TiiCKER’s Sweet 16 CEOs Competition and Sweepstakes, a contest that pits CEOs – representing both their alma maters and the publicly traded companies they lead – against each other while offering chances to win valuable prizes, pits a leading big-box retailer against a century-old multinational energy giant.
Representing Costco Wholesale Corporation (Tii:COST) and the San Diego State Aztecs is 1975 graduate W. Craig Jelinek, President, CEO and Director of the wholesale club. He will face Greg Garland, Chairman and CEO of Phillips 66 (Tii:PSX), a longtime Aggie and 1980 graduate of Texas A&M University.
Jelinek is a Costco veteran, joining the company back in 1984. He spent 20 years in various management positions in warehouse operations, earning a promotion to Executive Vice President in charge of merchandising in 2004. In 2010, Jelinek was named President and COO before assuming his current role. During his tenure as CEO, Costco experienced steady growth, opening its first-ever Chinese store in 2019.
A chemical engineer, Garland has 40 years of industry experience in technical and executive leadership positions within the oil and natural gas and chemicals industries. Garland began his career with Phillips in 1980 as a project engineer for the Plastics Technical Center. He later worked as a sales engineer for Phillips' plastics resins, business service manager for advanced materials, business development director, and olefins manager for chemicals. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M.
Which exec will lead his company and alma mater to the next round? Check back for recaps and the next set of matchups! Sweet 16 CEOs Competition winners will be chosen based on a variety of factors tied to company performance. The best part is you can win too! In the spirit of March Madness, tell us which team you are cheering for and why you are cheering for them. You will be entered for a chance to win one of four Benzinga.com Essential memberships for 12 months. That’s a $1400 value EACH. Click here to participate. See official terms.
