Management

Mike Hollis serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of HighPeak Energy, Inc. He served as President and has been a director of the Board since August 2020.

From December 2019 through August 2020, Mr. Hollis served as President of Pure Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PACQ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that purchased the assets of HighPeak Energy partnerships, leading to the formation of HighPeak Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: HPK). 

Before Pure, Mr. Hollis served as President and Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (“Diamondback”) (Nasdaq: FANG), a Permian focused oil and gas producer, from 2017 through 2019, as COO from 2015 through 2016, and as Vice President of Drilling from 2011 through 2014. From 2011 through 2019, he also served on the Board of Diamondback and the Board of Viper Energy Partners LP (Nasdaq: VNOM), a limited partnership formed by Diamondback to own interests in oil and natural gas properties primarily in the Permian Basin. 

Prior to Diamondback, Mr. Hollis was a Drilling Manager at Chesapeake Energy Corporation (now known as Expand Energy Corp.) and also held roles of increasing responsibility in production, completions and drilling engineering at ConocoPhillips and Burlington Resources Inc.

Mr. Hollis graduated from Louisiana State University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and has over 25 years of oil and gas experience.
 

Rodney Woodard has served as Chief Operating Officer of HighPeak Energy, Inc. since its inception in October 2019 and has over 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry as a CEO, COO, and leader of Engineering and Operations of numerous E&P companies. Mr. Woodard has served as the Executive Vice President & COO for the HighPeak Funds since 2017

Prior to the HighPeak business combination, Mr. Woodard served as the COO and director of Pure Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PACQ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that purchased the assets of HighPeak Energy partnerships, leading to the formation of HighPeak Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: HPK).

From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Woodard presented portfolio company investment proposals to acquire and develop oil and gas assets in the Permian Basin to several private equity firms. Mr. Woodard served as the President and COO of Atlantic Resources Co., LLC (“Atlantic”) from 2015 to 2016. Prior to Atlantic, Mr. Woodard served as CEO and COO of Celero II, a Natural Gas Partners portfolio company, with operations principally in the Permian Basin from 2006 to 2015. Prior to Celero II, Mr. Woodard served as Executive Vice President and COO of Celero, a Quantum Energy Partners portfolio company from 2004 to 2006. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Woodard was Vice President of Reserves and Evaluations with Pure Resources (NYSE: PRS) and was a cofounder of its predecessor, Titan Exploration (Nasdaq: TEXP). From 1986 to 1995, Mr. Woodard held various positions of increasing responsibility at Selma International Investments Ltd. From 1979 to 1986, Mr. Woodard held various positions at Delta Drilling Company, obtaining the position of Division Manager for West Texas. Mr. Woodard held various positions at Amoco Production Company from 1977 to 1979.

Mr. Woodard graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Steve Tholen has served as the Chief Financial Officer of HighPeak Energy, Inc. since its inception in October 2019 and is a Corporate Finance Executive with over 30 years of experience in building, leading and advising corporations through complex restructurings, purchase and sales transactions, and capital market transactions. Mr. Tholen has served as the CFO for the HighPeak Funds since 2014.

Previously, Mr. Tholen served as cofounder and Executive Vice President – Finance of Fieldco Construction Services, Inc., which provided oilfield construction services to clients throughout East Texas & Western Louisiana, from 2011 to 2014. From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Tholen served as founder and President of SDL&T Energy Partners, a source of equity & debt financing to fund energy companies and energy projects worldwide. From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Tholen was Senior Vice President & CFO of Harvest Natural Resources, Inc., an E&P company with properties in the United States, Venezuela, Indonesia, Gabon, and Russia. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Tholen served as Vice President and CFO of Penn Virginia Corporation, an independent natural gas and oil company. From 1990 to 1995, Mr. Tholen was Treasurer/Manager of Business Administration of Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, a North American independent natural gas producer.

Mr. Tholen graduated from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1971 and earned his Master of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Denver, Daniels School of Business in 1979.

Alan R. Huffman, PhD serves as EVP and Chief Technical Officer of HighPeak Energy, Inc., where his duties include management and oversight of the company’s exploration program, and integration of technology into the company’s drilling and field development programs.

Dr. Huffman is a recognized technical and business leader with over 35 years of experience in domestic and international exploration and production with expertise in the fields of exploration risking, evaluation and portfolio management, project management, well design and drilling operations. Dr. Huffman has in-depth experience in every major petroleum province in the United States in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs, and he is one of the industry’s leading experts in deepwater exploration and drilling worldwide.

