Exxon: At least 2 board members lose seats in climate fight

Exxon Mobil’s shareholders have voted to replace at least two of the company’s 12 board members with directors who are seen as better suited to fight climate change, bolster Exxon’s finances and guide it through a transition to cleaner energy

NEW YORK -- Exxon Mobil’s shareholders have voted to replace at least two of the company's 12 board members with directors who are seen as better suited to fight climate change, bolster Exxon’s finances and guide it through a transition to cleaner energy. The results, which Exxon called preliminary, were announced by the company after its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday. Exxon said that because the complexities of the voting process, inspectors might not be able to certify final voting results for “some period of time.” It was unclear whether one additional board member was also unseated in the shareholder vote. Regardless of the final tally, the outcome represents a setback for Exxon's leadership. It coincides with growing pressure on publicly traded companies to more urgently revamp their businesses to address what critics see as a intensifying global crisis. The dissident slate of directors was proposed by a hedge fund called Engine No. 1, which asserted that Exxon's current board was ill-equipped to handle the transformations that are reshaping the energy sector.