Engine No. 1 Strengthen Their Clutch On Exxon Mobil

(RTTNews) - Hedge fund Engine No. 1 has managed to win a third seat on the board of oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM), after it claimed two seats in the 12-person board last week.

Engine No.1 had nominated four candidates for the posts for which the voting during the annual shareholders meeting was intense and it was difficult to call. However, on Wednesday Exxon has announced that another Engine No. 1 nominee, Alexander Karsner has joined the board with Gregory Goff and Kaisa Hietala. Karsner is a strategist at Alphabet Inc (GOOG).

Engine No. 1 holds only 0.02% shares at the $250 billion company but during the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic, larger shareholders like BlackRock (BLK) pushed the company to look for more climate-oriented measures for a sustainable future. Engine No. 1 received the support of these shareholder groups and also the backing of pension funds.

Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods commented, "We look forward to working with all of our directors to build on the progress we've made to grow long-term shareholder value and succeed in a lower-carbon future."

According to the filings, directors Steven Kandarian, Samuel Palmisano, and Wan Zulkiflee will step down from their roles. In a statement, Engine no 1 said, "We are grateful for shareholders' careful consideration of our nominees and are excited that these three individuals will be working with the full board to help better position Exxon Mobil for the long-term benefit of all shareholders."