CEO Bob Simpson earned about $100 million from the sale of nearly 2.8 million shares of XTO early last week, as he raced to beat the meltdown of the market and his stock.

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon has a former Oklahoma governor (Frank Keating) and U.S. Senator (Don Nickles) on his Oklahoma City-based company’s board of directors. That seems only fitting. McClendon’s great uncle, Robert S. Kerr, co-founded Kerr-McGee and served as Oklahoma governor and senator.

Acquisition numbers tell the story for XTO Energy Inc., the fast-growing oil and natural gas firm based in Fort Worth.