Exxon CEO Defends Predecessor’s $400 Million Retirement Package
Exxon CEO Defends Predecessor’s $400 Million Retirement Package
This morning on NBC’s Today Show, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said he “understand[s]” consumers’ frustration with high gas prices and the news that Lee Raymond, Exxon’s former CEO, received a $400 million compensation package. But he noted that Raymond’s high retirement package wasn’t Exxon’s fault — it was determined by an independent group. Watch it:
Transcript:
TILLERSON: I do understand that [consumer frustration]. It has created a real distraction, I think, in the high price environment to dealing with the fundamental issues of why we have high prices. That compensation is determined by a committee of independent directors of the corporation who are responsible to the shareholders and the management have no input to those packages.
Exxon’s compensation board isn’t as “independent” as Tillerson suggested. In 1999, Raymond was on the board of Chase Manhattan. When CEO Walter Shipley retired, Raymond and other board members awarded him a multimillion-dollar compensation package. Shipley now sits on Exxon’s board and helped award Raymond his generous reitrement package.
Additionally, Raymond helped choose his five-person compensation board. Exxon’s compensation board is “appointed by the Board [of Directors] from among its members.” The chairman of the Board of Directors? The Exxon CEO (Lee Raymond).
Full transcript below:
LAUER: Perhaps the poster child for all of this — especially in the public relations side of this — was the former CEO of ExxonMobil Lee Raymond, who left the company I think about a year ago. And according to The New York Times in his final year was paid something in the neighborhood of $400 million. Is that an appropriate amount?
TILLERSON: It’s a large amount of money. There’s no question about it. It comes at a time with these high prices where obviously it has drawn a lot of attention. I would say that number has been talked about in a number of different ways and involves a lot of deferred compensation which is still out in the future, yet to be given to him.
LAUER: But you understand when a family pulls up to the pump and they see 60 cents more this month and the headline “$400-million Pay Package,” that rankles them?
TILLERSON: I do understand that. It has created a real distraction, I think, in the high price environment to dealing with the fundamental issues of why we have high prices. That compensation is determined by a committee of independent directors of the corporation who are responsible to the shareholders and the management have no input to those packages.
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I think this type of I will scratch your back if you scratch my back thing is pretty common in the upper echelon industry. These guys all sit on other peoples boards and make sure that these severance packages are almost as large as their egos.
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:45 pmIn other words, F*ck off, Lauer.
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:46 pmBottom line….Mr. Raymond could give EVERY AMERICAN $1.00
AND STILL HAVE OVER 100 MILLION DOLLARS LEFT!!!!!!
That my friends is called GREED!!!!!!!
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:54 pmWhy do these guys even try to act nice anymore? It’s not like our outrage is actually going to affect them in any manner. I’m Shocked, SHOCKED, to find insane compensation practices going on in here! If their private security force will allow me near their gated community/private island/penthouse suite/helipad I will hold up a shoddily painted “SHAME” sign. That’ll teach em to accept a half a billion dollars when they retire. Maybe next time they’ll trim it down to just a quarter of a billion.
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:55 pmIf you’re surprised by this, say “aye.”
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.
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Anyone? No?
Me either.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:02 pmAt least Exxon/Mobil can’t create equity out of thin air like the tech stocks. I’m sure that the financial services industry is working on it for the Exxons and GEs of the world though. New accounting methods allow payment of taxes a non income item for these people as well as the multitude of yachts, vacation homes, art and other goodies. Truely amazing stuff. I’m sure that if these accounting methods were used at the smithsonian, the value of art and historical artifacts would have been expensed down to $0.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:02 pmExxon spent $40 million, (they say), on R&D for alternative energy last year.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:04 pmThat’s 10% of what the CEO got as a retirement package.
Every merger shuts down refineries, but then they claim we don’t have enough
refining capacity.
Exxon has appealed the Exxon Valdez case for 10 years! Just a fraction of last
quarter’s profits would have paid off the fine & allowed Alaskan communities to
finally be paid for the huge coastal clean up.
Does anyone out there believe any of the BS coming out of corporate America’s
mouth anymore?
When corporate citizenship supercedes private citezenship we’ve finally arrived…
Welcome to the United Corporations of America!
Why do these guys even try to act nice anymore?