From 2014 to 2017, Dr. Huffman was a Consulting Partner in SIGMA³ Integrated Reservoir Solutions Inc. (Sigma Cubed). From 2011 to 2014, Dr. Huffman was the Chief Technology Officer of Sigma Cubed where he managed the technical operations and technology development of the company following the merger of FusionGeo Inc. and SIGMA³ in 2011.

From 2002 to 2011, Dr. Huffman served as the Chairman & CEO of FusionGeo Inc. where he was responsible for the strategic growth and expansion of the enterprise. During his tenure at Fusion and SIGMA³, Dr. Huffman consulted for 400 client oil companies in over 60 countries and designed and implemented major projects in most of the major petroleum basins in those countries.
Dr. Huffman was also the Lyssa & Cyril Wagner Professor of Geology and Geophysics in the School of Geology and Geophysics at The University of

Oklahoma in Norman, OK in 2003 and 2004.

From 1997-2002, Huffman was Manager of The Seismic Imaging Technology Center (SITC) with Conoco. In this role, Dr. Huffman managed the geophysical technology division of Conoco.

From 1990 to 1997, Huffman was employed by Exxon Corporation, where he worked as a technical expert on exploration and production projects in The United States, West Africa and The Far East.

Dr. Huffman is active in industry and professional affairs, having chaired numerous international conferences and having served on organizing committees for the SEG, AADE, AAPG, SPE and the Offshore Technology Conference. Dr. Huffman was the recipient of the 2004 Robert H. Dott Sr. Memorial Award from The AAPG for the publication of AAPG Memoir 76, and the 2002 Best Paper Award from The SEG. He has published numerous papers in refereed journals and articles in international publications, and 40 abstracts. He has 10 U.S. patents in the field of geophysics.

Dr. Huffman received a Bachelors degree in Geology from Franklin & Marshall College in 1983, and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Texas A&M University in 1990. In 1989-1990, he served as Science Manager of DOSECC, the U.S. Continental Drilling Program.

Ryan Hightower serves as Executive Vice President of HighPeak Energy, Inc., responsible for driving company growth through new business opportunities and strategic expansion initiatives, as well as overseeing investor relations, marketing and midstream activities. He served as Vice President – Business Development from August 2020 through September 2025. 

From 2014 through 2020, Mr. Hightower helped found the initial two private equity companies, HighPeak Energy Partners, LP and HighPeak Energy Partners II, LP, and was directly involved with Pure Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PACQ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that purchased the assets of HighPeak Energy partnerships, leading to the formation of HighPeak Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: HPK). 

Prior to Mr. Hightower’s involvement in the formation of the HighPeak entities, he worked independently buying oil and gas leases, mineral and royalty interests and non-operated working interests in several areas including the Haynesville Shale, Eagleford Shale, Delaware Basin, Midland Basin and the Eastern Shelf for his own account. 

In 2007, Mr. Hightower co-founded and was a managing partner of TEMA Fund, LP, a mineral and royalty acquisition fund focused on acquiring oil and gas interests in the East Texas Embayment area. In such capacity he was responsible for mineral and royalty acquisition efforts, financial evaluations, title due diligence, landowner negotiations, investor relations, mineral management of the Fund’s assets, and the Fund’s accounting and banking practices. Prior to TEMA, Mr. Hightower served as a Portfolio Operations Analyst for Highland Capital Management, LP, a leading credit and alternative investments hedge fund. While at Highland Capital, his responsibilities included interacting with Wall Street banks and brokers to obtain and decipher investment information, reviewing bank loan agreements, trade documentation and bond settlement agreements, interacting with Portfolio Managers, performing daily cash reconciliation for investment activity, and conducting general ledger maintenance. 

Mr. Hightower graduated summa cum laude from Texas Tech University with a B.A. in Finance in 2005 and was recognized as the highest-ranking graduate in his class from Rawls College of Business. He has over 18 years of oil and gas industry experience, primarily in land acquisitions and business development.

Daniel Silver serves as Executive Vice President of HighPeak Energy, Inc., responsible for developing and communicating corporate strategy, managing internal operations, and overseeing Human Resources, Information Technology, Treasury and other support departments. He is also a director of the Board. Mr. Silver served as Vice President – Finance from August 2020 through September 2025. 

