P.M. BRIEFING : Major Pension Funds Threaten to Topple Board of Exxon Corp.
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NEW YORK — Several major U.S. pension funds today threatened to topple Exxon Corp.’s board of directors at its annual meeting later this month if it fails to meet demands to make a stronger commitment to the environment.
“We can talk to other funds about running our own slate of directors,” said Gray Davis, California state controller, after a meeting with Exxon Chairman Lawrence G. Rawl this morning.
Davis, a trustee of the California Public Employee Pension System, was joined at the meeting by representatives from New York and Massachusetts pension funds holding a total 14.5 million shares in the company.
Exxon, the world’s largest oil company, last March caused one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters when its Valdez tanker spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil in Alaskan waters.
New York City Comptroller Liz Holtzman also attended the meeting.
“We are hopeful that we get some commitments ahead of the annual meeting on April 25,” Holtzman told reporters after speaking with Rawl.
Exxon had no immediate comment on the meeting.
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