Comment by Jeb — May 3, 2006 @ 2:55 pm
Actually, they don’t even have to act nice anymore. They could where shirts that say “Screw you all, I have your money.” They could run commercials that say, “F**k you, America. Give us your money.” They could kick a homeless person while stealing candy from a baby, but you know what?
We’d still buy their gas. Cause we have to.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:09 pmI was thinking about this, too:
I have a question for the creationists out there who don’t believe in evolution. What is oil? And coal? Fossil fuels, right? FOSSIL fuels. Created by eons of dead things rotting in the ground.
If the we humans were designed by a higher power, explain to me that liquified pterodactyl in your gas tank.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:12 pmYou said it Zimsone.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:12 pm$400,000,000 for one person compared to what the company could do in refineries for immediate need and in R&D of alternative energy for future. You mention the Exxon-Valdiz cleanup that is still unpaid.
These guys scratch each other’s backs at our expense.
They have no conscience, no sense of justice nor morality. What they do have are brass balls! And friends in the White House.
Exxon spent $40 million, (they say), on R&D for alternative energy last year.
That’s 10% of what the CEO got as a retirement package.
Comment by Zimzone — May 3, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
I bet that R&D was Researching the types of margaritas sold at the pool bar in Grand Cayman and Developing a relationship with that cute island girl serving the margaritas.
For executives only of course.
Although, I don’t blame them (nor do I condone their actions). If your business is selling monkeys, how much do you really want to spend on R&D for Monkey Repellant?
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:16 pmThe more the uber-wealthy scream, “Free markets”, the more I’m convinced that they’re absolutely not “Free”. Free if you’re connected.
What does everyone think about state control of the energy sector?
t-mac
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:19 pmHow much is Lee Raymond worth in whale oil and blubber?The new fossil fuel?
We all know about their 100% hot air efficiency rating but…
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:23 pmHow long will a CEO burn and what is the BTU rating?
#13.
That flaccid, flabby neck of Lee Raymond would get a few million bucks from a Japanese whaling ship no doubt.
-GSD
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:27 pmI stopped at a traffic light yesterday and to my left was an Exxon/Mobile service station. A car or truck at every pump. People are still buying their gas like good little lemmings. As long as that happens, Big Oil will continue to operate like the obnoxious gluttons that they are.
I’ve been boycotting their gas stations since the Valdez crisis. Doesn’t seem to matter so much. Not in a nation of 280 million. And until the sheep realize it is an us versus them scenario, they won’t do anything differently. No matter how much they burn themselves in the process.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:28 pmCorporate executives have been circle jerking like this since the Gilded Age. Take note that the only two periods in American history during which any meaningful attempts at regulation occurred—the Progressive Era and the 1930s—were each interrupted by American participation in war, which is a capitalist’s wet dream. As Eisenhower warned, government and industry have now become enduring, intimate bedfellows. In our superficial and simplistic political culture, how can the public hope to oppose them? I despair for this country and our future.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:28 pmWhat does everyone think about state control of the energy sector?
Comment by t-mac — May 3, 2006 @ 3:19 pm
State control? No. Enforcement of anti-competitve practices? Yes.
Back when there were 15+ oil companies, these drastic price increases were not a problem. Now that we’re down to six companies, collusion and price fixing is much easier to accomplish.
Break up Big Oil. Similar to breaking up the phone companies in the past. If GOPers like competition so much, they should want to stop the merger/acquisition craze that has been going on in not only the energy industry, but other key industries as well.
But they don’t care about competition. They care about whatever makes them more money. Perhaps real Republicans care about some of the tennets of “Free Market” and “Laissez-faire” economics…. but those people aren’t sitting in the House and Senate on their very fat wallets.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:33 pmDude’s got to retire soon - he’s going to take less? No way - he’s got those payments on his private island, or similar.
At Agitprop, we’re asking a question - what in the hell does the left blogosphere have to do to get some respect? (and to be as effective as the right-wing noise machine?)
