Stephen Chazen Explained

Stephen Chazen
Birth Date:1946
Death Date:22 September 2022
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Rutgers University
University of Houston
Michigan State University
Occupation:CEO, Occidental Petroleum (2011–2016)
Successor:Vicki Hollub

Stephen Chazen (1946 – 22 September 2022) was an American businessman. He was president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Occidental Petroleum from 2011 to 2016.[1]

Early life

He was born in 1946.[2] He earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Rutgers University, a master's degree in finance from the University of Houston, and a PhD in geology from Michigan State University.[2] [3] [4]

Career

He worked as a managing director in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions at Merrill Lynch.[3] [4]

In 1994, he started his career at Occidental Petroleum (OXY), a publicly-traded oil corporation then headquartered in Los Angeles, California and the fourth largest oil producer in the United States.[3] [4] [5] He was executive vice president-corporate development at Occidental Petroleum from 1994 to 1999, and as its executive vice president-corporate development from 1999 to 2004.[3] [4] He was its senior executive vice president from 2004 to 2007, and as its chief financial officer from 2004 to 2007.[3] [4] He was its president since December 2007 until 2016 and as its chief executive officer since May 5, 2011 through April 29, 2016.[3] [4] [6] He replaced Ray R. Irani, who went on to serve as chairman.[5] He has denied conflict with Irani.[5]

According to a study by the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University, under his leadship, OXY earned US$3.4 billion in profit in 2011, an increase of $1.6 billion from 2010, making him the value-generation business leader in Southern California.[7]

He was on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute, Lyondell Chemical Company, Premcor and Washington Mutual.[4]

As of August 2016, he was reported to be worth over US$128 million, due to his stock holdings in Occidental Petroleum and other companies.[8]

He was on the board of trustees of the Aquarium of the Pacific and Catalina Island Conservancy.[4] He was a Republican.[2]

In 2019, Chazen was asked to rejoin Occidental as a board member.[9]

Death

Chazen died on 22 September 2022.[10] [11]

Notes and References

  1. News: Stephen Chazen: Magnolia aims to be $10B company in 5 years. September 20, 2018. Houston Chronicle.
  2. http://www.nndb.com/people/982/000169475/ nndb
  3. https://archive.today/20130727045911/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=293292&ticker=OXY Bloomberg BusinessWeek
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20140928034804/http://www.forbes.com/profile/stephen-chazen/ Forbes
  5. Guy Chazan, Occidental denies fight over Chazen heir, The Financial Times, April 8, 2013
  6. http://www.oxy.com/AboutOxy/WhoWeAre/Pages/MessageFromCEO.aspx Message from the CEO
  7. Tiffany Hsu, Occidental's Stephen Chazen tops list of value-generating CEOs, The Los Angeles Times, May 03, 2012
  8. Web site: STEPHEN I CHAZEN Insider Trading Overview. www.insidermole.com. 2016-08-09.
  9. News: Lombardo. Christopher M. Matthews and Cara. Icahn Looks to Occidental's Ex-CEO for Help in Fight With Company. 2019-07-26. Wall Street Journal. 2020-03-15. en-US. 0099-9660.
  10. News: Limehouse . Jonathan . UH System regent, oil executive Steve Chazen dies . 25 September 2022 . Houston Chronicle . 24 September 2022.
  11. News: Morenne . Benoît . Stephen Chazen, Former Occidental CEO, Dies at 76 . 25 September 2022 . WSJ . 23 September 2022.