Chesapeake Energy Corp said on Tuesday that Aubrey McClendon will step down as chief executive after a tumultuous year in which a series of Reuters investigations triggered civil and criminal probes of the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer.News of the executive's plan to depart on April 1 boosted the company's shares by 9 percent. The stock has made a partial recovery since losing almost half its value last spring after a Reuters report opened the company and its co-founder up to intense scrutiny.Federal regulators and Chesapeake's board are both looking into whether McClendon, 53, blurred the line between his personal dealings and those of the company, and into possible antitrust violations. Big shareholders took control of the board in June after he was stripped of his title as chairman of the company he cofounded in 1989.The internal deliberations that led to McClendon's departure remain unclear. The findings of the board's probe will be released next month, but Chesapeake said in a statement that the review has "to date found no improper conduct."
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (Chesapeake) is a natural gas and oil exploration and production company. Shares of CHK traded higher by 0.21% or $0.04/share to $18.97. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $13.32 and as high as $26.09. On average, 13476300 shares of CHK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 11382816.
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