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Rockefellers Pump Exxon Execs for Changes
Family wants independent chairman, climate change initiatives
By Wesley Oliver
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Posted May 24, 08 1:58 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Executives at Exxon are bracing for an onslaught from the Rockefeller family, whose patriarch founded the oil firm’s predecessor a century ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. Led by John D. Rockefeller’s great-granddaughter, the family wants Exxon to pursue renewable forms of energy and appoint an independent chairman.
Despite their powerful name, the family faces an uphill fight: They own a tiny percentage of shares, Exxon says, and the company just posted the highest profits ever for an American firm. But that hasn’t stopped four generations of Rockefellers from taking action. “They are trying to remove the stain of oil from the family name,” explained one historian.