Eco-friendly Investment Fund 'Engine Number One' Secures 3 Seats on ExxonMobil Board of Directors

[Photo by Reuters-Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Activist investment fund Engine No. 1 has secured three board seats at ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the United States, Bloomberg reported on the 2nd (local time).

ExxonMobil announced in a statement that Alexander Karsner, recommended by Engine No. 1, will join the board. ExxonMobil also stated that Douglas Oberhelman, former CEO of Caterpillar, was re-elected as a director.

Thus, ExxonMobil's board, consisting of 12 members, is now composed of three directors from Engine No. 1 and nine directors from ExxonMobil.

Engine No. 1 recommended four directors at ExxonMobil's shareholders' meeting on the 26th of last month, urging ExxonMobil to expand investments in eco-friendly energy. Previously, two were elected as ExxonMobil directors, and with Karsner's additional election, Engine No. 1 secured three board seats at ExxonMobil. Karsner is known as an investment strategist at Alphabet.

Although Engine No. 1's stake in ExxonMobil is only 0.02%, it won the shareholder vote battle against ExxonMobil with the support of major U.S. institutional investors such as BlackRock, Vanguard Group, and State Street.