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A view of the Exxon Mobil refinery in Baytown, Texas.
Jessica Rinaldi | Reuters
That is breaking information. Please verify again for updates.
Activist agency Engine No. 1 has received no less than two board seats at Exxon following a historic battle over the oil large’s board of administrators. The vote over a 3rd candidate proposed by Engine No. 1 was too near name as of 1:15 p.m. on Wall Road.
Wednesday’s vote got here throughout Exxon’s annual shareholder assembly, the place CEO Darren Woods fielded questions from shareholders starting from the corporate’s dividend to Exxon’s investments in carbon seize know-how.
The assembly came about in two components, with a roughly one-hour recess between the 2 as a result of plenty of votes nonetheless being forged.
Forward of Wednesday’s assembly activist agency Engine No. 1 nominated 4 unbiased director candidates. The group, which has a 0.02% stake in Exxon, has been focusing on the oil large since December, pushing Exxon to rethink its position in a zero-carbon world.
Engine No. 1 received help from giant pension funds, together with CalPERS, calSTRS and New York State Frequent Retirement Fund.
On Monday, Exxon mentioned in a submitting that over the following 12 months it would search so as to add two new administrators, “one with power business expertise and one with local weather expertise.”
However Engine No. 1 mentioned the modifications did not go far sufficient. “What the Board wants are administrators with expertise in profitable and worthwhile power business transformations who can assist flip aspirations of addressing the dangers of local weather change right into a long-term marketing strategy, not speaking factors,” the agency mentioned in a press release Monday.
For its half, Exxon’s administration has emphasised the steps it’s taking in the direction of a lower-carbon future, together with allocating $3 billion for analysis round carbon seize and different emissions-cutting applied sciences.
In March the oil large added two new administrators to its board, together with ESG investor Jeff Ubben, founding father of Inclusive Capital Companions. Ubben beforehand headed activist agency ValueAct, which he launched in 2000.
The battle over Exxon’s board comes as the corporate’s inventory has recovered from its pandemic lows. Shares are up greater than 40% for 2021, and have gained 26% during the last yr amid a restoration in oil costs and aggressive cost-cutting methods from the corporate. Nonetheless, the inventory has been minimize almost in half since its all-time excessive above $100 in Jan. 2014, and final yr the corporate was faraway from the Dow Jones Industrial Common after almost a century within the index.
Exxon swung to a revenue throughout the first quarter of 2021 after 4 straight quarters of losses because the pandemic wreaked havoc on the oil and fuel business.
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