DALLAS _ Former Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson reached an agreement late Tuesday with the oil giant's board of directors to sever his financial ties with the company.
The agreement, which includes an independently managed trust prohibited from investing in Exxon, is intended to free Tillerson from ethics conflicts before his confirmation hearing as President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state nominee. That hearing could begin as early as Jan. 11.
If Tillerson is confirmed, Exxon will transfer into the trust the value of more than 2 million deferred shares that Tillerson would have received over the next 10 years, the company said. The trust will then make payments to him the 10-year period in which the stock would have vested.
Irving-based Exxon's stock closed Tuesday at $90.89 a share. At that price, Tillerson's restricted shares were worth $184 million.
Separately, Tillerson also has agreed to sell the 611,087 additional Exxon shares he owns, if he is confirmed, the company said. Those shares were worth $55 million at Tuesday's closing price.
That brings Tillerson's nest egg to nearly $240 million. He retired Dec. 31 after more than 40 years with the global company.
The company said the one-time payment to the trust fund for Tillerson would be about $3 million less than he would have received when he was originally set to retire in March. Darren Woods, who built Exxon's refineries into profit centers, succeeded Tillerson as chairman and chief executive officer on Jan. 1.
The trust would be prohibited from investing in Exxon, the company said. The trust also would have forfeiture rules that would prohibit Tillerson from working in the oil and gas industry during the 10-year payout period.
Tillerson would also surrender more than $4.1 million in cash bonuses, scheduled to pay out over the next three years, and other benefits such as retiree medical and dental benefits, and administrative, financial and tax support, according to Exxon.
Exxon said the net effect of the agreement _ which the company indicated was drawn up in consultation with federal ethics authorities _ is a $7 million reduction in compensation owed to Tillerson.
Tillerson is in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with key congressional leaders before what is expected to be a contested confirmation hearing.
He is reportedly one of eight Trump nominees to be targeted by Senate Democrats. Democrats are troubled by what they view as a lack of personal disclosure by Trump's picks that they say mirrors the president-elect's refusal to disclose personal tax information during the presidential campaign.
