Time for Exxon to Drop the Drama and Get Back to Business
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Sophia Wilson, swilson@asyousow.org, (341) 600-1832
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA—JUNE 3, 2024—Vote totals were released last Wednesday, May 31, for Exxon’s 2024 Annual General Meeting. The meeting was unique for both its tone and substance, with Exxon openly vilifying and disparaging its investors for asking questions about the future direction of the company.
“As You Sow and ExxonMobil can both agree that Exxon is uniquely positioned to remake the energy industry and profit handsomely from the energy transition,” said Danielle Fugere, President and Chief Counsel of shareholder representative As You Sow. “Where we differ is on timing. Current management is doubling down on the dirty energy of yesterday, while Exxon’s long-term shareholders ask the company to begin investing seriously in the clean energy of tomorrow.”
Fugere continued, “Asking if the votes of no confidence against independent director Hooley and Chairman Woods were significant (they were) or a win for shareholders (it was) misses the bigger point: Exxon’s management needs to drop the drama and get back to building an Exxon of the future.”
“Oil and gas drove the industrial revolution and helped fuel our modern economy,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “On the way, it also degraded our climate. Today, we have a range of low-cost, cleaner energy technologies that will power the future. Shareholders want to know whether Exxon will — like Blockbuster and Kodak — stay stuck to the past and become irrelevant or, instead, begin innovating toward a new energy future.”
###
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.