Opinion: Jim Hackett, J. Hugh Liedtke And Some History About Takeovers

The Occidental vs. Chevron battle for Anadarko is now pretty much relegated to history with Occidental the $38 billion winner. But looking beyond the headlines is interesting because of the number of paradoxes involved.

That’s what we’re going to discuss today, courtesy of former Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett and the late J. Hugh Liedtke, chairman and CEO of Pennzoil Corp., who were directly involved in the last big takeover battle in the mid-’80s against Texaco (which itself was acquired by Chevron in 2000) for control of Getty Oil. The historic outcome of Pennzoil vs. Texaco led to landmark changes in the energy industry that still resound.