James T. Hackett: Leading One Of The Largest Independent Gas And Oil Companies

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation was in need of direction. While many companies hire internally quite a good number also hire externally. Hiring an outsider has its cons like the new guy may end up not working well with insiders. It has its pros like you can get the best talent around if you have a larger pool to choose from.

Anadarko seems to have made the best decision in hiring an outsider since he has given the company new direction and has provided consistent profits year after year.  James T. Hackett was their choice. He may have been a company outsider at the time but he was and is a deep insider of the oil and gas industry having spent most of his career in that sector.

James was appointed CEO of Anadarko in 2003 as well as company president. He has made the company leaner and stronger. Three years after joining Anadarko he made an audacious move by acquiring two other energy companies involving a total of $21 billion. This move helped solidify Anadarko’s status as on one of the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and product companies in the entire world.

For his achievements he became chairman of the board in 2006 and since May 2012 has been the executive chairman of Anadarko. Before joining the company James had been involved in the energy industry for a long time with a very impressive resume. He had been the head of a number of companies who were products of mergers.

Prior to joining Anadarko James was the president and COO of Devon Energy Corporation after it had merged with Ocean Energy where he was the chairman, president and CEO.  Ocean Energy was actually the product of a merger with Seagull Energy Corporation where he was also the chairman, CEO and president.

While mergers often cause the dislocation of senior executives for James it has always resulted in landing the top position; a testament to his business talent and managerial skills. He has lent his expertise in other fields such as being a former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and is vice chairman of the Baylor College of Medicine among other prestigious positions.

James earned a BS form the University of Illinois and an MBA from Harvard University.