Exxon Vote Shows Anger of Investors

AP
June 1, 2006

DALLAS Shareholders of Exxon Mobil, whose previous chief executive received $147 million in pay and pension benefits last year, have cast an unusually large number of votes against directors who approved the package.

Shareholders, who voted here on Wednesday, also ignored a board recommendation and approved a resolution to require that directors win a majority vote to be elected. Twelve other shareholder resolutions, all opposed by the board, were rejected, including three that called for reports or shareholder approval of executive and director compensation. None of the compensation measures received more than 12.9 percent support.

Exxon Mobil directors are usually elected with vote percentages well into the 90s, but on Wednesday four members of the board's compensation committee received 79 percent to 82 percent, the company said.

The chairman and chief executive, Rex Tillerson, said the mood reflected publicity surrounding the compensation given to his predecessor and former boss, Lee Raymond, who was paid $49 million in salary, bonuses and restricted stock in 2005 as well as a lump-sum pension benefit of $98 million when he retired at the end of 2005.

Tillerson declined to criticize Raymond's compensation but pointed out that he had had no role in setting it. The pension lump sum is "earned compensation over a long period of time," Tillerson said, "but it's a big number." Raymond "had a remarkable tenure," Tillerson said, and guided Exxon Mobil through major changes in the industry.