Exxon CEO Darren Woods says he wants to leave renewable energy to the experts: “We don’t bring any real capabilities to that space.” Artur Widak—NurPhoto via Getty Images
Good morning.
Exxon has never been the most media-oriented Fortune 500 company. But on this week’s episode of Leadership Next with my colleagues Alan Murray and Michal Lev-Ram, CEO Darren Woods curbed some of that image while vigorously defending Exxon’s business and profit model.
In a wide-ranging interview, he kicked off by describing Exxon, which for much of its existence has been the world’s largest oil company, as a “technology company”—just one that happens “to focus on hydrogen and carbon molecules.” But, he added, Exxon’s core activities could change as long as the company can leverage “the same core competencies, same core capabilities.”
From there, Woods defended his company’s continued focus on oil and gas (rather than renewables), as well as his view of shareholder primacy. Here’s what he said:
On Exxon’s lack of solar and wind energy investments compared to European oil majors:
“I think that’s a hollow argument…Our view is we don’t bring any real capabilities to that space…We don’t bring capabilities other than a checkbook. And so we don’t see the ability to generate a better than average returns for our investors.”
On Exxon suing activist shareholders over their repeated climate proposals:
“We want to cater to the shareholders who are real investors, who have an interest in seeing this company succeed in generating return on their investments…We don’t feel a responsibility to activists that hijack that process…and frankly, abuse it to advance an ideology.”
On decarbonization subsidies, regulation, and carbon prices:
“Building a business on government subsidy is not a long-term sustainable strategy. We don’t support that…We’re advocating to move to market forces, either through regulation [or] prices on carbon … that that will drive the markets to start innovating and find solutions.”
On Exxon’s investments in lithium to power EVs:
“The reason we’re in lithium is because we can provide our skill sets to a product that the world is going to need as we electrify…We can produce that at a lower cost and more environmentally friendly footprint…therefore there’s an advantage that we can bring to that space.”
Exxon also has a plan to become net zero in its direct emissions, Woods reminded my colleagues, and brought the ‘plan not pledge’ approach for cutting carbon emissions to Pioneer, the company it merged with last year. One of its activist investors, Engine One, “100%” supports Exxon’s sustainability strategy, he noted.
The whole interview is worth a listen, and you can do so on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
For a different take on Exxon’s case against its activist shareholders, you can read this Fortune commentary on what Milton Friedman would say: “He was adamant that the shareholders have the last word”. Going into the 2024 proxy season, it’s a fascinating debate.
More news below.
Peter Vanham
peter.vanham@fortune.com
@petervanham
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This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