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:36 pmkill . . . . . . . . your . . . . . . . . . tv
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:43 pmIt’s outrageous that Tillerson thinks that just because the board of directors approved this outrageous package that that makes it okay. It would appear that being CEO of Exxon/Mobile would have to be one of the easiest CEO positions in the country. Any f*****g idiot (even GWB) could be CEO of this company and still make billions and billions. It’s not exactly a tough job since they have such a huge piece of the market and so many friends in high places. They’re not exactly a startup company that needs an astute CEO who knows how to compete or anything like that. The only tough part of being CEO of Exxon/Mobile is the flack you have to put up from all the people outraged at their huge profits and huge pay packages, and I really don’t think that’s enough to earn this kind of pay.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:47 pmWho of us really is interested in some old fart’s “package” anyway.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:50 pmI have a question for the creationists out there who don’t believe in evolution. What is oil? And coal? Fossil fuels, right? FOSSIL fuels. Created by eons of dead things rotting in the ground.
If the we humans were designed by a higher power, explain to me that liquified pterodactyl in your gas tank.
Comment by bobcat_grad — May 3, 2006 @ 3:12 pm
Oil is liquid manna sent from heaven and buried by God… It is hidden underground so that the wicked - who are not clever enough to look underground for it - won’t ever benefit from its sale.
Fossil fuel is a word made up by the Devil and promoted by the liberal media… all clear bobcat?
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:55 pmWe need Hugo Chavez to deal with these jackasses.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:55 pmstating the obvious here: another example that the networks are tools and mouthpieces for big busines/government…knowing tillerson was to be a guest, matt could have easily gotton the same facts and information as TP has and called this guy out… what a grand public service that would have been…
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:59 pmright up there with colonoscopies… (that was not a joke)
#9 - If the we humans were designed by a higher power, explain to me that liquified pterodactyl in your gas tank.
Comment by bobcat_grad
Good one, bobcat, let me try to explain.
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:05 pmHmmm…um…ya see…it’s a matter of faith…well…um…god is a really sick and mean practical joker? Yeah, that’s it.
G.W.SuperChrist -
Thank you for clearing that up for me (in #22). I guess I won’t ask about where the wooly mammoth, saber toothed tiger and the dodo bird are, either.
Or why the platypus is still around.
After all, questioning the logic Intelligent Design would surely mean that I hate America. Right?
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:07 pm#12 & #17— “Free markets” is a Big Lie that was established in our collective mind by the Reagan Administration. The word “free” makes people think of “freedom” and the American way of life. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with collusion and keeping government out of coroporate affairs (letting the corporations run amok). As bobcat_grad says, the people running things don’t care about competition. They hate competition. They are interested in playing a rigged game. I think it’s way too late to change this unless the people get wise to it, which is unlikely when most Americans console themselves with merchandise bought with borrowed money and refuse to engage in political activity or even discourse.
I’m no economist, but free markets is just a slogan. In truth, successful economies have always had governmental controls, tarriffs, etc. Am I wrong?
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:10 pmI think a better question would be; Why did this guy feel it necessary to go on live television to defend the retirement package?
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:18 pmBut he noted that Raymond’s high retirement package wasn’t Exxon’s fault — it was determined by an independent group.
Yeah, and I’m sure that Exxon’s board of directors bitterly fought them tooth and nail the whole way, too.
Bloated cocksuckers…
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:18 pm“$400,000,000 for one person compared to what the company could do in refineries for immediate need and in R&D of alternative energy for future.”
Exxon spends a great deal of money on exploration - that is planning for the future. They were not able to hit their budgeted amount, actually, because service companies are short on rigs (interestingly the biggest producer is signapore - of rigs).
As a side note: You can complain all you want about his retirement - he worked there for 27 years I believe so it’s not some short term involvement - but in the end it is the shareholders that determine via their proxies whether to cast their ballots/proxies for the board. They do, overwhelmingly.
We don’t live in a stakeholder society, ie, a company does not have an employee’s ’supervisory’ board like germany and society really isn’t a factor of concern.
Whether that is a bad thing is a value judgement. Personally, I do think his package was a bit high but for different reasons. He is going to hurt them in the long run because ALL he focuses on is on total returns. He sets the margin so high that he can only participate in massive projects of which there are relatively few. In doing so he is not replenishing the reserves at a good rate (it is over 100 percent though - unlike Shell).
