Vicki Hollub

Early life Vicki Hollub was born in 1960 She subsequently held technical and management positions for Occidental in the United States, Russia, She was manager of operations for Occidental's Permian business from 2009 until 2011, a role she held until July 2014. From 2014 until May 2015, she was the executive vice president of Occidental Petroleum but decided not to lay off employees. The company focused on existing core operations in the Middle East, the United States, and Colombia in Latin America, 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. Hollub was a major proponent of the deal, and personally enlisted financing from Warren Buffett in order to complete it. Occidental did not allow shareholders to vote on the deal, which drew criticism from several major investors including sixth-largest shareholder T. Rowe Price.

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. 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.

Awards and honors In 2023, Hollub ranked 50th in Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women".

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

Hollub was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2024 for leadership in energy company management and advocating for carbon management solutions.

In 2025 she was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.

Boards and councils Hollub was elected to the board of directors at Occidental Petroleum in December 2015. She is the U.S. chair for the U.S.-Colombia Business Council.