From Morning Brew
A virtual meeting likely hasn’t seen this much tension since your family tried to play Quiplash during the pandemic. Most shareholders (95%) sided with Exxon Mobil yesterday during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, voting to reelect all 12 directors despite intense drama leading up to the meeting over climate change and shareholder rights.
Some backstory
Earlier this year, Exxon sued Arjuna Capital and Follow This, two activist investor groups that proposed more aggressive targets for emissions cuts. The company, which has the weakest emissions reduction targets among the “oil supermajors” around the world, according to Carbon Tracker, claimed their proposal pushed an “extreme agenda” that would obliterate shareholder value.
- Arjuna and Follow This withdrew the resolution.
- But Exxon is forging ahead with its lawsuit, hoping to change the current process and block future resolutions it believes will hurt the company.
The Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable have filed briefs in support of Exxon in the suit, but not everyone is a fan. CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund, said last week it would vote against all of Exxon’s current board members, including its CEO, to protest the company’s lawsuit. It claimed the suit’s repercussions could be “devastating” and threaten shareholder power to hold corporations accountable.
It’s not just CalPERS: Seven Exxon shareholders filed documents with the SEC to protest the company’s lawsuit. And just days before the CalPERS announcement, the New York State Common Retirement Fund said it would vote against most of the board because of the company’s climate policies.
Activists are hitting a Big Oil wall. Exxon ended yesterday with an overwhelming win, and last week, Shell shareholders ignored protesters on and around their voting floor. Activist investors pushing for Big Oil to make serious changes for the climate, like Follow This, will need to put their energy toward winning over more shareholders like pension funds and investment firms to succeed.—MM
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