Anderson Will Retire as Chairman of Arco
Robert O. Anderson, who parlayed a small New Mexico oil refinery into industry giant Atlantic Richfield, said Monday that he will retire as Arco’s chairman on Jan. 1.
Lodwrick M. Cook, 57, who became president and chief executive last June, will succeed 68-year-old Anderson as chairman. Robert E. Wycoff, 54, an Arco vice chairman, will take the president’s title from Cook at the Los Angeles-based oil company.
Anderson, who maintains a cattle ranch in Roswell, N.M., hasn’t been active in the day-to-day affairs of Arco for some time. He continued to play an important role in major corporate decisions, however, including the recent dramatic reshaping of Arco’s key businesses.
Anderson became Arco’s first chairman following the 1966 merger of Atlantic Refining Co. of Philadelphia with Richfield Oil of Los Angeles, and he is widely regarded as its founder. Under his leadership, the company’s size mushroomed, especially after the 1970 discovery of the largest oil field in North America at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope.
Anderson wasn’t available for comment Monday. In a statement, he said he was retiring to “devote more time to my various personal and business interests.”
His retirement had been anticipated for some time, although his successor had never been clear. Until recently, oil industry analysts had expected Arco’s former chief executive, William F. Kieschnick, to succeed Anderson.
The 62-year-old Kieschnick, however, abruptly took early retirement in June and Cook was named his successor. Analysts on Monday renewed their speculation that Kieschnick’s retirement was meant to clear the way for Cook, although the company has previously denied it.
“(Anderson) made his mark on the company. With the dramatic restructuring, he probably feels comfortable with the future and that’s why he’s leaving,” said Alan Edgar, an analyst with Schneider, Bernet & Hickman in Dallas. “I don’t think there’s too much more Bob Anderson can do.”
Cook, a petroleum engineer by training, started his career by laying oil pipeline and spent a good part of his career in the oil “patch.” He is known within the industry for supervising the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.
“We approach the job from totally different backgrounds--Bob Anderson is a legend in his own time--but I think what’s important is that we agree on what needs to be done and how to do it,” Cook said in an interview Monday.
Arco recently sold off a number of unprofitable businesses acquired during the 1970s, a period of unprecedented growth. This past summer, the company sold its weak East Coast gasoline refining and marketing business to concentrate on the West Coast. It has also sold several money-losing metals businesses. Arco also slashed its work force by 20%.
As part of a financial restructuring much-praised by Wall Street, Arco is borrowing money to buy back $4 billion of its stock in an effort to boost the price of its shares and return money to investors.
