Reflecting On the Death of Shale Pioneer Aubrey McClendon

Reflecting on the Death of Shale Pioneer Aubrey McClendon

Aubrey McClendon’s death was a shock. It was a car accident but it is also fairly obvious it was a suicide. Suicide is tragic whether it was a homeless person or a billionaire. One can call it self-murder and conclude that it is really the result of mental illness. Mental health is important and we should all endeavor to help one another keep mentally healthy as best we can. As an issue it should be better addressed in our society. I admire Aubrey as a true innovator, a risk-taker, a hard worker with a deep entrepreneurial spirit. Many of us awed at his uncanny ability to raise money. I also sometimes snarled toward him for his greed and excesses. It seems he would have well survived his indictment for bid rigging leases, which he knew was at least borderline illegal and such actions may not be all that uncommon in a segment of the industry where too much competition can over-inflate values. Perhaps it was the financial burden of being recently cutoff by his financers for future cash flow that did him in, I don’t know. It seemed as if he and his lawyers were ready to fight the indictment. My son is a business major and noted that McClendon's capital-raising exploits were given as an example of the art of leverage in business. He had heroic qualities but his suicide can also be seen as a failure. It reminded me in a way of the rash of suicides by farmers in India unable to compete with more cash-flow intensive industrial farming. It also reminds me of the uncertain fate of many oil and gas and coal workers without a job or current cash-flow, including myself. Failure happens and it is usually temporary. It’s OK. We can keep trying and we can try new things. There is always opportunity for something new and good even if it takes a while to find it. America is the land of billionaires. As of 2015 there were 536 U.S. billionaires. Next is China with 213, then Germany with 103. One billionaire and possibly two will be running for president. Several other billionaires are seeking to influence the elections, from both the right and the left. Billionaires have a lot of money and a lot of influence – probably way too much of both. The fossil fuel industries made a few of those billionaires but it has also made people broke. Capitalism seems to involve both skill and luck. Even so, it is by far the most successful system humans have concocted to create value, innovate, and raise the overall standard of living. Although I do not like to side with the likes of Occupy Wall Street and Bernie Sanders I do think income inequality is problematic and we do need to do something about it – but I think that needs to come from the corporate board rooms and not from government. Aubrey had been called “America’s most reckless billionaire,” and perhaps the style of his death exemplified that role. But, wealth is not happiness and we all know this. I think Aubrey should have stuck it out. I think he let us down but like us he was only human and we all have faults. He should be mostly remembered for his significant contributions to the oil and gas business and for his laudable philanthropic pursuits. May his friends and family find peace.