He became one of the most important people in the field of gas exploitation and is considered the king of fracking.
Aubrey McClendon He was born in Oklahoma on July 14, 1959. He was one of the most successful businessmen in the energy field. His company, Chesapeake Energy, now called Expand Energywas a pioneer in exploration and production methods. He developed important advances in the methodology known as Frackingor hydraulic fracturing.
In addition, he had an important position in an NBA basketball team, the Oklahoma City Thunders, being part of the group that carried out the relocation of the stadium from Seattle to Oklahoma in 2008. On March 1, 2006, he was accused of manipulating bids to purchase oil and natural gas leases in northwest Oklahoma and died the next day in a car accident.
Aubrey McClendon
Who was Aubrey McClendon?
Born in Oklahoma City, the son of Carole Kerr and Joe Connor McClendon, he was also the great-nephew of Robert S. Kerr, Governor of Oklahoma and later a United States Senator representing this State. In his teens, he started his landscaping business, where he met Shannon Self, who would later become an important member of his future company. He studied at Duke University, in Duhram, North Carolina. There he met his wife, Kathleen Upton Byrns.
McClendon created Chesapeake Energy in 1989 with Tom Ward. They focused on the development of unconventional hydrocarbons and from 1994 to 1997 the company’s valuation grew by 274%, becoming the most successful in the country. In 2005, Forbes included McClendon on a list of the most prominent executives and in 2008 he became the highest-paid CEO in the sector, receiving $112 million annually.
The Chesapeake event led McClendon’s profits to exceed one billion dollars in 2012, but after an internal conflict that reached court, he left office in mid-2013.
The Aubrey McClendon Debacle
On March 1, 2016, a federal grand jury indicted McClendon for violating antitrust laws and conspiring to drive down prices paid for oil and natural gas leases by allegedly rigging the bidding process. The indictment says he orchestrated a conspiracy in which two oil and gas companies conspired not to compete with each other to purchase leases in northwest Oklahoma. It is believed to have taken place from December 2007 to March 2012.
According to the indictment, the companies would decide in advance who would win the bids, and the winner would then allocate a share of the leases to the other company, eliminating open and competitive bidding with landowners.
The day after this accusation, the tycoon died in a strange car accident where he was alone.
Source: Ambito
