Raymond will retire
ExxonMobil Corp chief executive Lee Raymond, who built the Texas oil producer into the world’s most valuable company, would retire at the end of the year.

Exxon president Rex Tillerson, Raymond’s longtime heir apparent and 30 year company veteran, is expected to be elected by Exxon’s board as its next leader, the company said.
The announcement ends years of speculation over when the 66-year-old Raymond – feared and admired within corporate America but loathed by environmentalists – would hand over the reins. Raymond himself has always been tight-lipped on the issue, publicly dressing down anyone who dared ask when he might leave.
“You either retire or die and I’d just as soon not die,” Raymond said when asked about his future plans in June.
Analysts say Raymond’s departure after 12 years at the helm will have little noticeable impact on Exxon’s operations.
Under Raymond, Exxon stubbornly stuck to a long-term strategy that emphasised disciplined investment and ignored oil price swings – an approach Tillerson is not expected to stray from.
To be sure, Tillerson’s manner is expected to be less combative than Raymond’s, whose abrasive wit spared few who challenged him, be it reporters, analysts or activists.
But most of all, Raymond was known for steering Exxon through bouts of frenzied oil prices and subsequent collapses in his 42-year tenure, turning the Irving, Texas, company into one of the world’s most consistently profitable companies.

Shell names new chief
Royal Dutch Shell has announced Jorma Ollila, chairman and chief executive of cellphone maker Nokia, will be its next non-executive chairman from June 1, 2006.
Ollila will replace Aad Jacobs at the oil group, which gave up its dual Anglo-Dutch ownership structure on July 20 to revive an image scarred by an oil reserves overbooking scandal last year that was partly blamed on complicated management.
The 54-year-old Finn has the necessary experience to supervise the world’s third-largest oil company by market value as it aims for a more efficient, transparent and accountable management system in an industry facing a tough future.
“We were looking worldwide for a chairman with international standing, a global outlook, and proven success in managing a complex organisation,” Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, Shell deputy chairman and senior independent director, said in a statement. “In Jorma Ollila we found all these qualities, and more.” The Financial Times reported recently that Jacobs had hinted at a successor who was neither British nor Dutch to avoid upsetting the oil giant’s balance of power.