In September 2025, Mr. Silver was appointed Chief Executive Officer of HighPeak Energy Partners, LP and HighPeak Energy Partners II, LP, the initial two private equity companies, and HighPeak Energy Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. From 2014 through September 2025, he served as Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer of the three entities. 

From 2014 through 2020, Mr. Silver helped found HighPeak Energy Partners, LP and HighPeak Energy Partners II, LP, and was directly involved with Pure Acquisition, Corp. (Nasdaq: PACQ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that purchased the assets of HighPeak Energy partnerships, leading to the formation of HighPeak Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: HPK). 

Prior to Mr. Silver’s involvement in the formation of the HighPeak entities, he was lead financial analyst at Bluestem Energy Partners, LP, a limited partnership formed to acquire and produce oil and gas producing properties. Before Bluestem, he was a manager in the valuation and litigation department of Whitley Penn. 

Mr. Silver currently serves on the board of directors of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals, a nonprofit which provides training and certifications for finance and insurance professionals in the automotive and motor sports industries. He graduated with a B.B.A. summa cum laude from Mays Business School at Texas A&M University in 2006.

Chris Mundy serves as Senior Vice President – Reserves and Evaluations of HighPeak Energy, Inc., responsible for overseeing all engineering functions related to reservoir management, reserves estimation, development planning, production optimization and corporate modeling. He served as Vice President – Reserves and Evaluations from August 2020 through September 2025. 

From 2018 through 2020, Mr. Mundy was directly involved with Pure Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PACQ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that purchased the assets of HighPeak Energy partnerships, leading to the formation of HighPeak Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: HPK). 

Prior to Pure, Mr. Mundy was the VP, Reserves and Planning from 2013 through 2018, at Petro Harvester, where, as a member of the senior management team, his primary responsibilities included reserves management as well as corporate planning functions. 

From 2008 through 2013, Mr. Mundy served in successive roles at Quicksilver Resources and ultimately became the Chief Reservoir Engineer. His various responsibilities during his tenure included project management for the Barnett Shale, US budgeting, strategy for the Horn River Basin, led the completions team, led the reservoir engineering team in the preparation of the corporate reserves and assisted in the corporate forecasting process. 

Prior to Quicksilver Resources (U.S.), Mr. Mundy was solely responsible for reservoir engineering, reserve bookings and economic evaluations for a junior oil and gas company in Canada from 2006 through 2007. He also served as the Manager of Corporate Projects with Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc. in Calgary, Alberta from 2004 through 2005, responsible for the development of their Horseshoe Canyon CBM assets. 

His previous experience includes roles as an analyst providing in-depth oil and gas research to investment firms and various positions at EnCana Corporation spanning from venture capital to production and reservoir engineering and project management functions. 

Mr. Mundy completed a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Waterloo in 1996 and has over 25 years of oil and gas experience.

David F. DeLaO serves as Vice President – Drilling and Completions for HighPeak Energy Inc. He served in the same role for the HighPeak Funds from 2017 through the business combination in 2020. Mr. DeLaO has 35 years of experience in drilling, completions and production operations.

He worked for Chesapeake Energy from 2004 through 2015 where he served as Vice President: Drilling, Northern Division in 2015 with oversight of drilling operations in the Marcellus, Utica and Rockies regions.

From 2013 to 2015, Mr. DeLaO served as Vice President: Operations & Technical Services leading an organization responsible for technical services in drilling, completions, production, facilities and midstream.

From 2012 to 2013, Mr. DeLaO held the position of Vice President Drilling, Engineering & Development supporting an 120 drilling rig program.

Mr. DeLaO began his career with Chesapeake in 2004 as a Senior Drilling Engineer and was named Drilling Manager for the Barnett Shale play in 2006. His responsibilities were later expanded to the Rockies, Permian Basin and Eagle Ford programs.

Prior to Chesapeake, Mr. DeLaO worked as a Senior Drilling Engineer for Pure Resources from 2001 to 2004 with field assignments in the Permian Basin, Rockies and South Texas.

Mr. DeLaO worked as a Staff Drilling Engineer for Conoco in 2000 and 2001 supervising drilling operations in the Val Verde Basin and Southeast New Mexico.

Mr. DeLaO began his career with Mobil Oil in 1985 where he held various positions in drilling, completions and production engineering.

Mr. DeLaO graduated from Texas Tech University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering.