Bingo! And Pickens knows it.
As a two good friends of mine in the Oklahoma oil business said to me this morning, “Boone Pickens is ALL about his hedge fund.” He knows there is an inevitability to the need to develop alternatives and he wants to get there first. I guess you can’t blame him for that, but it ain’t altruism.
Aubrey McClendon, who is one of those folks that Oklahomans seem to call by his first name only, is a whip-smart conservative, with outstanding business skills and a boatload of good luck. HIs agreement with Pickens is good business, but he is also a true philanthropist—someone you love to see get more money because he will spend it well.