‘America’s most reckless billionaire’ dies in fiery crash, one day after being charged with bid-rigging

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Aubrey McClendon’s SUV burns after it smashed into a bridge at high speed in Jones, Oklahoma, on Wednesday morning, killing the billionaire. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:56am, 4 Mar 2016Updated: 9:56am, 4 Mar 2016

At 09.12am on Wednesday morning Aubrey McClendon, billionaire sports’ team owner, oil executive and “visionary” pioneer of the US fracking revolution, “pretty much drove straight into” a bridge on a quiet country road in Oklahoma.

His 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe burst into flames instantly killing the 56-year-old executive, who was not wearing a seatbelt.

The crash, which did not involve any other vehicles, came just hours after McClendon, was charged by the Justice Department with conspiring to rig bidding for oil and gas contracts over several years.

McClendon, who built his former oil company Chesapeake Energy into the US’s second-biggest natural gas producer with seed money of just US$50,000, had on Tuesday night vowed to “fight to prove my innocence and to clear my name”.

Aubrey McClendon attends an NBA game involving the Oklahoma City Thunder. Photo: AP

“The charge that has been filed against me today is wrong and unprecedented,” he said in a statement late on Tuesday night. “I have been singled out as the only person in the oil and gas industry in over 110 years ... to have been accused of this crime in relation to joint bidding on leasehold.

“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 antitrust laws. All my life I have worked to create jobs in Oklahoma, grow its economy, and to provide abundant and affordable energy to all Americans. I am proud of my track record in this industry, and I will fight to prove my innocence and to clear my name.”