ExxonMobil given another blow as Small Hedge Fund wins another Board seat

Jun 03, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – Engine No. 1, the small hedge fund that dared to challenge ExxonMobil over the past few months on its weak response to climate change, has dealt the oil giant another blow as it yesterday won another seat on the Board of Directors. This was disclosed by ExxonMobil after it updated the preliminary results for the election of directors at its annual meeting of shareholders held on May 26, 2021.
Kaieteur News had initially reported after the elections that the preliminary results of ExxonMobil’s elections saw two of Engine No. 1’s four nominees being elected to serve. That has now increased to three with Alexander Karsner, former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Engine No. 1’s board nominees elected last week were Greg Goff, former Andeavor/Tesoro CEO, and Kaisa Hietala, former head of renewable fuels at Finnish refiner Neste.
Re-elected ExxonMobil Directors are Chairman, Darren Woods; Michael Angelakis, Susan Avery, Angela Braly, Ursula Burns, Kenneth Frazier, Joseph Hooley, Douglas Oberhelman and Jeffrey Ubben.
Since December last, Kaieteur News had reported that Engine No. 1’s challenge for board seats was rooted in its dissatisfaction with ExxonMobil’s emissions output. According to Bloomberg, the oil giant’s annual emissions from its operations are set to increase from 122 million metric tons in 2017 to 143 million metric tons in 2025. The investment firm was also concerned about the company’s decisions, which have led to its declining fiscal health.
In a statement to industry stakeholders, Engine No. 1 had said, “Investors increasingly want to see companies focused on the long-term and ExxonMobil is no exception. We believe that ExxonMobil’s Board needs new members who have proven success positioning energy companies for today as well as tomorrow, and who are sufficiently independent from the current Board to ensure a clean break from a strategy and mindset that have led to years of value destruction and poorly positioned the Company for the future.”
While ExxonMobil has recently taken incremental steps to improve its performance in the face of financial and shareholder pressure, Engine One said it is of the firm belief that a reactive short-term approach is no substitute for a proactive long-term strategy that addresses the threats and opportunities facing the company in a changing world.
Taking this into consideration, among other factors, the new investment firm had proposed four independent nominees – each of whom it said brought a differentiated skill set that made them uniquely suited to help the Board chart a new value-creating path, including better long-term capital discipline, strategic planning, and management incentives.

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