxy, were mailed to all stockholders of record. We have received an affidavit of mailing signed by a manager of Broadridge Financial Solutions, confirming that the mailing commenced on March 19, 2021. This affidavit will be filed with the minutes of the meeting.
If you should need a copy of the 2021 proxy statement or 2020 annual report during the meeting, the links are available by clicking on the Materials button on the attendee console. As of the close of business on the record date, there were 34,365,940 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting. Based on the tabulation of proxies received from the Inspector of Election just prior to commencement of this meeting, the Inspector of Election has determined we have a quorum present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting, representing the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote at the meeting.
Thank you, Martha. Since the existence of a quorum has been reported for purposes of transacting the business of this meeting, I now declare this meeting is legally convened. As described in detail in our proxy statement, there are three matters properly before this meeting for action by stockholders, each of which has been described in detail in the proxy statement furnished to all stockholders. To summarize, the proposals are as follows: first, electing two Class 1 Director nominees and two Class 3 Director nominees, each to serve on the board for a one-year term expiring at the 2022 annual meeting of the company's stockholders. The Class 1 nominees for election to the board are James A. Brock and Sophie Bergeron, and the Class 3 nominees for election to the board are John Mills and myself, Bill Powell.
Second, to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young as CONSOL Energy independent registered public accounting firm for 2021. Third, approving on an advisory basis a resolution regarding the compensation of CONSOL Energy named executive officers for 2020. There will be time for discussion of the proposals after the polls have been opened for voting. You may submit questions online by clicking on the Q&A button. No Director nominations or other proposals were received in accordance with the Advance Notice provision of CONSOL Energy bylaws or SEC's proxy rules, so I declare that nominations for Directors are now closed. The board recommends stockholders vote for each of the Director nominees in Proposal 1, for the ratification of Ernst & Young in Proposal 2, and for the approval of the compensation of named executive officers in Proposal 3. At this time, the polls are open for voting on these matters.
For the purposes of efficiency, since most stockholders have voted by proxy prior to the meeting, we will conduct the vote on all these matters simultaneously. Any stockholder who wishes to vote at this time may now do so using the link provided online. Remember, if you have voted by proxy, you should not vote again now unless you specifically desire to revoke your proxy. We'll pause here for a minute for voting. Okay, thank you. We will now address any proper business relating to these proposals. If you have a question specific to the proposals being voted on, please submit it by clicking on the Q&A button and include in the message field your name, city of residence, and whether you're a stockholder of record or a proxy for a stockholder.
If you have any questions or comments on other topics, management will do its best to address them after the meeting has concluded. I'll pause for a moment for questions.
Bill, at this time, we have received no questions.
Thank you, Martha. Since there's no other proper business for consideration by the stockholders at this meeting, I now declare the polls closed and direct the Inspector of Election to tabulate the votes. Our Secretary will now provide a preliminary report of the results. Martha?
Thank you, Bill. Based on the votes received prior to the meeting, I will now announce the preliminary results of voting. Each of the Class 1 and Class 3 Director nominees has been elected, the appointment of Ernst & Young as CONSOL Energy independent registered public accounting firm for 2021 has been approved, and the compensation for CONSOL Energy ' named executive officers for 2020 has been approved. Please note that these results are preliminary until we receive a final report from the Inspector of Election. After we receive this final report, CONSOL Energy will disclose the final results on a Form 8-K filed with the SEC.
Thank you, Martha. Since there's no other business to be brought before this meeting, I hereby adjourn the official portion of this annual meeting. Jimmy Brock, the President and Chief Executive Officer of CONSOL Energy , who's also a Director, would like to say a few words and close the meeting. Jimmy?
Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everyone. 2020 was a very challenging year for our employees, shareholders, financial partners, and communities within our operations. The year was dominated by uncertainties and stakeholder concerns as we were impacted by the unprecedented decline in global energy demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I am very pleased with the response of our team. As we met the challenge head-on, we managed to achieve many milestones and advanced our strategic objectives in the midst of a very challenging situation. We moved early in 2020 to amend our credit agreement and secure covenant relaxation with our banks, implemented multiple cost and CapEx reduction targets, executed several transactional opportunities to bolster our liquidity, and capped off the year by completing the CCR merger.
Despite the reduced earnings versus 2019, we made net payments of $67 million on our outstanding debt, and we generated $53 million of free cash flow in 2020, which we believe is a tremendous accomplishment in the midst of a global pandemic. I'm extremely proud of the execution of our team as we navigated through the pandemic in 2020 and how we've set ourselves up for future success. Additional information on our company and its performance can be found on our website at www.corenaturalresources.com. On behalf of our entire executive management team and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank our shareholders for their overwhelming support. This concludes our meeting. We appreciate your attendance and your support of CONSOL Energy . Thank you once again for attending today, and this will now conclude the meeting.