Stocking up
Tom L. Ward, chairman of SandRidge Energy.
Tom Ward, chairman of Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy, gathered up some spare change last week and bought a piece of something that he knows pretty well: His own company.
On Monday through Wednesday, Ward spent more than $34 million to buy 690,000 shares of SandRidge on the open market (that is, paying the same price you and I would have paid). Ward now directly owns 25.2 million shares of the company, and through his TLW Properties LLC, beneficially owns more than 37 million shares. At Friday’s closing price of $50.75, Ward’s SandRidge stake is worth a tidy $1.9 billion. SandRidge shares, by the way, are up more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year.
Ward’s buying spree is no surprise to observers of local public companies. Ward and his fellow founder of Chesapeake Energy, Aubrey McClendon, bought large chunks of Chesapeake stock in lockstep until Ward left the company in August 2006. Since that time, McClendon has become even more bullish on Chesapeake. This year, he has spent more than $90 million to boost his multi-billion dollar stake in Chesapeake.
Aubrey McClendon, chairman of Chesapeake Energy.
It’s certainly something that stockholders and potential buyers like to see. A longtime local broker calls it “having some skin in the game” when a CEO lets his cash ride with the common shareholders.
A few months ago, I asked McClendon why he would spend so much to buy his stock, he said the market has undervalued the company’s shares. So far, he’s been right in a big way. Apparently, Ward believes the same thing about his company.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
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