Politics

How the Kings of Fracking Double-Crossed Their Way to Riches

Classy Gas

Chesapeake Energy financed a turnaround on the backs of rural landowners who've been cheated out of royalties for the gas under their feet.

articles/2014/03/13/how-chesapeake-energy-the-kings-of-fracking-double-crossed-their-way-to-riches/140312-propublica-fracking-farm_hhfp4g
Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica

By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica

At the end of 2011, Chesapeake Energy, one of the nation’s biggest oil and gas companies, was teetering on the brink of failure.

Its legendary chief executive officer, Aubrey McClendon, was being pilloried for questionable deals, its stock price was getting hammered and the company needed to raise...

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