George M. Keller, who, as head of Standard Oil of California, made business history in 1984 by taking over another huge oil company in an unprecedented $13 billion buyout that he characterized as a “bet-your-company deal,” died Friday in California of complications from knee surgery. He was 84.
After being trained as a chemical engineer and rising through the ranks of Standard Oil of California (Socal), Keller was the company’s chairman in 1984 when he put up more than $13 billion to purchase Gulf Oil. At the time, it was the largest corporate takeover in history.
Afterward, Socal became Chevron, a California-based global giant with 59,000 employees involved in producing and transporting oil and gas, refining fuel, providing geothermal energy and manufacturing petrochemicals.
Keller’s bold acquisition said much about the petroleum industry and its reliance on a special blend of tradition and geology, of personality and exploration.
The takeover allowed Chevron to double its crude oil reserves and immediately made it the third-largest oil company, after Exxon and Mobil.
Chevron now calls itself the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and one of the largest corporations in the world.
George Matthew Keller was born in Kansas City, Mo., grew up in Chicago, served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
His wife, Adelaide, died last year. Survivors include three sons, Bob Keller, Barry Keller and Bill Keller, who is executive editor of The New York Times.