His reasoning is based on his very real belief that oil prices will fall significantly. For awhile he set the minimum threshold at 28 dollars per bol when determining whether to go ahead (last year). Now it’s high 40s. If he was wrong - and I think he is - then Exxon has missed a real opportunity.
They also should have invested in the tar sands in Canada much sooner than they did and even then their presence is miniscule. They don’t think the price will stay high enough.
So, my issue with him is that he can’t forecast and the company’s stock will trail those who explored early in this phase. Specifically, Exxon will have to buy out small oil companies at outrageous prices which will depress their share prices and eventually hit the stockholder.
Of course, I think the price will return to the high 50s in the next ~2 years if Iran doesn’t go completely crazy - as well as the esteemed King George. the reasoning behind that is Saudi Arabia is significantly expanding it’s capacity - by about 2.5 million bpd. That’s quite a bit.
Refineries: They are in no rush to build them. The simple fact that people hate them and don’t want them built (remember the ‘build them on the closed military base bush proposal’?) in ‘their backyard’. They are ugly and dangerous.
The real reason they aren’t being built, however, is Exxon believes the price of oil is going down over the next few years (look at Raymonds quotes). He genuinely believes it and will ONLY participate in BIG FIELDS. Look at the ‘little’ companies on London’s AIM market - they are really innovative. There’s actually one exploring in North Korea:) Exxon CANNOT influence oil prices because they control 1 percent of the world’s oil. OPEC CAN:) and OPEC WILL.
OPEC closely monitors consumption patterns. The following quote from a poster serves to illustrate what they are looking at. They also look ahead, ie, they want to know if substitutes and new technology are making an inroad. This would be ethanol (not really a US substitute until the US stops protecting the US corn farmers and lets in cheaper ethanol but is a substitute in Brazil), biodiesel (very good stuff, my TDI has run on it), hybrid car sales, etc. A big worry for them is nuclear energy….actual power is a major concern for them because of natural gas prices which they are building 10 billion dollar ‘trains’ to turn it into LNG (superfreeze the stuff and stick it on a special tanker).
“I stopped at a traffic light yesterday and to my left was an Exxon/Mobile service station. A car or truck at every pump. People are still buying their gas like good little lemmings.”
Gas is a relatively inelastic product. There is a point, however, when consumption will fall at a rate that is ‘dangerous’ for OPEC. It has fallen some 2 percent over the last year. They will fix this by flooding the market with oil. Saudi Arabia is also building refineries that meet US enviro laws. India’s Reliance is building a 30millionmetricton facility (it’s the largest in the world right now being built) next to their 33 mil existing plant. It’s solely for export purposes…not domestic use (price controls in India are not attractive).
The solution is to cut the ‘crack spread’ from it’s current $20 a barrel down to a more ‘comfortable’ level. It was $12 last year and it ran at $3.50 for the 90s (3.50 is pathetic, it’s why they didn’t invest then which hurts now).
In the end it will need to be cut by either new US refineries which the NIMBOs will derail or by foreign sources.
We actually used a good deal of European gasoline during the Katria fiasco. Those were from emergency stockpiles though.
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:45 pmindependent group… wink, wink
Does that pay also include Raymond’s country club fee and use of the company aircraft, financial planning, tax assistance services, security for him & his wife, car and driver (do American CEO’s need security detail?)?
I wish the days of idle shareholder activism were coming to an end, but I know they aren’t.
If you own individual stocks I hope you are reading the proxies and annual reports and voting. But since most people own stocks through a pension or mutual fund, our hopes rest with Pensions mgmt and Wall Street firms to do the right thing. Icks!
I wonder how effective Board of Directors of corporations really are. More often than not, it just seems like a network of old white men (what is the average age of directors) who get paid $100K+ (well in Exxon’s case more like $400k+/director) for doing very little. One guy will sit on multiple corporate boards. Nice way to rack in millions for doing close to nothing. That the shareholders money they are throwing away. If you own that stock directly or through a fund, in a pension, IRA, or taxable account, that is your money.
If schools are churning out MBA’s by the lot full, how come executive compensation isn’t affected by supply and demand. Especially with an older workforce, there should be millions of people capable of running a corporations, thus driving down compensation.
Highly recommend Bogle’s book, “The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism”. Also good, “Bull!”, and “The Number : How the Drive for Quarterly Earnings Corrupted Wall Street and Corporate America”. Mark Cuban has a good blog and he talks about his Wall Street experiences pretty frankly.
