McClendon probate claims due Sept. 16
A nearly $10 million donation pledge to Duke University, a $22.6 million loan for a private aircraft and a $600,000 lease for tractor equipment are among the growing number of claims recently filed against the estate of Aubrey McClendon.
Under a July 13 order by Judge Richard W. Kirby, all claims against the estate must be presented to the court by Sept. 16.
The Oklahoma City natural gas magnate and philanthropist died in a car crash March 2, leaving behind a complicated estate that includes more than 180 limited liability companies, partnerships, corporations and other organizations.
The $9.94 million claim from McClendon’s alma mater states that McClendon in February 2013 and April 2015 pledged a total of $18.75 million to Duke University, including $5 million for scholarships, $5 million for the football program and $4.5 million for a student plaza.
By the time of his death, McClendon had paid $8.8 million of the pledge, leaving the balance of about $9.94 million.
A university spokesman said in a statement that the claim is a “routine transaction” and that it is common for estate executors to solicit claims from charitable organizations with pledges that were not fulfilled at the time of death.
“Aubrey McClendon was one of Duke’s most passionate and generous alumni,” Mike Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president of public affairs and government relations, said in the statement. “He, his wife Katie and their three children, who all graduated from Duke, have given or pledged more than $20 million for many worthy causes at the university, from scholarships and athletics to student centers and the
spectacular pipe organ in the Duke Chapel. We will always be thankful for their generosity.”
In another filing made public this week, CIT Finance LLC said the estate owes it $22.6 million, plus $57,218 interest, as the balance of a $25.5 million loan originated in December 2014. The money was borrowed by Arcadia Capital Aviation Co. LLC and guaranteed by McClendon, the filing states.
Other claims include a $610,710 lease from Deere Credit Inc. for farm equipment borrowed by Arcadia Farm LLC and more than $9,000 claimed by American Express Bank.
The largest claimant in the case is the Wilmington Trust, which says it is owed $464 million, plus interest, on a loan originated in Nov. 2014.
The Wilmington Trust is one of at least two creditors that have claimed in probate proceedings that McClendon’s estate is insolvent.
McClendon attorney Martin Stringer, however, has disputed the claims that the estate is underwater.
“He’s making an assumption the estate’s insolvent today. And I think none of us can sit here today and make that,” Stringer stated during a May 13 hearing. “It depends on commodity prices. It depends on how we’re allowed, and personal representative’s allowed, to conduct the business between now and the time the creditors file the estate. So to make a statement that we’re insolvent today is just incorrect. Because nobody has facts. And when the inventory and accounting is filed, we’ll know whether we’re insolvent or not.”
Besides its interest in numerous oil and natural gas and real estate properties, McClendon’s estate also owns a roughly 20 percent stake in the Oklahoma City Thunder — which Stringer has said is not for sale — and a wine collection estimated to be worth up to $7.6 million. The wine is set to be sold at auction Sept. 17 and is listed on the website of Hart Davis Hart Wine Co.