Exxon's Stunning Proxy Loss Is Also Its Strategic Gain
The oil major’s defeat to an activist shareholder will help reinforce financial discipline and inject new thinking on how to invest for a low-carbon future.
For Exxon and other oil majors, the game has changed.
Photographer: David McNew/Getty Images North AmericaA recurring theme with Exxon Mobil Corp. in recent years is the accumulation of un-Exxon-like things happening to this most Exxon-like of companies. Wednesday’s shareholder vote to seat dissident board members is the most dramatic, but it follows the likes of losing a top-notch credit rating, taking a huge writedown and facing allegations of inflating the valuation of oil and gas assets, which the company denies. In isolation, each could be treated as a squall that wouldn’t knock a supertanker like Exxon off course; together, they suggest a sea change.
On a preliminary basis, two of activist shareholder Engine No. 1 LLC’s nominees will join Exxon’s board. Another awaits final results from an unexpectedly close vote. Meanwhile, Exxon also appears to have lost two votes calling for more disclosure about the company’s political and climate lobbying.