A lot of our problems came when Congress policized the FASB and would not allow stock options to be expensed. I really dislike Congressman Joe Lieberman for his involvement in creating this mess…
Warren Buffett, America’s greatest story-teller
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:51 pmFour stories about our loss of integrity, ethics and moral character
Who of us really is interested in some old fart’s “package†anyway.
Comment by Rex Tillerson — May 3, 2006 @ 3:50 pm
Oh God, I just went blind from that visual…
May 3rd, 2006 at 4:57 pmI’m surmising this “independant group” is the same group of Texas Oilmen that Ike referred to, in that they were small in number, and stupid.
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:05 pmThe same little group that bought Nixon his pResidency…hmmmmm?
Huh! Whaddaya think about that? Lee “Fat Bastard” Raymond doesn’t think that gas prices are so outrageous. In fact, he deserved the package because he made the Dow go up.
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:12 pmThe mess in the Middle East centering on the debacle in Iraq has decreased the flow of oil into the international market creating an overall shortage. China has become the big oil seeker through diplomatic ties with Iran and compete with the US who is less that welcome there. Bolivia is nationalizing its oil production and is in alliance with Venezuela and Cuba to determine future production and export. This does not bode well for the US. Our foreign policy has been based on a lack of real diplomacy and has been superceded by warmongering and profiteering for the benefit of a few the last five years. Katrina has added to the problem, another feather in Bush’s cap. The oil problem will not abate and continue to dog us unless we can alter the course of our incompetent and inept approach that alienates the oil producers of the world.
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:21 pmWow, that Matt Lauer sure ask some tough questions!..he grilled him on his answers! Got him in a corner and made him tell the truth!……righttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:13 pmThe EIA website contains a wealth of information on the industry. The capacity of US refineries since 1990 has increased. The amount (thousand gals. per week) of operable capacity in 1/93 was 15,345;1/01 was 16,559;1/06 was 17,129. So refinery capacity in the US has increased in the last 15 years mostly through expansion of existing plants.
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:27 pmThen there’s the gas station (see Inc magazine article) where of the 167,000 retail outlets,most are not owned by the integrated companies.
6 states,in fact,have regulations whereby it is illegal for the integrated companies to sell retail.
17 states have minimum pricing laws where a retail outlet may not price “below Cost”
(Federal Trade Commission,2003:Gasoline Price Changes;the Dynamic of Supply,Demand and Competition.)
One could also read the study by the Cato Institute (yeah,yeah,I know-but they do footnote so you can check the sources) at http://www.cato.org/ pubs/ gasoline_price_controls.pdf
I’m disappointed as well that Matt Lauer didn’t ask the toughest questions or back Tillerson against the wall the way he did with Tom Cruise last year. There were only two e-mail questions that were answered and Mr. Tillerson says that there has to be technology to come up with alternative fuels and that there are no real alternatives at
this time. Hello, ever heard of ethanol?
That was the weakest interview that Lauer has ever done and he should be ashamed of it. I would spend more than ten flimsy minutes interrogating the bastard and asking him more about the retirement package for the no-necked SOB as well as
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:27 pmask him why he cares more for his shareholders than he does for the American public.
Also, ask him why his company isn’t working hard to find alternative uses for fuel. And finally is the oil company being politically influenced? The bozo won’t have an answer to that.
Well, if nothing else, you gotta give the guy credit for having the gonads to actually appear on a national TV show to “explain” this.
Today says they asked each of the big multinationals to appear on their show, and all the others declined. At least this guy tried to go through a dog and pony show.
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:49 pmAlso, ask him why his company isn’t working hard to find alternative uses for fuel. And finally is the oil company being politically influenced? The bozo won’t have an answer to that.
Comment by JIMBO — May 3, 2006 @ 6:27 pm
actually he has answers for all of those questions, but since it would not sound good if he told the truth, he would instead lie and decieve.
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:49 pmIt’s up to the stock holders of all the companies to review and approve CEO packages if they want to keep them at a reasonable level. To not do so is to throw the doors to your coffers wide open to executive raiders.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:44 pmIt could be made law that the stockholders of ALL publically held companies approve packages for the CEO on up through the Board. Or a Sarbanes/Oxley kind of reporting requirement could be imposed.
