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On November 30, 1999, Exxon, a company descended from John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, merged with Mobil, also a successor company of Standard Oil. Today, ExxonMobil is made up of the three brands, Exxon, Esso, and Mobil, each of which markets fuels, services and lubricants. ExxonMobil is the largest of the ''supermajors,'' International Oil Companies which are not state-owned that control 6% of the world's oil and gas reserves. Approximately 3% of the world's oil and 2% of the world's energy is produced by ExxonMobil. As the world's largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products, ExxonMobil is also dedicated to researching the safest, cleanest technologies to transport their product to the world.
ExxonMobil employs more than 80,000 people across the globe with 37% of those employees in the United States. Roughly 33% of executives are employed outside of the United States, and of the 3,200 employed in the management and professional fields hired in 2009, roughly 63% were outside of the United States. The company claims a strong policy against discrimination including sexual orientation and gender identity, compliant with the laws of the countries in which the company operates, though in May of 2010, 78% of shareholders voted against LGBT benefits for employees. With a 1% increase from 2008 to 2009, 26% of ExxonMobil's management was female globally. The company cites the trend of fewer women choosing fields in science when entering college as the difficulty in equalizing the gender gap. ExxonMobil is attempting to increase the number of minorities in their management positions as well by providing scholarships to minority interns and identifying minorities with ''leadership potential'' early on.
Like most oil companies, ExxonMobil does not have the best track record when it comes to the environment. Most notable is the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989, the largest in history at the time, when 11 million gallons of oil flooded into Prince William's Sound off the Gulf of Alaska. Though ExxonMobil is a leading oil company, it has dedicated only 1% of its profits, significantly less than others, to fund alternative energy research. Similarly, ExxonMobil has been accused of funding organizations that monger anti-global warming sentiment. Greenpeace awarded the first place spot on their Climate Criminal list to ExxonMobil in 2003.
ExxonMobil has also had some questionable foreign business practices. In 2003 the company settled with the United States for $50,000 after being accused of illegal trade with Sudan. The company's relationship with Angolan leaders has also been brought into question. The Indonesian island of Sumatra, rich in oil, experienced civil unrest while ExxonMobil was stationed there. The company was accused of hiring Indonesian militia who violated the human rights of local villages in acts that included torture, rape, and murder, but the charges were dismissed in 2009.
ExxonMobil is not without its causes, however. The company's Malaria Initiative in Africa, founded in 2000, is the largest, non-pharmaceutical donor to the cause. The program stems from ExxonMobil's ability to witness the disease firsthand on their employees as they are a worldwide corporation. The $68 million in funding goes to 20 African countries and provides prevention tools, ways to control the disease, and the development of new medications.
With a belief that all companies should be transparent, ExxonMobil has also been working with Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), among others, to report on their dealings with other countries such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. ExxonMobil believes, ''the ultimate goal is for citizens to have access to complete information about the revenues that governments receive, so that they can help ensure that government manages those revenues on their behalf.''
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