SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'Supervillian' Rex Tillerson Also Runs This Tax-Hating US-Russian Oil Company
Leaked documents show Trump's nominee for Secretary of State is director of subsidiary based in Bahamas
Dec 18, 2016
Documents leaked to a German newspaper reveal that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Secretary of State, has been the quiet director of a U.S.-Russian oil firm registered in the Bahamas, one of the world's key tax havens.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which received the documents from the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Germany, registration papers show "Tillerson was appointed in 1998 as a director of Exxon Neftegas, an ExxonMobil subsidiary involved in oil and gas operations in Russia."
The document is not new, though it was not reported on before Sunday, and is among more than 12 million leaked files that were provided anonymously to Suddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with ICIJ, resulting in the Panama Papers and Bahamas Leaks investigations.
ICIJ reports:
The document highlights Tillerson's business dealings with Russia, which have drawn new attention as he prepares to face confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate. Under Tillerson's leadership, Exxon Neftegas managed a major oil and gas project near the island of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East. After Tillerson was promoted to CEO of ExxonMobil, the oil giant launched a partnership to search for new reserves in the Arctic with Rosneft, a Russian state-owned company.
As Trump prepares for his presidential inauguration, the connections to Russia of people who will likely serve in his administration have come under scrutiny.
In 2013, Vladimir Putin awarded Tillerson with the Order of Friendship, a state decoration for foreigners whose work improves their countries' relations with Moscow.
Though there is nothing technically "untoward" about Tillerson's involvement with this off-shore subsidiary, as the Guardian's reporting notes, the revelation "is likely to raise fresh questions over Tillerson's relationship with Russia ahead of a potentially stormy confirmation hearing by the US senate foreign relations committee."
In response to the revelations, Duncan Meisel, an organizer with the climate action group 350.org, used his personal Twitter account to offer one explanation as to why Tillerson might be heads one of the world's most maligned oil companies while also running a Russian-affiliated subsidiary based in a notorious tax haven:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Documents leaked to a German newspaper reveal that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Secretary of State, has been the quiet director of a U.S.-Russian oil firm registered in the Bahamas, one of the world's key tax havens.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which received the documents from the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Germany, registration papers show "Tillerson was appointed in 1998 as a director of Exxon Neftegas, an ExxonMobil subsidiary involved in oil and gas operations in Russia."
The document is not new, though it was not reported on before Sunday, and is among more than 12 million leaked files that were provided anonymously to Suddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with ICIJ, resulting in the Panama Papers and Bahamas Leaks investigations.
ICIJ reports:
The document highlights Tillerson's business dealings with Russia, which have drawn new attention as he prepares to face confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate. Under Tillerson's leadership, Exxon Neftegas managed a major oil and gas project near the island of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East. After Tillerson was promoted to CEO of ExxonMobil, the oil giant launched a partnership to search for new reserves in the Arctic with Rosneft, a Russian state-owned company.
As Trump prepares for his presidential inauguration, the connections to Russia of people who will likely serve in his administration have come under scrutiny.
In 2013, Vladimir Putin awarded Tillerson with the Order of Friendship, a state decoration for foreigners whose work improves their countries' relations with Moscow.
Though there is nothing technically "untoward" about Tillerson's involvement with this off-shore subsidiary, as the Guardian's reporting notes, the revelation "is likely to raise fresh questions over Tillerson's relationship with Russia ahead of a potentially stormy confirmation hearing by the US senate foreign relations committee."
In response to the revelations, Duncan Meisel, an organizer with the climate action group 350.org, used his personal Twitter account to offer one explanation as to why Tillerson might be heads one of the world's most maligned oil companies while also running a Russian-affiliated subsidiary based in a notorious tax haven:
Documents leaked to a German newspaper reveal that ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Secretary of State, has been the quiet director of a U.S.-Russian oil firm registered in the Bahamas, one of the world's key tax havens.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which received the documents from the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Germany, registration papers show "Tillerson was appointed in 1998 as a director of Exxon Neftegas, an ExxonMobil subsidiary involved in oil and gas operations in Russia."
The document is not new, though it was not reported on before Sunday, and is among more than 12 million leaked files that were provided anonymously to Suddeutsche Zeitung and then shared with ICIJ, resulting in the Panama Papers and Bahamas Leaks investigations.
ICIJ reports:
The document highlights Tillerson's business dealings with Russia, which have drawn new attention as he prepares to face confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate. Under Tillerson's leadership, Exxon Neftegas managed a major oil and gas project near the island of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East. After Tillerson was promoted to CEO of ExxonMobil, the oil giant launched a partnership to search for new reserves in the Arctic with Rosneft, a Russian state-owned company.
As Trump prepares for his presidential inauguration, the connections to Russia of people who will likely serve in his administration have come under scrutiny.
In 2013, Vladimir Putin awarded Tillerson with the Order of Friendship, a state decoration for foreigners whose work improves their countries' relations with Moscow.
Though there is nothing technically "untoward" about Tillerson's involvement with this off-shore subsidiary, as the Guardian's reporting notes, the revelation "is likely to raise fresh questions over Tillerson's relationship with Russia ahead of a potentially stormy confirmation hearing by the US senate foreign relations committee."
In response to the revelations, Duncan Meisel, an organizer with the climate action group 350.org, used his personal Twitter account to offer one explanation as to why Tillerson might be heads one of the world's most maligned oil companies while also running a Russian-affiliated subsidiary based in a notorious tax haven:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.