No. 1

Rex Tillerson

Age: 55
Education: B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Texas
Previously: Has spent his entire career at Exxon, including time as president of Exxon Yemen and, later, as president of ExxonMobil

For Rex Tillerson and ExxonMobil, the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Tillerson, who became CEO in January 2006, is considered a more amiable extension of his well-known predecessor, Lee Raymond. Our respondents cited both men’s singular obsession with profits, along with their ability to get them.

“Tillerson sticks to the plan,” says Stephen Miles, a foreign-exchange trader and president of InterContinental Bulk Systems, an investment firm. “He unwaveringly maintains Exxon’s long-term formula.”

ExxonMobil is the most profitable company in the world, in any sector. In the year ending June 30, it generated about $40 billion in net income. Its stock price has roughly doubled the S&P 500 for the past five years, and jumped 10 percent in the third quarter alone. Little wonder that the traders in our survey ranked him far higher than the deal community.

Tillerson has maintained the company’s laser-like focus on streamlining operations and keeping costs down. “We seek to build an environment of shared ownership of results,” he says. Projects contingent on the price of oil are shunned. Since the days of Raymond, Exxon’s strategy has been to invest in projects and new markets that the company expects to be profitable no matter where oil prices go. That hasn’t changed under Tillerson. “Our employees are motivated by a deep sense of the importance of what they do, and the critical role they play in helping to meet the world’s demand for energy,” he says.

Also like his predecessor, Tillerson has mostly avoided the calls to invest in alternative fuel sources, as rival energy companies such as BP have been doing for several years now. Their profitability is questionable — and, in any event, oil and gas will remain the dominant global energy source for decades. Tillerson therefore focuses on reducing pollution from oil and gas use, rather than investing in other sources where Exxon has less experience and expertise.

Upcoming Challenges:
Climate-change issues may spur additional regulatory oversight. Another problem faced by the industry as a whole is the nationalization of oil assets by Venezuela, Russia, Kazakhstan and other countries, which curbs exploration. Finally, as equities trader Brett Steenbarger notes, Exxon’s stock closely tracks the price of crude; a fall in oil prices is thus a threat to the stock.

Executive Fact:
Tillerson is an Eagle Scout and has been involved with the Boy Scouts of America in some capacity for more than four decades.

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