The trials and tribulations of America's natural gas king: A guide

Aubrey McClendon turned Chesapeake Energy into the country's second-largest producer of natural gas, but his alleged reckless greed has landed him in big trouble

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon watches the Oklahoma City Thunder play: The billionaire owns 19 percent of the NBA franchise and got his company to sign a $36 million sponsorship
(Image credit: AP Photo/Sue Ogrock)

In 1989, Aubrey McClendon started Chesapeake Energy with 10 employees. Today, the company is the country's second-largest producer of natural gas after Exxon Mobil; it got to that place using a controversial drilling technique known as fracking to tap into previously inaccessible reservoirs of natural gas in shale rock. McClendon has been hailed as a visionary in the industry, and analysts say fracking could one day make America energy-independent for the first time in modern history. But lately, McClendon has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Chesapeake shareholders say he is running the company into the ground, and he has also been accused of financial mismanagement, cronyism, and insatiable greed. Some are even calling for him to step down from the empire he built from scratch. Here, a guide to McClendon's trials and tribulations:

How did McClendon build his empire?

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us