Rockefeller, Exxon Mobil: Battle

THE involvement of the Rockefeller family gives added piquancy to one of the two most significant shareholders-versus-board battles of this year's proxy season. Of the 78 adult direct descendants of John D. Rockefeller Jr, 72 have endorsed a resolution to split the jobs of chairman and chief executive at Exxon Mobil, which eventually emerged from the antitrust break-up of the family oil monopoly, Standard Oil. Exxon strongly opposes the resolution and has tried to stem growing enthusiasm for it ahead of its annual meeting on May 28th by writing for a second time to shareholders urging them to vote no.

Last year the resolution won 40% of the vote, up from 34% in 2006. The endorsement of the Rockefellers (who nowadays own only a tiny slice of Exxon, though it is the family's biggest shareholding) is raising hopes of breaking through the 50% ceiling, as does the support of three of the leading firms that advise institutional shareholders on how to vote their proxies. Particularly significant is the support of Proxy Governance Inc, a firm that has previously opposed resolutions to split the jobs of chairman and chief executive. It gave warning that if Exxon continued its “my way or the highway” approach, it risked a “shareholder revolt”.