Exxon Mobil Corporation
Leadership History
4 leaders · 1993 to present
Darren Woods is the CEO of Exxon Mobil, in the role since 2017. The first chief executive was Lee Raymond, from 1993.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Hansen | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | 2026 | Present | < 1 |
| Darren W. Woods | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2017 | Present | 9 |
| Rex Tillerson | Former Chairman and CEO | 2006 | 2016 | 10 |
| Lee Raymond | Former Chairman and CEO | 1993 | 2005 | 12 |
ExxonMobil is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, based in Texas. It explores for oil and gas, often in difficult environments, produces crude, ships it on its own fleet and refines it into fuels, plastics and chemicals. Its scale and engineering culture have made it a central company in the energy industry for more than a century. The company is headquartered in Spring, Texas. The massive American oil and gas supermajor was created from the ashes of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil monopoly, dominating the global fossil fuel industry for over a century through aggressive exploration and highly complex chemical refining.
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
2026 – Present
0 years (current)
Became CFO on February 1, 2026, succeeding Kathryn Mikells, who retired after serving as CFO since 2021.
Oversees capital allocation, the balance sheet and shareholder distributions, including $9.4 billion returned in Q2 2026.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2017 – Present
9 years (current)
Taking over as CEO in 2017, Darren Woods inherited a company facing mounting pressure from climate activists and a rapidly shifting global energy landscape. He initiated a strategic pivot toward high-margin upstream investments, most notably securing dominant positions in the prolific offshore oil fields of Guyana and the onshore Permian Basin. Recognizing the need to address the energy transition, he established the 'Low Carbon Solutions' business unit, directing billions in capital toward carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiatives and lower-emission technologies, attempting to position ExxonMobil as an active participant in decarbonization without abandoning its core fossil fuel business.
Woods has navigated ExxonMobil through a period of intense public scrutiny and a historic collapse in oil prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. By cutting operating costs, maintaining strict capital discipline, and focusing solely on the most profitable, low-cost-of-supply barrels, he restored the company's financial dominance and delivered record-breaking profits in subsequent years. His leadership is defined by a pragmatic, engineering-driven approach to the energy transition, arguing that fossil fuels will remain essential for decades while simultaneously investing in practical, scalable emission-reduction technologies.
Former Chairman and CEO
2006 – 2016
10 years
During his decade as CEO, Rex Tillerson leaned heavily on his extensive background as a civil engineer to manage ExxonMobil's most complex, technically challenging global mega-projects. He expanded the company's footprint in Russia, negotiating exploration agreements with Rosneft, though these were later derailed by international sanctions. He also orchestrated the ill-timed $41 billion acquisition of XTO Energy in 2009, a bet on natural gas that struggled to generate returns as domestic gas prices plummeted due to the subsequent shale boom.
Tillerson's tenure cemented ExxonMobil's reputation as a globally powerful, almost sovereign entity capable of executing multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects in some of the world's harshest environments. He effectively managed the company's vast international portfolio and maintained its well-known financial discipline, even as the broader energy industry struggled with volatile commodity cycles. He ultimately left the company in late 2016 to serve as the United States Secretary of State, capping a career defined by high-stakes international diplomacy and complex resource extraction.
Former Chairman and CEO
1993 – 2005
12 years
As CEO, Lee Raymond was a notoriously demanding and uncompromising leader who orchestrated the historic, industry-defining $81 billion merger between Exxon and Mobil in 1999. This transaction created the world's largest publicly traded oil company and set off a wave of consolidation across the entire energy sector. He enforced a culture of rigorous, unrelenting capital discipline, demanding exceptional Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) from every business unit and cutting costs across the newly combined enterprise.
Raymond is widely regarded as one of the most successful and intimidating executives in the history of the modern oil industry. His focus on operational efficiency and financial discipline transformed ExxonMobil into a strong cash-generating machine, consistently outperforming its 'supermajor' peers. While his outspoken skepticism regarding climate change drew significant public criticism, his hard-nosed, unsentimental approach to capital allocation established the fundamental corporate culture that continues to define ExxonMobil's strategic operations today.
ExxonMobil's main risks are oil and gas price swings, Middle East exposure (the 2026 Hormuz closure and attacks on Qatar and UAE facilities cut Q1 production by about 6% from Q4 2025), project execution in Guyana and LNG, climate litigation and regulation, and the risk that long-lived hydrocarbon assets meet weaker demand than planned.
John D. Rockefeller co-founded Standard Oil in 1870, building the dominant petroleum refining and pipeline monopoly in the world. When the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911, the two largest successor companies were Standard Oil of New Jersey (which became Exxon) and Standard Oil of New York (which became Mobil).
Lee Raymond served as CEO of Exxon from 1993 to 1999 and Chairman/CEO of the merged ExxonMobil from 1999 to 2005. A fierce advocate of capital discipline and operational efficiency, Raymond orchestrated the historic $81 billion merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999, creating the global energy leader.
Rex Tillerson served as Chairman and CEO from 2006 to 2016. Tillerson led ExxonMobil through the $41 billion acquisition of XTO Energy in 2010 to enter U.S. shale, expanded major LNG projects in Qatar and Papua New Guinea, and secured the initial deepwater exploration licenses in Guyana before serving as U.S. Secretary of State.
Darren W. Woods became Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil on January 1, 2017. An electrical engineer by training with an MBA from Northwestern University, Woods spent 25 years in senior refining, chemical, and corporate leadership roles at ExxonMobil before taking the helm.
During the 2020 pandemic downturn, Darren Woods defended the dividend, cut capital spending prudently, launched structural cost reductions, and protected core investment in Guyana and the Permian Basin, positioning ExxonMobil to achieve record corporate profits in 2022 to 2023.
CEO Darren Woods completed the $4.9 billion acquisition of CO2 pipeline leader Denbury in 2023 to accelerate Low Carbon Solutions, followed by the landmark $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources in May 2024 to dominate Permian Basin oil production.
ExxonMobil's Management Committee includes Senior Vice Presidents Neil Chapman (Upstream, Low Carbon Solutions), Neil Hansen (Chief Financial Officer since February 2026), Jack Williams, and Dan Ammann (President of Low Carbon Solutions).
Woods consolidated fragmented operating affiliates into unified global business lines (Upstream, Product Solutions, Technology & Engineering, Low Carbon Solutions), relocated corporate headquarters to the central Houston campus, and modernized performance management.
Darren Woods serves as CEO. Unlike his European rivals (like BP and Shell) who aggressively pivoted toward solar and wind, Woods controversially doubled down on oil and gas, arguing that the world still desperately needs fossil fuels. Before him, Rex Tillerson famously ran the company before becoming US Secretary of State.
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