Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is leaving Exxon Mobil with a severance package of $180 million. The move comes ahead of a Senate confirmation hearing determining what would be done with Tillerson’s stake in the company. PBS reports:
“Tillerson will surrender, if confirmed, all unpaid stock that was part of his pay package, more than 2 million shares. In exchange, the company will make a cash payment equal to the value of those shares to a trust to be overseen by a third party.”
The incoming Secretary of State seemed at least slightly more transparent about his wealth than the incoming president, who has yet to release his tax returns. These would allow the public to see his actual net worth, investigate claims of charitable giving, and identify any conflicts of interest between his many businesses and his job as president.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Tillerson forfeits about $7 million of his severance package because he will resign from CEO before the company’s retirement age of 65, which he would have reached in March of this year. Tillerson has worked for Exxon Mobil for 40 years and is quite possibly the clearest example of Donald Trump’s penchant for, both, the exceedingly rich, and for conflicts of interest.
The move is a good decision for many critics who suggest that it can’t be anything but nefarious to have a president whose decisions affect the oil market and industry and a number two that runs that industry.
Tillerson will be the first Secretary of State without prior government experience.
Featured image via Roden For Denton.
