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Aubrey McClendon Probate Claims Surpass $1 Billion

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon speaks during the opening of a compressed natural gas filling station in Oklahoma City, Sept. 8, 2009.
AP
Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon speaks during the opening of a compressed natural gas filling station in Oklahoma City, Sept. 8, 2009.

Claims against the estate of Chesapeake Energy's founder and former CEO have topped $1 billion.

The creditors who filed claims against Aubrey McClendon’s estate include banks and other lenders. At least two of those claims stem from lawsuits. One of the lawsuits is ongoing, but the other claim involves a purported settlement agreement between McClendon and the company he founded, Chesapeake Energy, The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt reports:

In an Oct. 13 filing, the estate revealed parts of Chesapeake’s claim: enforcement of an alleged settlement agreement between McClendon and the company he founded or, in the alternative, damages in excess of $445 million. Terms of the settlement were not provided in the filing, and Chesapeake’s claim has not been filed with the court. The claim from Wilmington Trust contains combined, unpaid loans from Goldman Sachs and other lenders, according to court documents. It totals $464.3 million. Other debts lodged in court include more than $22 million for an aircraft purchase plus millions in real estate loans. “I’d be surprised if there was (a claim as big),” said probate attorney Rick Denker, who is not involved in the McClendon case. “Very few people are worth that kind of money, and I don’t know that he is.”

McClendon’s net worth fell to less than $500 million in 2012, which dropped him off the Forbes list of the richest Americans shortly before he was ousted from the company he founded.

Beyond energy, McClendon also held a stake in the Oklahoma City Thunder and oversaw various other business ventures:

“I couldn’t even begin to think of how many lawyers are probably going through every single agreement that he entered into,” [energy sector analyst Mark] Hanson said. “While I could never speculate on his overall position, I know he was an executive and kind of a guy who seemed to thrive on moving quickly, building big things but often doing so with other people’s money. That’s certainly how he operated at Chesapeake, so it’s certainly not surprising to see the number of claims now emerging.” Denker said that if the estate can’t come up with enough cash to satisfy the claims, they will be prioritized and paid out proportionately. “That will take a while,” he said. “They still have to inventory the assets, see what’s available. Then they have to determine the validity of each of the creditors’ claims.” Several claims have already been partially accepted, including the Wilmington Trust claim and a $5.3 million loan tied to McClendon’s Singapore Dunes real estate development in Michigan. One rejected claim is by Tulsa resident Thomas Quinn, who wrote that in 1991 he loaned McClendon $500,000, which came due in 2015. According to documents submitted along with Quinn’s claim, no payments were made on the loan for 14 years and the promissory note did not include a payment schedule.

McClendon died in a March 2 single-vehicle crash in a remote part of northeast Oklahoma City. Police said there was no evidence the collision with a retaining wall near the Turner Turnpike was anything other than an accident.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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