In between dealing with margin calls, Aubrey McClendon spent some of 2009 liquidating his famously well-stocked wine cellar in the non-fun way. In vino veritas, as it turns out: McClendon’s vintage version of the financial crisis, after his meteoric rise at the helm of fracking pioneer Chesapeake Energy Corp., embodied the wild successes, excesses and lasting hangover of the shale boom.
That same year, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein published a report titled “Will Chesapeake’s Board Please Stand Up?”, calling for reform of the company’s almost laughable governance. McClendon eventually stepped down (he died in 2016), and Chesapeake embarked on an effort to clean itself up. While its fortunes have waxed and waned since, they’ve mostly waned. Earlier this month, its sub-$1 stock was threatened with de-listing from the New York Stock Exchange
That same year, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein published a report titled “Will Chesapeake’s Board Please Stand Up?”, calling for reform of the company’s almost laughable governance. McClendon eventually stepped down (he died in 2016), and Chesapeake embarked on an effort to clean itself up. While its fortunes have waxed and waned since, they’ve mostly waned. Earlier this month, its sub-$1 stock was threatened with de-listing from the New York Stock Exchange