Engine No. 1 is an investment company and hedge fund that advocates for environmental sustainability and reduced carbon emissions. ¹ The firm successfully elected three of its nominees to petroleum giant Exxon Mobil’s board of directors. ¹

The move received support from BlackRock, Inc., which owns about 6.7 percent of Exxon’ stock and announced that it would increase left-of-center Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance (ESG) investments, as well as pension funds such as the California Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). ²³

1. Stevens, Pippa. “Activist Firm Engine No. 1 Claims Third Exxon Board Seat.” CNBC. CNBC, June 3, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/02/activist-firm-engine-no-1-claims-third-exxon-board-seat-.html.
2. Herbst-bayliss, Svea. “EXCLUSIVE BlackRock Backs 3 Dissidents to Shake up Exxon Board -Sources.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, May 25, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-blackrock-backs-three-director-nominees-challenging-exxons-board-2021-05-25/.
3. Erprose. “An Underperforming Exxon Mobil Faces a New Climate Threat: Activist Hedge Fund Investors.” CNBC. CNBC, December 8, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/07/big-oil-laggard-exxon-faces-new-climate-threat-activist-investors.html.