Vicki Hollub

Four years ago, when Vicki Hollub, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, made a deal to purchase the oil giant’s rival Anadarko Petroleum, the move was criticized by the likes of activist investor Carl Icahn, who called it a “disaster.” Hollub’s bet, which gave Occidental the dominant position in the largest U.S. shale oilfield, the Permian Basin, has since paid off big-time. The company had a stellar 2022 with $11.7 billion in net income attributable to common stockholders, almost doubling its previous record. That same year, the company slashed its debt by 37%. Hollub is taking the opportunity to pivot to greener initiatives. Occidental recently announced that Amazon agreed to purchase 250,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits from Occidental subsidiary 1PointFive, a move that will support Occidental’s construction of a direct air capture facility designed to capture up to 500,000 metric tons of CO2 each year when fully operational.