Occidental appoints Robert Peterson as CFO
://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/797468/000114036120007995/form8k.htm
12 replies (most recent on top)
@1zpe - I happen to work in OxyChem, and I can tell you that I completely disagree with you.
This was the president of the Chemical organization which is a stand alone business. Extremely talented individual with great leadership skills. He would be C-Level material at any other company. Give him a chance. He may be the next CEO.
The chemical organization is a real company well run and I am upstream employee not chemical.
The question is why was CFO "Bug.ger" removed? Was it at HIS request or at the request of the BOD? Consider:
a) Bug.ger is old-ish. Former Enron guy (yep). Apparently, he has spent most of the past year flying around to institutional investors offering them assurances and 'happy talk' in the wake of the APC acquisition, rather than actually overseeing the finance issues of the company. Presumably his "AWOL" on finance issues was with the knowledge & at the direction of his boss (VH).... All those assurances are now seen for what they were - bald-faced lies. Given his age, social-distancing in effect (no more road shows), utter lack of credibility with investors, and minimal value-added regarding key financial issues, he has no role to play as CFO. He knows it. So does the BOD.
Then too, maybe he knows what is coming (BK or sale of company) & doesn't want the headache and stress involved in being the CFO of a bankrupted or acquired company. He knows from his Enron days how bad it can get. The decision to step down was probably mutual – between him and the BOD.
So, why was Rob.P chosen? Several factors:
a) OXY is swirling the drain – not too many qualified candidates would accept the CFO reigns given OXY's likely trajectory.
b) Given the contagion/social distancing, it's difficult to conduct a conventional talent search & interviews with any outside candidate.
These factors necessitated an internal replacement for "Bug.ger".
But OXY just does not have a deep bench of superlative candidates for top finance guy. The OXY culture has always promoted "Yes Men" above excellence. If you are a barely competent mid/senior manager, you can be a marginal performer and absolute jerk, but as long as you a "Yes Man" (i.e. butte-kisser), you are protected and enriched. THAT is a fundamental OXY cultural trait. Rob.P certainly qualifies. You don't reach the summit of OXY mgment at age 49 by being anything except a butte.kisser.
Now, nobody would put an accountant in operational control of oilfield opns. But Rob.P, an engineer, is now running OXY's finance opns? – That tells you how shallow a talent bench exists at OXY. And oh, he will be learning how to be a CFO while his company is swirling the drain and just been downgraded to junk status, WTI pricing makes his company unviable, and the country is in shutdown...? — So he will be conducting Skype meetings with much of his finance organization while learning to play CFO...? Oh yeah, this is going to turn out real well...
Hopefully this guy can pull a rabbit out of his hat! Based on previous comments I don’t have a lot of faith.
he probably is good friend of SC.
Complete dumb–s getting appointed to CFO, working here is like Idiocracy.
@ohe+14iCxyhY Legacy Oxy. Was over EOR I think.
Oxy's Dream Team continues. Sigh.....
Is the replacement legacy CFO or an Icahn plant?
"Hey, I know..I have a great idea! Let's make another Engineer our CFO!"
"Shouldn't we actually have someone with a really strong finance background as our CFO, especially in these unprecedented times?"
"No way! We are Oxy!"
Now what's CB going to do? Probably lead Permian or some other BS. The musical chairs continue, but with the same horrible performance. What a Cluster F.
And so it begins...