It’s up to the stock holders of all the companies to review and approve CEO packages if they want to keep them at a reasonable level. To not do so is to throw the doors to your coffers wide open to executive raiders.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:44 pmIt could be made law that the stockholders of ALL publically held companies approve packages for the CEO on up through the Board. Or a Sarbanes/Oxley kind of reporting requirement could be imposed.
It’s up to the stockholders of all the companies to review and approve CEO packages if they want to keep them at a reasonable level. To not do so is to throw the coffer doors wide open to executive raiders.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:51 pmIt could be made law that the stockholders of ALL publically held companies approve packages for the CEO on up through the Board. Or a Sarbanes/Oxley kind of reporting requirement to the stockholders before such compensation commitments are made? These guys are not superheros. Many are not even competent. There are plenty of very good executives in the wings eager to take the helm. To pay them like they are irreplaceable is absurd.
This is baloney nonsense > the Exxon CEO demanded that much money to retire > no board decided the amount to give that fat swine! Oil Cartel corporations are not accountable to anyone, not even their stockholders!
May 3rd, 2006 at 9:58 pmRaymond’s payout might seem excessive but careful analysis of the numbers show that oil industry executives have received gusher pay packets. It’s not coincidental this is happening at a time when people are paying record prices at the fuel pump. For more analysis of how the oil industry its executives, read here
May 4th, 2006 at 9:46 amOn behalf of Lee Raymond, the board of Directors for ExxonMobil and all CEO’s across America…
…we will continue to award multi-million/billion dollar ‘golden parachutes” within our exclusive ranks…
…and the best thing that you little people can do about it is to…
…kiss our ENTIRE a*ses…
…in the immortal words of America’s favorite comic genius, one Mr. David Chapelle…
“We’re RICH, bi*ch(es)”
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
-Rex Tillerson, George W. Bush, Richard Cheney-
May 4th, 2006 at 12:06 pmif this question was coming from someone other than an anchor pulling in $10M per year himself, i might listen a bit more. let’s give a voice to those americans earning less than seven figures per year. most of us earn less than six!
May 5th, 2006 at 12:14 pmCan any rational person honestly blame Evo Morales for re-nationaising Bolivias oil and gas fields out of the hands of the BOCs, in the poorest region of the poorest country in south amaerica? Not me. Cheers Evo!
May 6th, 2006 at 9:56 am[…] Exxon CEO Defends Predecessor s $400 Million Retirement PackageThink Progress, DC - May 3, 2006But he noted that Raymond s high retirement package wasn t Exxon s fault it was determined by an independent group. Watch it: … […]
May 6th, 2006 at 10:38 pm[…] ãä äÝØäÇ! […]
May 21st, 2006 at 4:32 pmi work for exxonmobil, as does my father. i’d like to thank my company for all the things they have done for me over the years. thanks for not laying off the hourly personnel you employ, even when oil prices were down in the 80’s. thanks for providing me with a retirement. thanks for paying more in income tax than you made in your domestic operations. thanks for donating MILLIONS of dollars to hurricane relief (KATRINA). thanks for providing health insurance for me and my dependents. thanks for beinga great employer, and for all the hiring you have done here in the US over the last 7 years. thanks for the great jobs you’ve given to the many applicants who have applied. thank you exxonmobil. i realize that you don’t set the price of oil, even though everyone thinks you do. i realize you only own 1 out of every 170 gas stations. i realize that you don’t make much money off gas prices here in the U.S. pay our ceo what you wish. thanks for being such a gret stock to own. i am sure the people who have been share holders since day one really appreciate our company’s performance. i bet the folks who own our stock appreciate it’s performance when they get their mutual fund statements each quarter. thanks to my company. just a regular guy out there who wants people to know what XOM does.
May 30th, 2006 at 12:09 amThe bastard will get everything he deserves… having $400,000,000 is a curse. He and his family will be targets for kidnapping, theft, murder… he will easily spend 300 million just protecting the rest and his own life and the lives of his family.
Don’t ever envy the criminally rich… they drown in their gold, and reap what they have sown and so richly deserve.
