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Nappier, Rockefeller Kin Go Public With Exxon Mobil Shareholder Fight

By Associated Press Report

05/05/08

State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier held a joint press conference last week in New York City with members of the Rockefeller clan to support the family’s shareholder fight with Exxon Mobil.

Contributed Photo

State Treasurer Denise Nappier (right) stands with Neva Rockefeller Goodwin at a joint press conference challenging Exxon Mobile on its governance and environmental focus.

Nappier, who spoke alongside the Rockefellers, is challenging the oil giant to split the roles of chairman and CEO and focus more on renewable energy.

“We all know the saying: The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” said Nappier, who oversees a pension fund that holds $300 million in Exxon Mobil stock — its largest single equity investment. “We are trying to keep a giant — and it truly is a giant in the oil and gas industry — from falling.”

The Rockefeller family, who describe themselves as the company’s longest continuous shareholders, said they are concerned that Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil is too focused on short-term gains from soaring oil prices and should do more to invest in cleaner technology for the future. Separating the leadership roles, they argue, would better position the company for challenges to come.

Nappier agrees, noting that because the world’s demand for energy is changing, “we don’t believe Exxon Mobil can continue its great performance by relying on past strategies and methods. “

Nappier also took aim at the corporation’s corporate governance practices. “We have tried to meet with the chair of the Exxon Mobil Public Issues Committee — which has climate change on its agenda. We have not been permitted to do so. In fact, in general, Exxon Mobil management does not permit board members to talk directly to the company’s shareholders. … This is a poor corporate governance practice, and it needs to change.”

A New War

“They are fighting the last war and they’re not seeing they’re facing a new war,” said Peter O’Neill, who heads the Rockefeller Family committee dealing with Exxon Mobil and is the great-great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller.

O’Neill said he had the support of more than 80 percent of family members over the age of 21. Family representatives said they were not sure how much of the company they own collectively, but that it represented a significant holding. Mutual funds and other institutional investors, not individuals, are the company’s top shareholders.

“We feel tied very closely to this company, and that’s why we feel so passionately about them becoming the best company they can be,” said Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, an economist and family member who briefed reporters.

Exxon Mobil was formed by the combination of two offspring of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust. It is now the world’s largest publicly traded oil company.

Members of the Rockefeller family are sponsoring four proxy resolutions that raise concerns about the company’s leadership under Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson. They said they have spent years behind the scenes prodding the company to change its approach to the energy business.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Gantt Walton said the company has met with members of the Rockefeller family on multiple occasions and “respects the rights of all shareholders to make their views known,” but that it does not comment on details of meetings with shareholders.

Rockefeller family members that have filed or co-filed shareholder resolutions own a total of about 332,000 shares, Walton said. As of the end of last year, Exxon Mobil had 5.4 billion shares outstanding.

“While the Rockefeller family is well known, they are shareholders like any of the other 2.5 million shareholders,” he said.

Going Public

The family, Nappier and their allies decided to take their case public, they said, because they believe future energy will come from sources other than oil and natural gas, and say the company needs to move more quickly into sustainable technology to secure its long-term viability.