* McClendon had recently reached an undisclosed, tentative agreement to pay at least $3 million to Chesapeake to settle a legal dispute in which his former company had accused him of taking confidential data with him when he left in 2013 to set up his new company.
* By fighting the U.S. criminal indictment, he faced a potential public airing of his business tactics. McClendon's own emails were expected to represent the bulk of the government's evidence against him, say two people familiar with the matter.
As authorities try to determine what caused the fatal crash, those who knew McClendon are also searching for answers. The Aubrey they knew had a reputation for overspending on land leases, not conspiring to keep prices low. They say he was an eternal optimist, a visionary who helped revolutionize an industry and shape the city he called home.
The Aubrey McClendon who was expected at the Beacon Club dinner hadn't simply weathered passing storms. Often, he had tamed them.
High-Level Justice Meetings
McClendon knew he was under criminal investigation: AEP disclosed in a filing last year with U.S. securities regulators that the Justice Department was investigating him over the potential antitrust violations. His former company, Chesapeake, has been cooperating with authorities in return for "conditional leniency" from the Justice Department. As a result, Chesapeake has said, the company did not expect to face prosecution or penalties.
But the indictment caught McClendon off guard, according to people familiar with the matter.
His legal team had met with senior Justice Department prosecutors three times in late 2015 to try to persuade them not to indict McClendon, a person familiar with the matter said. McClendon had been expecting a response; instead, he was indicted without warning, the person said.
Reflecting the gravity of the probe, last fall McClendon hired famed trial attorney Abbe Lowell, who has represented politicians, lobbyists and entertainers in trouble. Among his past clients: former U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards and rap star Sean "Diddy" Combs. Lowell was chief counsel for the defense during President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate.
In December, McClendon's lawyers gave a PowerPoint presentation to Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer at the Justice Department in Washington, two people familiar with the matter said.