Leadership Next

When Vicki Hollub was named CEO of Occidental Petroleum in 2016, she became the first woman to lead a major oil and gas company. In the years since she's brokered some big acquisitions, brought on Warren Buffett as a major investor and produced record returns for shareholders.But the savvy Leadership Next listener wants to know: can you do all of that AND truly care about sustainability? Hollub says not only is it possible, it's essential that energy companies focus on their climate impact. In today's episode, recorded live at Deloitte University in Dallas, Texas, Hollub tells hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt all about OXY's plans to build out a carbon capture business and why this makes strategic sense for the company.Also in today's episode: details on how the controversial deal to buy Andarko Petroleum came to pass, how employee expectations around the CEO role have changed, and why Hollub never thought she would become CEO.Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe.

Mark Newman is the second CEO of Chemours, a chemical company that spun out of DuPont in 2015. Chemours is now a global company with almost 7,000 employees, $7 billion in revenue and has three industry-leading businesses. Chemours may be best known for producing Teflon, a chemical coating associated with non-stick surface on pots and pans. Teflon is also considered a polyfluoroalkyl substance. Polyfluoroalkyl substances (better know as PFAS) are a class of chemicals considered “forever chemicals” meaning they don’t break down in the environment, and are linked to a number of health problems. Production of some of these chemical has landed Chemours in legal and regulatory trouble in the past, but Newman thinks Chemours can right its past environmental wrongs and has worked to weave sustainability into the company's next chapter.In this episode of Leadership Next, Newman talks with host Alan Murray about how Chemours is addressing these legacy issues while pushing back against claims of greenwashing. Newman explains how the company's chemicals work in consumer products like mobile phones and how its products are striving to solve the EV battery challenge. He also talks about hydrogen production and hydrogen's potential as an energy source.Later in the episode, host Ellen McGirt talks with Dr. Maria Doa, the Senior Director of Chemicals Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, about the impact of PFAs and if they can ever be made responsibly.

Zipline is the world’s largest commercial drone delivery system. Since the company’s founding in 2014, Zipline’s autonomous electric aircrafts have delivered hundreds of thousands of packages to people around the world. It's planning to complete 1 million deliveries by the end of 2023. Most of the packages the Zips have delivered include vital items like medicine, vaccines and PPE. Zipline's first distribution center opened in Rwanda in 2016 and it has since expanded into Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, Japan, and the U.S.Keller Rinaudo Cliffton is Zipline's co-founder and CEO. In today's episode of Leadership Next, Rinaudo Cliffton joins hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt to share why Zipline started with drone delivery to hospitals in Rwanda seven years ago, and how the company has grown. He explains why launching as a business, not a philanthropy, was essential. He also talks about Zipline's partnership with Walmart, delivering to shoppers in Arkansas, and the company's plans for expansion into the consumer delivery market.Later in the episode, hear from Fortune Senior Writer Jessica Matthews who visited Walmart's drone delivery site in Pea Ridge, AR back in 2021. Matthews tells us more about the state of the drone delivery market, where it’s going and what challenges it's facing.

Prudential Financial was founded in Newark, N.J. in 1875 with the goal of providing insurance to everyday American families. Almost 150 years later, Prudential has offices all over the world and now provides investment management and other financial services along with insurance.In this episode of Leadership Next, Prudential CEO Charlie Lowrey joins hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt to talk about how this legacy insurance company (one of the oldest companies we've ever had on Leadership Next!) is transforming to stay relevant in a rapidly changing world.Lowrey also shares why the company is committed to remaining in Newark and why it has contributed over one billion dollars to the city. He also discusses his perspective on ESG, his dedication to making Prudential a fully inclusive workplace and his journey from being an architect to leading one of the world's largest financial services companies.Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe.

CVS Health is ranked number four on the Fortune 500. And when Karen Lynch became the company's CEO in 2021, it was a big deal. No woman had ever led a company that highly ranked on the list before. Plus, she brought some serious ambitions for healthcare to her role. The short version: she wants to provide a continuum of both physical and mental healthcare for CVS customers.Since taking over as CEO almost exactly two years ago, Lynch has initiated a plan to transform hundreds of the brand's almost 10,000 U.S. stores into super-clinics. And, she's spent billions on acquisitions that move CVS into primary care and home healthcare.In this episode of Leadership Next, Lynch joins hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt to discuss how far CVS has come in the 60 years since its founding as Consumer Value Stores. She explains how the company's recent acquisitions of Oak Street Health and Signify fit into her larger vision, how the pandemic has influenced the company's strategy and how technology is transforming healthcare. Lynch also shares more about her personal passion for health, the importance of including mental health services in primary care and her journey as a woman in leadership.Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe.

Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has launched a lot of creative dreams, including those of household consumer names like Peloton and Allbirds. Since its founding in 2009, backers have pledged over $7 billion to over 200,000 projects on the platform. For Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor, these numbers are just a start.In this episode of Leadership Next, hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt talk to Taylor about how Kickstarter is democratizing crowdfunding and working to make sure creators of color have equitable access to funds. He also discusses taking over Kickstarter in October 2022 as a turnaround effort, what makes a successful Kickstarter campaign and the company's thinking on A.I. in art. Finally, Taylor shares his experience of being the first Black person in Kickstarter's C-suite and the impact he'd like to make as the company's leader.Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe.

Cotopaxi is an outdoor gear and apparel brand that pledges to give at least 1% of its annual revenue to charitable causes through its Cotopaxi Foundation. Cotopaxi is also a certified B corp and 94% of its products contain recyclable or reusable materials. On its mission to help people and the planet, Cotopaxi is also making money. In 2022, the company surpassed $100 million in revenue. Its work has caught the eye of investors. In 2021, Bain Capital's Double Impact Fund invested $45 million in Cotopaxi.In today's episode of Leadership Next, hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt talk to Cotopaxi founder and CEO Davis Smith about why he built Cotopaxi as a for-profit company rather than a non-profit, and how Cotopaxi differs from other outdoor brands. Smith also explains why he's stepping away from leading the company he believes in so deeply.Later in the episode, we hear from Cecilia Chao, Managing Director of the Bain Double Impact Fund. Chao talks about why Bain invested in Cotopaxi and the importance of prioritizing both impact and profit. Chao also gives her take on trends in impact investing and the difference between impact and ESG investing.Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe

In 2020, BP CEO Bernard Looney announced the international oil company planned to significantly increase investments in solar and wind energy while cutting oil and gas production - and thus carbon emissions - up to 40 percent by 2030. Last week, amid soaring oil prices, BP rolled back that commitment. BP's new plan is to reduce its oil output 25 percent by 2030 and its Scope 3 carbon emissions by 20 to 30 percent.At the same time, the 114 year-old company points out it now spends 30 percent of it capital on its alternative energy business, up from just three percent in 2019. And, it still intends to cut its own direct emissions 50% by 2030.In this episode of Leadership Next, Looney joins hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt to dissect this complicated message. He details what motivated the change and lays out BP's strategy to become an integrated energy company (to include explaining why oil will remain a part of that strategy). Also in the conversation: BP's approach to addressing the "energy trilemma," maintaining public trust in the midst of a strategy change, and how growing up on a farm in Ireland influenced Looney's leadership style.Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe

Forty-five million Americans are credit invisible, meaning they do not have a credit score or have had very little opportunity to build credit. Many of these millions are people of color, low-income people or immigrants. Esusu co-CEO Wemimo Abbey is trying to do something about that. Esusu is on a mission to democratize access to credit. By reporting on-time rental payments to the three major credit bureaus, the company allows people with no or low credit scores to build credit history. In the five years since its founding, Esusu has reached over one million renters in all 50 states and helped put 44,000 people on the financial map. In this episode of Leadership Next, hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt talk with Abbey about how Esusu's platform is helping change who can fully participate in the American economy. Abbey shares what inspired him to start the company, how Esusu makes money, and his long-term dreams for it. He also shares how he persevered through "NOs" from over 300 investors to become the founder of what is now a unicorn company.Later in the episode, McGirt is joined by Erika Seth Davies, the CEO of Rhia Ventures and the founder of The Racial Equity Asset Lab. Seth Davies shares her thoughts on trends in impact investing, the barriers diverse-owned companies face when looking for capital, and what we can all do to encourage investment in those companies. Explore more of Fortune! Use the promo code LN25 to get 25% off our annual subscription at fortune.com/subscribe

Welcome back for season four of Leadership Next! In today's season opener, hosts Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt present exclusive content from Davos, where Coca-Cola's James Quincey, Novartis' Vasant Narasimhan and Grab's Anthony Tan joined Fortune for conversation over dinner. On the menu: discussion around the biggest opportunities and challenges facing business in 2023.Murray, McGirt and the panelists tackle topics like using A.I. to help scale business while protecting employee jobs, responding to the “woke ceo” narrative, and more.In this episode, Murray and McGirt also talk with Fortune Senior Writer Jeremy Kahn about the A.I. tool on everybody's mind... ChatGPT. Kahn shares how the chatbot can be used for good and what we should be afraid of. You can read more about ChatGPT in Kahn's Fortune magazine cover story The Inside Story of ChatGPT.