Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's most valuable public company reported today that first-quarter earnings rose to $8.4 billion, up from a year earlier but down from the fourth-quarter's record level.
 |
| ExxonMobil corporate headquarters in Irving, Texas: Both Exxon and Mobil trace their roots to the late 19th century, when American industry was booming in numerous sectors - steel, railroads and banking, to name a few. The nation's young petroleum industry picked up the pace, too, to meet the growth in demand for kerosene, lubricants and greases. John D. Rockefeller acquired a diversity of petroleum interests during that period and, in 1882, organized them under the Standard Oil Trust. That same year marked the incorporation of two refining and marketing organizations -- Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey and Standard Oil Co. of New York. "Jersey Standard" and "Socony," as they were commonly known, were the chief predecessor companies of Exxon and Mobil, respectively. In 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the Standard Oil Trust, resulting in the spin-off of 34 companies, including Jersey Standard and Socony. In the same year, the nation's kerosene output was eclipsed for the first time by a formerly discarded byproduct - gasoline |
Oil companies have boomed on high energy prices and strong demand. Exxon's fourth-quarter 2005 net income, announced last January, was $10.71 billion, one of the largest reported quarterly profits of any company in history. Revenue was $99.66 billion for the same quarter.
The company reported earnings of $8.4 billion, or $1.37 a share, up 7% from a year-ago profit of $7.86 billion, or $1.22 a share. The 2005 comparable results had included a gain of $460 million from the sale of the company's interest in Sinopec.
Revenue rose to $88.98 billion from $82.05 billion in the year-earlier period.
EX-CEO Lee Raymond earned $686 million from 1993 to 2005
The New York Times in a report earlier this month said that for 13 years as chairman and chief executive, Lee R. Raymond propelled Exxon, the successor to John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust, to the pinnacle of the oil world.
Under Raymond, the company's market value increased fourfold to $375 billion, overtaking BP as the largest oil company and General Electric as the largest American corporation. Net income soared from $4.8 billion in 1992 to last year's record-setting $36.13 billion.
The newspaper said that shareholders had benefited handsomely on Raymond's watch. The price of Exxon's shares rose an average of 13 percent a year. The company, now known as Exxon Mobil, paid $67 billion in total dividends.
For his efforts, Raymond, who retired in December, was compensated more than $686 million from 1993 to 2005, according to an analysis done for The New York Times by Brian Foley, an independent compensation consultant. That is $144,573 for each day he spent leading Exxon's "God pod," as the executive suite at the company's headquarters in Irving, Tex., is known.
Real median household income remained unchanged between 2003 and 2004 at $44,389, according to the report released in August 2005 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Meanwhile, the nation’s official poverty rate rose from 12.5 percent in 2003 to 12.7 percent in 2004.
RELATED
US superearners take lion's share of productivity gains
US poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent in 2004
