Stephen Chazen (1946 – 22 September 2022) was an American businessman. He was president and chief executive officer (CEO) of

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States, and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...

from 2011 to 2016.

Early life

He was born in 1946.nndb
/ref> 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 Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

.Bloomberg BusinessWeek
/ref>Forbes
/ref>

Career

He worked as a managing director in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions at

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

. In 1994, he started his career at

(OXY), a publicly-traded oil corporation then headquartered in Los Angeles, California and the fourth largest oil producer in the United States.Guy Chazan
Occidental denies fight over Chazen heir
'' The Financial Times'', April 8, 2013 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. He was its Senior Executive Vice President from 2004 to 2007, and as its Chief Financial Officer from 2004 to 2007. He was its President since December 2007 until 2016 and as its Chief Executive Officer since May 5, 2011 through April 29, 2016. He replaced

Ray R. Irani Ray R. Irani (born January 13, 1935) is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Occidental Petroleum. He has worked at Occidental Petroleum for over 20 years, serving as a director since 1984, chief operating officer (president) from 198 ...

, who went on to serve as Chairman. He has denied conflict with Irani. According to a study by the

Graziadio School of Business and Management The Pepperdine Graziadio Business School (Graziadio School) is the graduate business school of Pepperdine University, a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. ...

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.Tiffany Hsu
Occidental's Stephen Chazen tops list of value-generating CEOs
'' The Los Angeles Times'', May 03, 2012 He was on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute,

Lyondell Chemical Company LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is a multinational chemical company incorporated in the Netherlands with U.S. operations headquartered in Houston, Texas, and offices in London, UK. The company is the largest licensor of polyethylene and polypro ...

Premcor Premcor (formerly NYSE symbol PCO) was a Fortune 500 oil refinery group based in Greenwich, Connecticut. It operated five refineries, which are located in Port Arthur, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Lima, Ohio; Hartford, Illinois; and Delaware City, De ...

and Washington Mutual. 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. He was on the board of trustees of the Aquarium of the Pacific and

Catalina Island Conservancy The Catalina Island Conservancy is a nonprofit organization established to protect and restore Santa Catalina Island, California, United States. The Conservancy was established in 1972 through the efforts of the Wrigley and Offield families. The ...

. He was a Republican. In 2019, Chazen was asked to rejoin Occidental as a board member.

Death

Chazen died on 22 September 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chazen, Stephen 1946 births 2022 deaths Businesspeople from Los Angeles Rutgers University alumni University of Houston alumni Michigan State University alumni American chief executives of energy companies