As gas prices soar across the nation, Exxon’s board paid its recently-retired chairman, Lee R. Raymond, over $686 million since 1993–with $400 million of that coming in his final year with the company.

A compensation payout like that got N.Y. Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso sued.

NY Times:

For Leading Exxon to Its Riches, $144,573 a Day

By JAD MOUAWAD

For 13 years as chairman and chief executive, Lee R. Raymond propelled Exxon, the successor to John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust, to the pinnacle of the oil world.

Under Mr. Raymond, the company’s market value increased fourfold to $375 billion, overtaking BP as the largest oil company and General Electric as the largest American corporation. Net income soared from $4.8 billion in 1992 to last year’s record-setting $36.13 billion.

Shareholders benefited handsomely on Mr. Raymond’s watch. The price of Exxon’s shares rose an average of 13 percent a year. The company, now known as Exxon Mobil, paid $67 billion in total dividends.

For his efforts, Mr. Raymond, who retired in December, was compensated more than $686 million from 1993 to 2005, according to an analysis done for The New York Times by Brian Foley, an independent compensation consultant. That is $144,573 for each day he spent leading Exxon’s “God pod,” as the executive suite at the company’s headquarters in Irving, Tex., is known.

Link

Your support is crucial...

As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.

Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.

Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG
In this Article:
#compensation#exxon mobil#oil and gas industry#retirement#shareholders