Aubrey K. McClendon

Aubrey K. McClendon has been CEO of Chesapeake Energy since co-founding it back in 1989. In 2008, he was the highest-paid CEO of all S&P 500 companies. At one point he was also company chairman, but in 2012 was replaced in this role.  During his time with the firm, McClendon has developed a reputation for being unorthodox and outspoken, especially in his passionate advocacy of natural gas as a cleaner and safer alternative to oil and coal fuels. This is probably what rendered him to receive the 2011 title of “America’s Most Reckless Billionaire” by Forbes in 2011.  Still, others might disagree as Bill described him as “at the forefront of those heroes” of the American natural gas industry.