December 28th, 2006 at 4:40 pmELECTRIC CARS
ELECTRIC CARS
ELECTRIC CARS
ELECTRIC CARS
December 28th, 2006 at 5:44 pmExxon is not the only oil company that pays such hugh amounts to the CEO. ConocoPhillips has a CEO that resigned under his employment contract, but has remained as CEO. He is just working without a contract. He did this so that he could cash in some stock options that were part of his compensation package. He could not cash them in while employed under the contract. He cashed them in at $38/share and within two days sold them off at $88/share. How this is not insider trading, I do not know.
December 28th, 2006 at 6:04 pmThat Lucky, fat, ugly, bastard, former CEO got over on everybody! Maybe he can now get a facelift, lipo, hair transplant and a new heart that cares for others not just profit! Fat chance on the new heart! Enron Rules! Shalom.
December 28th, 2006 at 7:19 pmSincerely,
Jaye
How can anyone justify accepting this kind of dollar amount. I can bearly keep $1000 in my checking account and people like this are awarded these outragous sums.
Capitalism sucks.
The stock market sucks.
Makes me kinda think the wrong side won the cold war.
December 28th, 2006 at 8:18 pm[…] This kind of story just disgusts me. I’ve already reported on this, but there seems to be no end to the level of deception and planetary debauchery these corporate monstrosities are willing to embrace. This isn’t a “distraction” enough - this is time for a honest-to-God-clean-the-house people’s revolution and throw these greedy sucking vortexes into a black hole of death. […]
December 28th, 2006 at 8:25 pmTotal scum sucking quad chin fat bastard.
December 28th, 2006 at 8:26 pmMy suggestion is someone needs to trademark the phrase “mother fuc*&%@ greedy Exxon bastards” and charge a royalty everytime someone uses it. With that amount of money raised, you could buy Exxon twice over!
December 28th, 2006 at 8:43 pmI would like to see our new congress help this guy manage his new wealth by:
1) Increasing the tax rate to 90% (or more) for his windfall.
December 28th, 2006 at 11:00 pm2) Increasing the estate tax to make sure his greedy family doesn’t see a single dime of whats left after the hefty income tax.
3) Seize his home and assets for sale for public distribution.
4) Investigate Exxon for price fixing and profiteering.
5) Increase corporate tax rates to 90 %, and get that money back into public hands.
Cultures that extoll the preception that wealth equates with virtue and are treated as one and the same are doomed to excess and failure. This man has neither discovered a cure for anything directly or relieved human suffering by personal sacrifice. He is no Schweitzer. He is only the reflection of excess. His wealth will insulate him and his family for a very very long time from the struggles the rest of us go through and if he supports the right lobbies etc.,this can go on for ever.
December 29th, 2006 at 12:03 amHow is it that a society can reward that much to such a man , when men are dying for his right to that compensation on the sands of Iraq? Their insurance policy’s death benefit doesn’t even come close.
It’s time to turn the whole oil-gas energy industry into a regulated utility.
We could at least have some say in our own backyard and end Enron,
Exxon, Mobil and Sandard, Lukoil and bid on a competitive energy basis.
This whole industry is a corrupt bunch of thieves and charlatans.
December 29th, 2006 at 8:46 amThe ONLY way to stop this kind of behavior is to STOP buying the products these corpo-RAPE-tions produce. How many times to we need to be beaten over the head to realize we are attracting exactly what we are saying we DO NOT WANT in our country. We bitch about jobs heading overseas, illegal immigration running rampant, Washington, D.C. being a den of wolves and thieves, the FED Reserve, (which by the way IS NOT a federal institution but a PRIVATELY owned corporation…look it up, get off your ass and do a little research and find out for yourselves)…I tell you this, dig just a LITLLE deeper than your comfort level will allow and you too will start to see the REAL world around you and begin to realize it is OUR FAULT for the way things are. When you see hordes of people waving flags and chanting down with the USA in OTHER countries, you so conveniently call them fanatical and idiotic…but I tell you this, they are EMPOWERING themselves to create change in their lives, not simply complaining about it like we have come to do! Down deep in your heart, you admire their tenacity and vigor, and WANT TO DO THE SAME, but don’t because of 23 different excuses we have for complacency!! I am guilty too, I do not live in a glass house…but I am unable to continue down the same path any longer and am praying for guidance and wisdom from our Creator to have the courage to leave my comfort zone and start making a real difference in our world…it is changing rapidly folks, and soon many will be saying,” How did we get here?”
