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Vicki Hollub

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Vicki Hollub
Hollub in 2021
Born1960 (age 63–64)[1]
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Alabama (BS)
TitlePresident and CEO, Occidental Petroleum
TermApril 2016–
PredecessorStephen Chazen

Vicki Hollub (born 1960) is an American businesswoman and mineral engineer.[1][2][3] She has been the president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum since April 2016;[1][4][5] the first woman to lead a major American oil company.[6]

Early life

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Vicki Hollub was born in 1960[1][3][7] in Birmingham, Alabama[8] and graduated in 1977 from McAdory High School.[9] She attended the University of Alabama, and in 1981 earned[9] a bachelor's degree (BS) in mineral engineering[4] with a concentration in fuels and mineral resources.[9] Hollub was in the 2016 class of Distinguished Engineering Fellows from the University of Alabama College of Engineering.[4]

Career

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Joining Occidental and Permian expansion

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Initially working on oil rigs in Mississippi,[7] Hollub started her career in 1981 with Cities Service,[9] when it was a fully integrated oil and gas company. Cities Service was acquired by Occidental Petroleum Corporation in 1982.[2][7][9][10] She subsequently held technical and management positions for Occidental in the United States, Russia,[4] Venezuela, and Ecuador.[4][7]

In 2005, Hollub became involved in leading Occidental's expansion in the Permian Basin[2] in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico.[7] She was manager of operations for Occidental's Permian business from 2009 until 2011,[11] before being promoted to president and general manager[4][10] from 2011 until 2012.[11]

Executive management roles

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From 2012 until 2013[11] Hollub was executive vice president of Occidental's operations in California.[4][10] In October 2013[9][11] she was named both Occidental Petroleum's vice president and the executive vice president of U.S. Operations, Oxy Oil and Gas,[4][9][10][11] a role she held until July 2014.[12] From 2014 until May 2015, she was the executive vice president of Occidental Petroleum[11] and president of Occidental Oil & Gas Corp in the Americas[4][10] from July 2014[12] until May 2015,[11] which gave her oversight of operations in Latin America and worldwide exploration.[12]

In May 2015, Occidental's board of directors selected Hollub to succeed retiring chief executive officer (CEO) Stephen Chazen, basing their decision on Hollub's "strong track record of successfully growing [Occidental's] domestic oil and gas business profitably and efficiently."[2][9] During a subsequent transition period[2] she was responsible for operations in the Middle East, Latin America and the United States.[4][9] In May 2015,[11] she was named senior executive vice president of Occidental and president of Oxy Oil and Gas.[4][9][10] Later that year, in December 2015[11] Hollub was appointed the global president[3] and chief operating officer (COO) of Occidental,[4][10] with oversight for the company's midstream, chemical, and oil and gas operations.[4]

CEO and president

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Hollub officially became president and CEO of Occidental Petroleum in April 2016,[4][5][10] with responsibility for operations, strategy and financial management.[4] The appointment made her the first woman to head a major American oil company,[1][2][3][6][7][9] and that year Fortune named her #32 on its annual list of the Most Powerful Women in business.[1] Hollub was appointed CEO during a severe downturn in the oil industry.[6] Under Hollub, Occidental cut production costs in response to falling crude prices[6][8] but decided not to lay off employees.[7][13] The company focused on existing core operations in the Middle East, the United States, and Colombia in Latin America,[8][14] while continuing to sell low-yield fields in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, North Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Hollub placed "particular emphasis" on developing the Permian Basin in the southern United States, which had been a consistent driver of profits.[1] Half of Occidental's output was coming from the Permian Basin by July 2017, while the other half came from Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Colombia. At that time, Forbes wrote that Hollub's focus on high-producing oil fields had made Occidental "leaner" and "poised to gusher cash for the next half-century."[7]

In 2019, Occidental Petroleum acquired Anadarko Petroleum and assumed its debt.[15] Hollub was a major proponent of the deal, and personally enlisted financing from Warren Buffett in order to complete it.[16] Occidental did not allow shareholders to vote on the deal, which drew criticism from several major investors including sixth-largest shareholder T. Rowe Price.[17]

In March 2020 amid a major stock market crash and an international oil crisis that saw the company's stock price plummet dramatically, a group of activist investors led by Carl Icahn have stated their desire to replace the entire Occidental board of directors, including Hollub.[18] Icahn wrote an open letter stating his view that Hollub and the board bought Anadarko to save their own jobs, and failed to protect shareholders' capital when they heavily indebted Occidental by borrowing over $40 billion in order to purchase Anadarko at a "massive" 65% premium.[19][20]

Awards and Honors

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In 2023, Hollub ranked 50th in Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women".[21]

She was ranked 38th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[22]

Boards and councils

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She was elected to the board of directors at Occidental Petroleum in December 2015.[10] She is the U.S. chair for the U.S.-Colombia Business Council.[4] She also is on the boards of Khalifa University for Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi and the American Petroleum Institute.[4] Hollub is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).[23]

Personal life

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Hollub is a longtime fan of her alma mater's Alabama Crimson Tide football program, particularly under former coach Bear Bryant.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Vicki Hollub". Fortune.com. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Occidental 'lifer' Vicki Hollub to be first female oil chief". The Globe and Mail. May 5, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "Occidental names Vicki Hollub first woman CEO of a big U.S. oil firm". JWN and Bloomberg. April 29, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Vicki A. Hollub". Oxy.com. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Occidental 'Lifer' Vicki Hollub to Be First Female Oil Chief". Bloomberg. May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e "This Is How Occidental Petroleum's CEO Led Through a Crisis". Fortune. June 8, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "The New Face Of Big Oil: How Vicki Hollub Made Oxy The Top Player In The Permian". Forbes. July 18, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "The most influential woman in the oil and gas industry: Occidental's Vicki Hollub". Arabian Business. January 30, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "UA grad Vicki Hollub to become CEO of Occidental Petroleum and first woman to run a big oil company". AL.com. May 6, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Vicki Hollub named Occidental Petroleum CEO". Oil & Gas Financial Journal. April 29, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Vicki Hollub President/CEO, Occidental Petroleum Corp". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c "OXY: New executive management roles". Oil and Gas Financial Journal. July 14, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  13. ^ "Breaking the glass ceiling is still not enough". Houston Chronicle. March 10, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  14. ^ "From the President and Chief Executive Officer" (PDF). Oxy. 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  15. ^ "Occidental Completes Acquisition of Anadarko". Business Wire. August 8, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  16. ^ Crowley, Kevin (December 4, 2019). "Vicki Hollub, Big Oil's Big Dealmaker". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  17. ^ Hiller, Jennifer (May 6, 2019). "Occidental investor set to vote against board due to Anadarko bid". Reuters. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  18. ^ "Activist investor Icahn raises stake in Occidental to nearly 10%". Reuters. March 12, 2020 – via www.reuters.com.
  19. ^ Garber, Jonathan (February 12, 2020). "Icahn says Occidental's $38B Anadarko deal done to save jobs of top brass". Fox Business. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  20. ^ Icahn, Carl (February 12, 2020). "Open Letter to Occidental Petroleum Stockholders". Carl's views on markets, stocks and politics. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  21. ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
  22. ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
  23. ^ "Conference Committees". Society of Petroleum Engineers. 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
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