Mr McClendon, 56, was killed on Wednesday morning when his car crashed into a concrete pillar Oklahoma City and caught alight. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident, though Captain Paco Balderrama has informed members of the press that Mr McClendon was traveling 'well above' the 40 miles per hour speed limit and had driven 'pretty much straight into the wall'. 'There was plenty of opportunity for him to correct or get back on the roadway and that didn't occur,' said Captain Balderrama. A full investigation into the accident could take up to two weeks.
Antitrust charges
On Tuesday, Mr McClendon was indicted by the US Department of Justice over his alleged role in fixing bids for oil and gas leases while he was the chief executive of Chesapeake. The indictment was the first charge brought after a four-year federal investigation into antitrust activity in the oil and natural gas industry. The DoJ alleges that Mr McClendon conspired with two other unnamed energy companies in an antitrust scheme which ran from 2007 until 2012, before McClendon's exit from Chesapeake in 2013. Under the alleged arrangement, the three companies would 'fix' ahead of time which company would have the winning bid for various oil and gas leases before offers were made, and then split the contract after it was awarded.
Allegations denied
Mr McClendon had denied wrongdoing, describing the allegations against him as 'wrong and unprecedented'. 'Anyone who knows me, my business record and the industry in which I have worked for 35 years, knows that I could not be guilty of violating any anti-trust laws,' Mr McClendon said in a statement released the day before his death. Known for his aggressive business style, Mr McClendon was forced out of Chesapeake in 2013 following board concerns about his spending behaviour and corporate governance practices. Under his leadership, Chesapeake had grown to become the second-biggest natural gas producer in the United States after Exxon Mobil. 'He was charismatic and a true American entrepreneur. No individual is perfect, but his impact on American energy will be long-lasting,' said fellow oilman T. Boone Pickens in a New York Times tribute to Mr McClendon.
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