When is the last time you saw thousands of people marching on Washington to show our disdain and anger and frustration with our government for NOT obeying and abiding by the Constitution, WE THE PEOPLE have the RIGHT and POWER to remove ALL ENEMIES, foreign AND DOMESTIC!
GEORGE W. and his necon cronies ARE DOMESTIC ENEMIES and puppets of ZION!! He actually stated the Constitution is nothing more than a “Goddamned piece of paper”…HE is the Decider…and yet we say nothing…are you afraid of what your friends will say if you disagree? Afraid of being labeled a fanatic? A conspiracy theorist? Fundamentalist? BOO FRIGGIN HOO…do you know why cry at movies that have an underdog for the hero….because he stands up for what he believes in even after having his ass handed to him time after time, and yet he soldiers on in the name of integrity and justice, honor and love. And secretly, we want to have that amount of courage to say what we really feel in our hearts, not what everyone agrees to as the norm. We are pussies and you know it!
I have gotten to the point where I do not care any longer how wacked or crazy people think I am in regards to these beliefs…I LOVE THIS COUNTRY and the people within it’s borders…my children live here as well and I am ashamed of the future are we preparing them for…all so we can have a dream only a small percentage will ever achieve at the expense of the majority.
I am not articulate or as educated as others, but you do not need a degree to see the truth! I have a heart, a conscience and a desire to live life fully and joyfully and happily along with every other person on this planet….it is our right as human beings. This planet belongs to NO ONE!!
Earth is home to all of us, lets start treating it as such.
Love,
pauley
December 29th, 2006 at 10:06 amKill all the judges and lawyers, and then lets talk.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:11 amTo the person saying oil was a fossil fuel, you might want to do a little research on ‘Abiotic’ which says oil is formed in the mantle of the Earth by natural process. This is why some empty oil fields are now full of oil again. Thus oil proves nothing torwards the “THEORY” of evolution. God made the planet this way to give us a never ending fuel supply.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:52 amSo much for trying to be a nice guy and playing by the rules. In this day & age, it’s I’ll get mine and the hell with you.Nothing is ever going to be done about this unfair playing feild.Can you even begin to imagine what goes on behind closed doors, things we will never know about? Oh yes they do play by the golden rule do they not, you know… who ever owns the gold makes the rules.And Justice is spelled… JUST-US.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:33 pmThese people and their elk are far worse than any criminal that’s serving time behind bars.Pity the poor… the one who has no money and attempts to cash a fifty dollar check for food and winds up getting a three year prison sentence. Hope they enjoy their wind fall now, for their nightmare will come in their solitude hours, when restless sleep finds them tossing and turning, and their decrepit minds can find no peace from deep within their dark black souls. I beg to ask, is this the America we want, is this what young men and women are dying for? God help us all if you answer in the affirmative, for the rest of us… GOD HELP US, for no one else is.
On the issue of having a never ending supply of oil.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:44 pmYour all wet, who ever made that statement.
Scientist have recently discovered that in the center of the earth is a gigantic ball bearing. Once we pump all the oil out, this earth will come to a screeching hault. Talk about the great spin off.What a mental picture that is, can’t you just see it!, Guess you can call that,”Flipping Out”
To the person that said we have a never ending supply of oil, your all wet.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:53 pmScientist have recently discovered that in the middle of the earth is a gigantic ball bearing. Once all the oil is pumped out, this earth will come to a screetching hault. Talk about the great spin off! Paints a mental picture of people “FLIPPING OUT”
Or are they already flipping out?
We’re all three-time losers. We pay at the pump, the CEOs get it all, and global warming is coming like a freight train. Ain’t it fun?
December 29th, 2006 at 5:43 pmwhay one can say? Criminals will always remain criminals
December 30th, 2006 at 7:19 pm[…] he should get some more bacon and pork to last him for the next few years. Or milleniums. What is $400 million when the oil won’t stop to flow. Yet. I am so stuffed. Just not the pension of the workers we […]
March 27th, 2008 at 5:16 pm