Icahn spends $785M on Chesapeake Energy stake

NEW YORK — Activist investor Carl Icahn is taking a stake in Chesapeake Energy Corp. and calling for at least four of company’s directors to be replaced.

Icahn spent about $785 million to buy 50.1 million shares, or 7.6 percent, of the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer. Chesapeake has been hit hard by falling natural gas prices. It is also being criticized for allowing CEO Aubrey McClendon to borrow money from companies that do business with Chesapeake, and allowing him the perk of buying personal stakes in company wells.

Icahn says he wants to name two directors to Chesapeake’s board and that another big shareholder like Southeastern Asset Management should name two other directors.

Icahn briefly invested in Oklahoma City company in 2010.