- "Members of the Rockefeller family are calling on
Exxon Mobil Corp to make governance changes and increase spending on alternative
fuels, sharpening the focus on the company's practices as oil soars close
to $120."
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- Rockefeller Family, owning hundreds of million acres
in Latin America pushes Exxon to rely more on ethanol synfuel (and higher
food prices and land rent) Fuel prices are high because of deliberately
created shortages to jack up prices, because of monopoly-power price fixing
-- the oil reserves exist, the demand was anticipated, they just decided
not to provide for that demand, either in oil pumped or in refining capacity.
And now with ethanol we simply have the oil companies monopoly power extending
to the agricultural sector -- where the Rockefellers and others, who now
own all the foreclosed farms, can tear the remaining flesh from our bones.
-- Dick Eastman
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- Rockefellers call for change at Exxon Mobil
By Michael Erman
4-30-8
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- NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Members of the Rockefeller
family are calling on Exxon Mobil Corp to make governance changes and increase
spending on alternative fuels, sharpening the focus on the company's practices
as oil soars close to $120.
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- John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Co in
1870 and it became a precursor to Exxon Mobil. Exxon Mobil is the world's
largest publicly traded oil company based on market capitalization and
is a favorite target of consumer advocate groups and politicians unhappy
with record prices for oil and gas and their effect on the environment.
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- Fifteen descendants of the oil baron are involved
in four shareholder resolutions seeking changes at Exxon, including dividing
the CEO and chairmanship positions held by Rex Tillerson.
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- Peter O'Neill, great-great-grandson of Rockefeller,
said 66 of the 78 adult Rockefellers currently supported their stance.
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- Exxon posted the largest ever annual profit by a
U.S. company last year and its first-quarter results, scheduled for Thursday
morning, are expected to be at or near record levels.
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- But the Rockefeller's said the company was too focused
on short-term windfalls. They said the company's reluctance to invest in
alternative energy could result in lost profits down the road.
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- Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, great granddaughter of
John D. Rockefeller and a Tufts University economist, called on Exxon to
reconnect with the forward-looking vision of her great grandfather.
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- "Kerosene was the alternative energy of its
day," Goodwin said. "Part of John D. Rockefeller's genius was
in recognizing early the need and opportunity for a transition to a better,
cheaper and cleaner fuel."
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- The group, which also seeks to establish a task force
to study the consequences of global warning on poor economies, called on
Exxon to reduce greenhouse gas emission at its own operations and adopt
a renewable energy policy.
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- Exxon said it supports the Rockefeller's right to
use the shareholder proposal process to make the family's views known to
other stakeholders.
-
- The company has asked shareholders not to support
the proposals and said it believes the most effective leadership structure
for the current company is for Tillerson to serve as both chairman and
CEO.
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- It is unclear how many shares the Rockefeller family
controls. Exxon was able to identify 12 of the 15 Rockefellers associated
with the shareholder resolution and said they collectively own around 332,000
of the company's 5.4 billion shares -- or about 0.006 percent of outstanding
shares.
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- The company downplayed the importance of the Rockefellers
backing the split.
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- "We're focused on maximizing the return to the
shareholder and profitability," said Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers.
"Members of the Rockefeller family are well known for their relationship
with the company's founder. But we have 2.5 million individual shareholders."
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- About 40 percent of the company's shareholders voted
for the nonbinding proposal to split the chairman and CEO positions last
year.
-
- Political scrutiny on Exxon has also increased as
oil and gasoline prices have soared.
-
- Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton
and Barack Obama have both pointed to Exxon's record 2007 earnings as a
symbol of an oil industry run amok. Both candidates are in favor repealing
tax breaks that have been enjoyed by oil companies.
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- "Last year, Exxon Mobil made $40 billion in
profits. So you paid through the roof and they made out like bandits,"
Clinton said earlier this week in North Carolina.
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- "Middle class families are paying too much and
oil companies are not paying their fair share."
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- Analysts noted that, even in a non-election year,
it is never easy when oil companies make record profits.
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- "Politicians see Exxon and they see dollar signs.
They see it as an untapped resource," Oppenheimer & Co analyst
Fadel Gheit.
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- He noted the record profits have pleased many shareholders.
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- Exxon "must be hiding under their pile of cash,"
he added.
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- Exxon's annual meeting is scheduled for May 28.
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- http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN3044627420080430?sp=true
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