"HOUSTON -- Aubrey K. McClendon built Chesapeake Energy into the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas through a combination of debt, foresight, luck and sheer bravado. Now both he and the company have been forced to add humility to the mix."

"After two weeks of mounting shareholder criticism about Mr. McClendon’s unusual compensation plan, Chesapeake announced on Tuesday that it would replace him as chairman and prematurely end an arrangement that granted him the right to buy a 2.5 percent stake in every well the company drilled.

Hours later, the company reported disappointing first-quarter earnings and said it would further scale back its gas drilling plans amid a continued glut that Chesapeake’s own aggressive expansion helped create."

Clifford Krauss And Michael J. de la Merced report for the New York Times May 1, 2012. [2]