As we first reported on Tuesday — not really, but it makes us sound official — Aubrey McClendon is "retiring" as the CEO of Chesapeake Energy. After speaking to a couple of high-ranking Ogle Moles, I've gathered that Aubrey's retirement was almost as big of a surprise to him as it was to everyone else. He was apparently pushed out by the big investors in the company and given the choice of taking the low road or high road out. He took the high one. Good for him.
Outside of Boone Pickens, Aubrey McClendon may be the most complex personality in Oklahoma business history. Him and his legacy is difficult to define. Although he's leaving the company in a financial mess and with a damaged reputation, he's the reason we have a Chesapeake Energy in the first place. Under his leadership (or what other people call luck and shady financial engineering), Chesapeake has grown from a fledgling start-up to one of the largest energy companies in the world. The rise of the natural gas power has literally transformed our city. It's improved our economy and quality of life, and most importantly, helped triggered the Oklahoma City renaissance that all the chamber folks, civic leaders and national magazine writers remind us about whenever they get a chance.
All that being said, the way Aubrey's managed the company over the past few years seems to overshadow all the positive things he's done for the city. The success and stability of Chesapeake is vital to Oklahoma City's continued growth, and thanks to Aubrey's callousness, greed, and general disregard for rules and ethic, the future of the company is now jeopardy. I doubt Chesapeake will be acquired or anything like that. They're in such a mess that nobody really wants them. But the company's on a really shaky foundation...and it has nothing to do with red dirt.