| Chesapeake Energy Corp. says that Aubrey McClendon, its co-founder and chief executive officer, involuntarily sold substantially all of his stock in the company last week in order to "meet margin loan calls."
A press release by McClendon said "I am very disappointed to have been required to sell substantially all of my shares of Chesapeake. These involuntary and unexpected sales were precipitated by the extraordinary circumstances of the worldwide financial crisis. In no way do these sales reflect my view of the company's financial position or my view of Chesapeake's future performance potential."
Chesapeake reported that McClendon owned 5.5 percent of the company's stock or 29.5 million shares. That stake in Chesapeake would have been worth $2.2 billion on July 2, when Chesapeake's stock traded at a 52-week high of $74 a share.
The stake would have been worth $353.7 million on Friday, when McClendon's sales were revealed and the stock hit a 52-week low of $11.99 a share, according to the company.
McClendon was listed last month in Forbes Magazine's annual list of the 400 richest Americans at No. 134 - a net worth of $3 billion.
Chesapeake entered West Virginia in 2005 when it bought Columbia Natural Resources for $2.2 billion.
The company, according to some sources, is now the largest producer of natural gas in the United States.
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