Chevron CEO under pressure to halt share slide as Hess deal stalls

Five years ago, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth won Wall Street acclaim as the No. 2 U.S. oil company briefly achieved a market value larger than Exxon Mobil's after he refused to get into a bidding war with Occidental Petroleum over a rival. He was ahead of the game when the pandemic hit oil and gas demand, forcing rivals to make deep cutbacks that Wirth had already tackled at Chevron. Chevron’s falling earnings no longer cover its dividends and buybacks.