First, a bit of history:
Standard Oil, the company John D. Rockefeller founded and turned into an economic superpower, was forced to break up into roughly 34 different companies around 1911. Two of these pieces eventually became Exxon and Mobile respectively. As you all know, these two companies are now combined, which has created the worlds largest integrated oil company. Since this new economic superpower was born from the Standard Oil breakup, the Rockefeller family still has significant power within ExxonMobile - through stock ownership, trusts, and personal clout.
This is a very good thing. They are on the offensive.
A statement issued yesterday by the Rockefeller family was a warning shot, saying that Exxon’s leadership is “failing to address the future of energy and related industry hurdles,” and that “a majority of the family is now so concerned about the direction of ExxonMobil Corporation that it is urging a major change.”
The Rockefeller family has previously taken many pro-environment steps, but, of late, the steps are becoming bolder. Multiple family members are now pushing for major change at Exxon due to concerns over the company’s direction under Chief Executive Rex Tillerson (a runner-up for Fossil Fool of the Year). They want to see his job split, with an independent chairman appointed to the board.
An excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:
“They are concerned Exxon’s senior management has tunnel vision and is too absorbed with the challenges of daily management of multibillion dollar oil and natural-gas projects to ask hard questions about the future of fossil fuels. Mr. Tillerson and other Exxon executives have said they believe oil and gas will represent the vast majority of energy consumption for decades.”
Keep your eyes and ears open as several family members are scheduled to have a news conference this Wednesday on the issue.
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Great to know some influential folks are pressuring the right people from inside of the system. Good article, Matt.
The upcoming administration could address these issues and so many more.
If you have strong opinions about what you think the president should do, On Day One, the please visit http://www.OnDayOne.org/ and post what matters to you the most.
John D. Rockefeller IV aka Jay Rockefeller moved to WV in the 70’s to get his family’s money in coal. He’s a real loser, gives the world’s worst speeches, makes jokes about how rich he is in the poorest state in the US. Ha ha… When he was governor of WV, he didn’t know that people paid income taxes.
I could share info about how the Rockefeller family and the money they have in coal and how placing John D. IV in WV to be governor and then Senator was part of a plot to get more coal money, but I will just remind you all that when Rockefeller was Governor of WV he didn’t know what income taxes were.
Thanks for the comment Dana. I by no means am saying that the Rockefellers should be considered champions of the climate. But with roughly 300 active family members, there is a broad range of stances when it comes to energy policy. Specific family members who are working to create change at Exxon are Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, a great-granddaughter of Mr. Rockefeller, and Peter O’Neill, head of the family committee that meets with Exxon management.
Despite negative acts by some Rockefellers (such as creating the fossil fuel industry as we know it), I do think it is very promising that there are family members who are now taking a public stand against what ExxonMobil is doing. This will encourage other shareholders in the company to take a stand as well.
The WSJ goes into this a bit, discussing how the last years shareholder resolution to establish and independent chairman at ExxonMobil won 40% of shareholder votes. The article specifically talks about how this may encourage the Ford Foundation or Harvard College to take a stand. Students at Harvard College may want to look into some campaign work around this (for reference, the Sustainable Endowment Institute is all about this sort of work).
Judging the Rockefellers as positive oil people doesn’t mean they’ll be fully behind what needs to be done, i.e., creating a clean energy economy. They are too invested–literally–in the status quo. So we should accept that there are good oil people and bad oil people, but realize that they’ll almost never be behind a truly radical economic transformation. There are, however, other economic sectors where financial interest is in the public interest, and who will be true allies.